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34% of iPhone Owners Think the 4 Is 4G
tekgoblin writes "An interesting study was just released by Retrevo which indicates that a startling 34% of iPhone 4 owners are confused to what '4' actually means. iPhone owners who had an iPhone 3G knew that the 3G actually stood for 3G so that is where the confusion has stemmed from. iPhone 4 owners think that the 4 means 4G."
consumers are stupid. Film of them accidentally hitting themselves in the balls at 11.
All the carriers seemingly overnight started advertising their respective networks as 4G, so what difference does it make.
Made with Liquid Metal.
Even their "4G" networks aren't 4G.
4G is suposed to have "peak data rates of up to approximately 100 Mbit/s for high mobility such as mobile access and up to approximately 1 Gbit/s for low mobility such as nomadic/local wireless access, according to the ITU requirements."
LTE advanced release 8 currently supports up to 300 Mbit/s maximum
People who don't know, don't want to bother to know and need someone to tell them what to buy,how to dress etc..
This is the kind of people with iPhones, you know, the type too stupid to have bought an Android based phone.
Just 34%? There is absolutely no way that the number can be that low.
When you have nothing left to burn you must set yourself on fire
we all realize that "3G" and "4G" are bullshit (or bulshytt, if you've read Anathem) terms anyway, right? The "4" in "iPhone 4" might as well stand for "4G", because why not? "4G" doesn't mean anything anyway.
How many even know what 4G is? or that Apple isn't yet using that standard.
The force that blew the Big Bang continues to accelerate.
99% of people couldn't care less about it as long as it does what they want it to.
I'm not one to argue that Apple users are intelligent, but this is Apple's fault for mixing "third generation iPhone" with "third generation mobile network" in their naming. It's obviously much easier to conflate the ideas than it is to dissociate them. Of course, this works in their favor. Just like it works in the carriers' favor to call their 3G and 3.5G networks "4G". Consumers are dumb.
My understanding was that the name had been co-opted as a near-meaningless marketing term.
I wonder what percentage of 4G phone owners living in areas without 4G coverage think that they have 4G service?
it doesn't!??? geez, well at least I can take comfort in the fact that java 6 is the 6th major version of that language
Not because Marketing bots around the world are conspiring to vanish the last traces of common sense and simple reasoning from the population but because we cling on the work of politicians, media and lawmakers that try the best to accomplish that unworthy feat. Is not like anyone is forcing the people to get stupid. Path of least resistance, I know enough to know I'm stupid, etc. YMMV.
If they don't know better, what negative effect does it have on their lives?
With the ridiculously low data caps on today's mobile plans "4G" is basically just a convenient way to drain your battery and blow through your data plan faster than ever before...
I told the guy in the store I wanted the one with the Gee Bees,
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
Would it be too hard to think that this was done on purpose? I like to think that companies as such are as sneaky as to lure consumers with misplaced 'technicalities'. A marketer's delight if you ask me.
http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2011-05-10/
I WAS SCAMMED!!!!
In other words apple's customer base is 66% clueful, about double the average. I don't like apple or their walled garden bullshit but that is quite impressive.
Snowden and Manning are heroes.
Typical troll and their "ignorance is bliss" lifestyle....
The confusion isn't limited to just one handset.
I hope you're not suggesting that Apple had any intention of misleading people? That would be outrageous. I mean, they put out the iPhone for 2G networks, then the iPhone 3 for 3G networks, then just as people were starting to want a 4G handset they put out the iPhone 4. And you dare to suggest that it even _occurred_ to Apple that the numbering might confuse people!!!??? Go to your room and don't come out til supper time! Cheeky young scamp.
To expect anything common across version numbers.
iPhone to iPhone 3g to iPhone 4 (Where was the iPhone two)
Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7
Solaris 2.5, Solaris 2.6, Solaris 7, Solaris 8, Solaris 9
8088, 8086, 286, 386, 486, Pentium, Pentium II, Pentium III, Pentium IV, Pentium V (I have gotten lost after that, where it went insane)
Don't get me started about the mess of Google and Mozilla started.
Lets be nice to consumers...
Major.Minor.Patch
Major = A major upgrade New features comparability with previous Major number will have a fair to a lot amount of issues, or at least a lot of new features that makes the product distinctive.
Minor = A small number of new features usually low hanging fruit type of development, Fixing of serious reaching security issues, or bug fixes.
Patches = A small bug fix or security fix.
Most people can learn, even if they are not overly concerned about computers. But by constantly messing with the version number schemes it messes up people especially if they haven't been following your product.
Why was the iPhone 3g called 3g because it had 3g support. The iPhone 4 is really the iPhone 3g 2. However it is easy for people to make the confustion of the iPhone 4 with 4g. First because of the last version name and the same time adds are coming out for a 4g network.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
For most, purchase of an iPhone is mostly hype and a failure to understand the BS the contracts and service quality issues either Verizon or AT&T will offer. They are the only 2 carriers in our service area. I like to call our choices "dumb and dumber" with the option of dumber being dependent on your coverage in a particular location and what POS phone you have.
An often ignored fact (or barely mentioned by sellers) is that choosing the iPhone over the other replacement options AT&T gave to Alltel customers is that a new contract would be signed and unlimited data would go away. I have an HTC Aria since I wanted to try Android and it was a free and clear phone with no contract issues. I have had issues with internal memory limitations and the HTC Mail program leaking memory and not cleaning up very well after itself but otherwise happy with the phone. Seems like every device is gonna have some quirk or limitation either by design or after losing favor to the next shiny thing they are marketing.
I Cater to the Needs of Stupid People. - from a coffee mug Christmas gift
Apparently it's not just Ozzy that's confused
I have a MacBook and an iPhone and -- gasp! -- I have a degree in CS. I also use Linux and develop Java apps for a living. Not all iPhone users are idiots. Who is to say that some Android or BlackBerry users don't think the same thing?
Ask them what the "i" stands for....
You mean these stylish sophisticates who worship apple (I use the term literally.) don't actually know what they are buying? Ha ha ha.
Democracy Now! - your daily, uncensored, corporate-free
This goes to the credibility of the witness, your honor. The iPhone user likes to claim that he's better, smarter, funnier, cooler, more sophisticated, better equipped, and more likely to get laid than the rest of us. We now know that the smarter part is a lie. :)
And you're what, the typical Apple hater who is too smug to even RTFA?
34% of iPhone owners think their phone is 4g. Whereas only 29% of Android owners think they have a 4G phone (ok, a few Android owners do have LTE phones). That 5% sure prove how Apple users are dumb and Android owners are elite.
You did get one thing right--someone here is definitely living in a world of "ignorance is bliss," but I won't surprise you by telling you who it is.
No shock there -- the carriers are confused as well. They've been referring to stuff that's unambiguously not 4G in marketing materials as if it were 4G. They're using 4G to mean "better than what you probably think of when you hear 3G". It got so bad that 4G had to be formally redefined.
I don't know what the right answer is, except perhaps to discard the short labels and talk about the details. Don't sell me on "4G speeds", sell me on specific speeds (and/or features). For example.
Myself, I'm constantly tempted to disable 3G on my phone so my battery lasts longer. I do not need the higher speeds. If I could drop back to 2G without giving up any features, I would.
(Explanation: on AT&Ts network, apparently some towers do not permit simultaneous voice and data if you connect via 2G. Simultaneous voice and data always work if you connect via 3G. That's the only reason I leave 3G turned on today.)
Q: Do you know what "4G" means?
A: Yes, it is technology that certain phones use for wireless communication.
Q: Do you plan on getting a 4G phone?
A: I already have an iPhone 4.
vs:
Q: Have you ever had a 3G phone?
A: Yes, I had the iPhone 3G.
Q: Do you plan on getting a 4G phone?
A: I already have an iPhone 4.
There aint no pancake so thin it doesn't have two sides.
29% of Android owners do too - some may be legit 4G phones, but those phones sure as hell don't make up 29% of the market.
24% of Blackberry too - even though they don't offer a 4G model.
The best thing about a boolean is even if you are wrong, you are only off by a bit.
That include platform fragmentation?
I really want that!
...won't hurt them. These same people would likely not know the difference between 3g and 4g unless you had the same models doing the same tasks side by side.
Like farnsworth I think the reporting of this is kind of sensational. Is it a coincidence that if you add up the 3 groups % you get ~100%?
This looks like a headline grab playing games with %.
#=-weo-=#
What's your point?
Democracy Now! - your daily, uncensored, corporate-free
Each of the major US carriers has their own 4G standard. 3G/4G was a specific idea created by some engineers that was entirely coopted by marketing departments and was then corrupted. No one actually knows what the definition of 4G is except for some engineers, and the marketers and CEOs keep saying "well it's close enough to 4G if we just do this".
It's simply about speed. The bare minimum information you need to know is what the Mbps are on any single network and what's the fastest Mbps the phone can take. That's too much information for the average consumer to ask for.
And even then, it's not entirely about speed. Latency is important, especially for games. And then there are people who don't need the fastest phone, but want a good experience, reliable hardware, or good sound quality.
Maybe the lesson here is that user's aren't all that concerned about 4G because they aren't asking to be sure. Maybe consumers aren't that stupid because even though we call them stupid for not knowing, we would turn around and call them stupid for caring all that much at the same time.
"All great wisdom is contained in .signature files"
... aren't aware of any apps outside the Apple app store, phones outside the Apple line, or music outside of iTunes.
Of course, that can also be said of Blackberry users, 99% of which probably don't know it's now 2011. ;)
I8-D
Of course they think it's 4G. Apple marketing is well aware of the customer confusion, I'm sure
Is 4G so irrelevant people don't even know if they have it or not ? My Interwebz are working, Skype would if my carrier allowed it, I can't blow my monthly data allotment on one movie... What's that 4G you're taling about good for, young man ?
The Cloud - because you don't care if your apps and data are up in the air.
It's the 4th generation of the iPhone. ;)
Personally, I think all these conventions of calling phone networks 2G, 3G, 4G, etc.. are stupid and misleading anyway. The delineation is a bit fuzzy and there's not exactly a standards body dictating what constitutes a new "G".
Fisher-Price interface was a Windows feature. You might want to check the label of your iPhone to make sure it's not an iFone.
Their marketing people renamed their 3G service as 4G months ago.
http://www.newser.com/story/109146/att-renames-its-3g-network-a-4g-network.html
Guys, I dunno how to break it to you but at least on AT&T it is 4G as it has been redefined. A 3G phone is incapable of doing more than 128kbps upstream on AT&T's network. When you negotiate your network connection, you set a hspa version. The iPhone 4 and the 4G Android phones negotiate the same way. They get the same transfer speeds.
Blame the FCC for allowing this to become so goddan murky. Reminds me of the old days when USB 1.1 got relabeled USB 2.0 Full-Speed, vs USB 2.0 Hi-Speed which was way faster than Full-Speed.
Can I get an eye poke?
Dog House Forum
Its similar to the Oracle 9i to the Oracle 10g upgrade. What does the i and g stand for? Nothing its just marketing bs to confuse customers.
I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
Excuuuse me for not knowing whether my overpriced phone conforms to an undefined standard. What the hell is 4G anyway? And what do I care if iPhone 4 has 4G or not? Yeah, it may mean a 30% faster network, but with signal strength variations, congestion variations, and outrageous traffic pricing, I seriously doubt you could tell the difference between 4G and 3G or even 2G.
To be fair, most consumers who have a 4G phone or 4G service have no idea what makes it 4G. And in all fairness to the consumers, telecos have defined 4G to mean "exactly what I want it to mean". I spent Tuesday at a T-Mobile switching center and I'm not entirely clear on what 4G means to them. I think it means either "HSPA+ with IP back-haul" or "someone somewhere will be able to transfer data at 42 Mbps when the right handset becomes available".
and adding on computer illiteracy, does this number really surprise anyone?
Don't forget, a computer illiterate customer is a happy customer and a gold mine.
LoB
"Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
if I were a cell service provider, I would put out an 11G network.
bloody Gs are there?
Join the Slashcott! Feb 10 thru Feb 17!
http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2010-03-26/
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Oh c'mon. I find it hilarious when they're sweating in their black turtlenecks in 40C weather.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Not even the vendors agree what 4G is. You see many LTE devices branded as '4G' here.
I note that Retreveo never actually published their survey question. The wording of the question is important, since Apple has long referred to their hardware by "generations", so the first model in a series is referred to as 1G, the next 2G, etc. By Apple's own accounting, the iPhone 4 is "iPhone3,1" for the GSM version and "iPhone3,3" for the Verizon version -- but it's the 4th model released to market, so some consider it the 4th generation (4G) model of the iPhone.
If the question was simply, "is your phone a 4G phone?" then it's an imprecise question. If they asked "does your phone support 4G mobile?", then you may get a different response. Since we don't know the question, we can't guess to the meaning of the response.
LTE and WiMax isn't 4G either. This means no 4G phones exist yet.
"Pre-4G technologies such as mobile WiMAX and first-release Long term evolution (LTE) have been on the market since 2006[2] and 2009[3][4][5] respectively, and are often branded as 4G in marketing materials. The current versions of these technologies provide downstream peak bitrates of 144 Mbit/s and 100 Mbit/s respectively, and do consequently not fulfill the original ITU-R requirements of data rates approximately up to 1 Gbit/s for 4G systems." [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4G]
think it means.
"innovation" literally means doing something positive that hasn't been done before. Noone else has put such a focus on integration, industrial design, and usability with consumer-focused mobile computing appliances quite like Apple has. Therefore, Apple is innovative.
Can you please name me one company/product which you consider innovative? Within seconds of you doing so I'm going to reply with all sorts of prior art on their technology and how all they did was "rethink existing concepts".
Go ahead, I'm waiting.
I would suspect that its slower. http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/222046/atrix_4g_speeds_reported_slower_than_3g.html
If someone is passing you on the right, you are an asshole for driving in the wrong lane.
and I own an iPhone and a MacBook.
Wanna try me?
I'm consistently amazed at the sheer volume of unjustified arrogance wafting over from the Android crowd. Knowing what processor is in your phone doesn't make you smart, jackass. Do you have any idea how much extreme engineering goes into building a bridge? Do you think bridge designers sit around and make fun of everyone who crosses their bridges for not knowing what's in them?
Loser.
You either buy something because it's shiny or because it has a 1.16Ghz 2-way superscalar processor instead of the 1.03Ghz 2-way superscalar processor?
Maybe they looked at the usability, industrial design, application market, customer satisfaction surveys, reviews, etc. etc.
The wheel
I await your reply.
Knowledge = Power
P= W/t
t=Money
Money = Work/Knowledge so the less you know the more you make
Trees are round, somebody chopped a few of them down and then noticed they could move heavy objects by sitting them on top of several logs and rolling them (moving the trailing logs over to the front as needed). All wheels are derivative of this concept.
Now you could say that trees are innovative, but they certainly aren't a human invention.
A few? How do you know that 28% polled didn't have 4G phones? Phone turnover rates are huge. Especially for Android.
Not that I care either way. [Product] vs [other product] arguments are for morons.
(a) there are plenty of technical people who like Apple products. I'm one of them. Yes, I'm smarter than you. Think about that for a moment.
(b) who cares how many twelve year olds are running around with iPhones. It is a testament to good engineering that they can make such an accessible product. You should thank god that there are lots of engineers out there that are smarter than you who are willing to build things which are usable by everyone else--that's how the world works. For some reason a sizable minority of computer geeks are infected with this crap that you don't deserve to utilize technology unless you can rattle off a lot of meaningless psuedo-technical babble about how it works.
Pretty much half the customers who ask me for an iPhone 4 can BARELY squeeze the words out. "Do you have any of thouse four-gees in?" "Do you have a four-phone?" "iApple" "A-Phone". They ask if we have iPhones, when they can manage it, I ask "Yes, did you want a 3GS or a 4?", I'd get the response "Thirty-Two Gees please".
I sincerely hope the people in my city are among the dumbest in the world, or I'm left with no other option but to kill myself tomorrow >.> -- That's about more than their inability to pronounce "iPhone", Mackay people are all AMAZINGLY stupid in numerous other ways.
Admit it. You post strawman arguments as AC so you get modded Insightful for refuting them, rather than Troll
The flatlanders invented the circle long before the wheel.
Wow, iPhone users are a lot more clued in than I would have given them credit for. If queried, I'd have probably guessed that only 40-50% actually understood that 4 != 4G...
Then again I manage a Consumer software product, and I regularly read user feedback (of which at least half is from people who, by their comments, don't seem likely to be capable of feeding and clothing themselves, let alone installing and using computer software)... So maybe I've become biased into thinking people are stupider than they really are, or perhaps Apple users are actually *gasp* more intelligent than the average Consumer.
Full disclosure: I do not work at Apple, do not directly own any Apple stock, nor do I own any version of the iPhone.
The remaining 66% have no idea what "4G" even is.
I'll grant that a larger fraction of iPhone users are non-technical. That isn't the same as "less intelligent".
I give up, why don't you head back to your Python-monkey coding job so you can continue feeling superior.
and 99% of all 4G users think 4G is actually 4G...lol.. not to me until we hit the Gb speeds the spec dictates.
when 2 trolls get into each others sites.
*golf clap*
Personally I would rather they had to go into the Thunderdome, but what are you going to do?
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Funny thing is that this misunderstanding doesn't seem to be unique to the consumers. Anytime I am out looking at iPhone accessories, I see at least some that say "For iPhone 4G".
The EVO 4G (WiMax) was Sprint's most popular smartphone for a long while. At one point it was 16% of all androids in the US. So, I'd bet that a lot of those 29% are correct.
...and 100% of that 34% don't have a clue what 4G is. Apple is the beneficiary of a lucky coincidence of major version numbering, that is all.
The fact that 4=4 of course triggers an automatic assumption - but anyone who would actually know what 4G actually is would quickly (and easily) determine that assumption was wrong.
I say just let the rest think they have 4G if it makes them feel better. They wouldn't know the difference anyway...
- sigs are stupid
EVO 4G was extremely popular. Something like 16% of Androids in the US at one point. Sprint has continued with models like Epic 4G, EVO Shift 4G, EVO 3D, and Nexus S 4G.
I find it's more surprising that more people had a clue. Twice as many in fact. I can't count the times I've heard folks refer to it as an "iPhone 4G", and had to stop myself from acting like an ass while correcting their mistake. (Don't like crApple products, just a pet peeve of mine. If you're gonna babble on about how great a product is, at least know the fucking name.)
I do agree with those who think the wireless carriers don't need to use the 4G term in marketing. They rake in enough cash as it is, there's no need to actively pursue making the general consumer more "stupid". That's just rude.
My blood hurts...
Go ahead and wait. You'll crown yourself the victor of a pointless internet debate over semantics. Good on you. I'm going to go outside and enjoy the nice weather tonight and then go sleep with my wife.
Or, in other words, yes.
Are you adequate?
The 4th generation iPhone.
Within seconds of you doing so I'm going to reply with all sorts of prior art on their technology and how all they did was "rethink existing concepts".
Go ahead, I'm waiting.
Wow...your life really is dull and meaningless isn't it.
The iPhone 4 is absolutely 4G. Welcome to letters. The "G" stands for "generation". And it is, absolutely and without any doubt, the 4th generation of iPhone.
Welcome to abbreviations. Less data equals more ambiguity. High quality marketing works very well on low-quality markets.
The damn thing even says "3G" on the signal meter. How can anyone with a functional nervous system confuse the actual letters "3G" for "4G"?
Are people really this stupid?
-ted
Let's go the other routes with it then...
most windows users don't know how to use it beyond the buttons already there.
Most car drivers are horrid, since more than 25% are multitasking behind the wheel and have a response time worse than a drunken driver.
Most Americans are uninformed obese cave dwellers that have two locations in life: work and home
there... you see why the whole "haha, some do it so they're all like that!!@!@" mentality is silly?
Before it's said, there will be no "I smoke pot because it's better than alcohol behind the wheel and it cures my cancer!@", nor "you're an apple user, shut up"
-- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
Wait, that was you I was talking to?
-- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
34% of iPhone Owners Think the 4 Is 4G
Well, they're just "Thinking Different".
But the 4 is 4G... Not the cell companies 4G marketing stuff... But it's apples 4th Generation iPhone... So only 34% know what it really means... I knew the number had to have been swapped somewhere
I'm waiting for the upcoming 5G
This is not a story, this is bullshit.
And YOU, Rob Malda, are a wanker for allowing such crap to be on your increasingly
irrelevant website.
I always thought it was used to denote which generation a particular model was. My old iPod was an iPod 5G. That sometimes caused confusion in thinking it meant it had 5 Gig storage.
Now the iPod touches are classified as 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G.
So, with that, I thought it was iPhone 4G, just meaning it was the 4th generation of iPhones and had nothing to do with 4G service.
99% of Cell Service Providers think 3G is 4G (apparently).
to "34% of iPhone Owners Think the 4 means 4G cellular network"
And 99% of Verizon's "4G" customers actually think that's 4G. Another reader made a nice observation above: consumers are idiots. That is true, and telecoms are their tonic.
What's a Bieber?
Actually, despite the best efforts of many a PR department, 4G does mean something.
So 34% think the "4" in "iPhone 4" = "4G".
Okay, so what does "4G" mean in this case? Between all the confusion of marketing from multiple angles, in addition to traditional generational references to other Apple devices (ex. the current iPod Nano is sometimes referred to as "iPod Nano 6G"), and MAYBE just not being as in-tune to technology as some of us here, maybe people aren't going to know or simply misunderstand?
Are these people "stupid" as suggested by some? Uninformed, oblivious maybe, but REALLY, are we talking about truly all-around unintelligent beings here? REALLY?
86% of iphone owners are idiots.
As I understand it, i686 was the Pentium Pro, II, III, and M. Did the Pentium 4/D, Core, Core 2, and Core i generations have an official i*86 part number?
That's funny, that's exactly what I did last night. Your wife gets around.
Oh right.
29% of Android owners do too - some may be legit 4G phones, but those phones sure as hell don't make up 29% of the market.
24% of Blackberry too - even though they don't offer a 4G model.
That's what I was thinking... this basically just looks like:
one quarter to one third of smartphone owners have no
fucking idea what they own.
-AI
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion
The McTribe is known for their lack of knowledge. If it's shiny and there's a fruit logo on it, then it is good. Never mind company lock-in policies.
No, the Core series is i686. the Pentium series was 586
Then why does GCC treat -march=i686 as Pentium Pro, covering all P6 architecture-based CPUs? I've requested a clarifying citation over at Wikipedia's P6 article.