How Much "G" Do I Need?

Today’s ROI Topic is “How much G do I need?”

One of my favorite movies is Lethal Weapon (1987) with Danny Glover and Mel Gibson. I happened across this film on TBS not long ago and joined the movie at the scene where Danny Glover is on an overpass using what we used to call a “Bag Phone”. I recalled my first Bag Phone, Motorola I think, with its sleek and stylish nylon black bag and shoulder strap (which was required to carry the 4.6lb mobile device).
I suspect that that phone, being as old as it is was probably a 1G phone.

I mean it’s old so it G count had to be low right?

Now we all have the power of tripple G, except my Dad, who because of where he lives may still have 2G service, but uses 3G network card for his computer.

So what happened to 1G and 2G? How did we get to 3G? I hear Sprint is about to release 4G! If I am in the right place can I use 4Gs? And is that place the famous G Spot I am supposed to find?

I am often surprised at how many people don’t really understand what the heck the G is, but value it’s importance so much during the purchase of their phone and the all-important data plan that now must inevitably now accompany all cellular purchases.

Let’s face it; I was befuddled when they started adding lemon-freshened borax to Fab detergent. Did I need Borax? Why was Lemon chosen? Why couldn’t I get pigmy-orange freshened bleach added to my detergent? So it’s no wonder that the mystery of the G is still an ever perplexing topic of concern for many.

Well my friends my ROI today is to demystify this great G and it’s culmination of marketing perplexity and sales propaganda so that the common cell phone user (Mom) can denote for themselves the importance of their G.

The G in this case does in fact refer to the generation level of the cell phone provider’s network services. Moreover this has come down the common factor of the network data speed for the phone provides. I don’t want to dispel the authority of such governmental agencies and organizations that would pretend to regulate these standards, but in reality it’s mostly marketing hype. But in my meager attempt I shall offer some form of explanation for the common folk among us.

1G – First Generation – This was the old analog (non-digital) wireless phone system. It was slow, had static, and it worked just better than a beeper at getting information transferred.

2G – Was the term used for phone networks that enable the use of digital signals. This was supposed to end the static and signal issues where phones faded in and out of range. (Someone explain that concept to my IPhone please)

3G – This was the term given when multimedia support was added to cell phones. Photos and video could be sent over the wireless networks to the devices allowing the true advent of the “smart phone”. The Windows Mobile Phones, Treo, and the Blackberry devices spearheaded this and the Apple IPhone helped secure this marketing extravaganza.

4G – The next “Generation” of service is poised to emulate the internet in the real-time wireless world providing true Internet Protocol (IP) like addressing and routing to the cell phones and smart devices much like the internet. Think of it as a wider range extension of your home PC wireless network. This should have more bandwidth (that’s another topic all together) to allow for more data, game playing, file sharing and streaming media to your device. Now maybe we can all just get an application for our phones that let us call home and talk to someone, that would make me a real happy camper!

So there you have it friends and loved ones. The G is demystified for you. It’s a lot of hype, it’s a lot of marketing, but it’s really just a way to say “Oh Yeah, well our service is newer and better than yours, but we can’t really prove it”.

Until next time, Take Care and Call Your Mom.