Why the 3G iPhone will be “meh” for unlockers.
Some people are wetting their pants over the prospect of a 3G iPhone coming out next month (or this summer), primarily on account of the 3G network support. By “3G”, we refer to UTMS, which is one of the third-generation cell phone technologies. For most people, the technology is transparent, but for those with data plans on their phones, UTMS means faster downloads for watching porn on-the-go.
The only “major” feature of the unannounced “new” iPhone is this 3G, as the 2.0 firmware was already announced as an available upgrade to existing iPhone users. In other words, if the only thing an impending new iPhone release will offer customers is 3G network support, then we maintain than the purchase is a waste of money for most users, as it’s questionable as to whether they’ll really make much use out of the 3G support. That is to say, most people’s web browsing on their iPhones outside of wireless hotspots is so minimal anyway, that the marginal download speed increase won’t be worth dumping another couple hundred dollars into Apple’s pockets after having done so not long ago with an earlier iPhone purchase. The phone hasn’t even been out a year yet, after all.
Let’s say that you’re one of the people who do need the 3G support, however, because you’re running a BitTorrent client on your hacked iPhone, or want to stream online radio because you have a strange hatred of the mp3 file format. In this case, welcome to AT&T if you’re not already paying their inflated rates, because T-Mobile just went live with 3G in New York City, and the rest of country won’t be up until year’s end. How’s that for a big kick-in-the-pants for unlockers?
Unless the next-gen iPhone features something other than 3G, Apple can expect sales to be much smaller than if T-Mobile had a cross-country 3G network ready. As it stands, while AT&T customers who have money burning a hole in their wallets may be happy to drop their hot dough in front of Apple, most unlockers have little reason to do likewise until the end of the year at the earliest.
Popularity: 5% [?]
Wetting their pants = rude
Marginally faster speeds = 7 times faster (on average)
I wholeheartedly agree that the next gen iPhone isn’t a good idea for jailbreakers. Fortunately or unfortunately for me, I am an AT&T customer who will get the $200 rebate and will use this opportunity to upgrade to the 16Gb model that wasn’t available when I bought mine. Plus as I ride the train everyday for two hours, the 3G will be appreciated.
Don’t worry T-Mobile will go 3G someday. Until then you can borrow mine, as long as you don’t mind the urine smell from my trousers. :P”"”
When noting crotch wetness in regards to those who are drooling over the next-gen iPhone, I refer less to urination, and more to sexcrime.
Admittedly, “marginally faster” is subjective, but your estimation isn’t accurate for real-world use. The 7x number is a paper value. Real world use tends to suggest that UMTS can be up to 100% faster, effectively doubling download times for most large media. However, reports doing side-by-side comparisons make the speed increase look even more grim. Take the mixed-media web site that takes 30 seconds to fully display over EDGE, and wow at the four-second gain one gets over UMTS. To summarize one of the comments in the afore-linked thread, “The push to adapt 3G is about hype,” and that hype is what Apple and AT&T hope to use to fill their pocketbooks.
That’s not to say that 3G isn’t fantastic in the right situations, but most people need it about as much as they need a T3 line in lieu of their desktop’s DSL connection. Most people aren’t streaming content to their phones, or downloading gigs of data at a time.