Stupidity is a hallmark of this Verge writer (5G misinformation)

Technology General Discussion
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So I’ve never been a fan of his; I generally find him to be a hyper opinionated bloviator.

But this latest is by far his worst. He makes so many misleading, inaccurate and flat out wrong statements, I lost count half way through . Normally I’d just ignore him but apparently he’s arguably the most read pontificator on the Verge now that Patel went to work for Google.

I will admit that the rollout of 5G has been both slower and more problematic than I expected, but especially with the increased proliferation of the sub 6 bands, there have been real tangible benefits to anyone with a 5G device.

So yes, I’ll fully admit that I’m a proponent of the potential of 5G, but I am just baffled by the point of this. Tell people to by the iPhone SE??? Just try to convince people that he’s smarter than everyone else??? (that’s the scenario i pick)

EDIT: And it’s like he hasn’t even read the industries own whitepapers on where and who mm wave benefits

This is the type of stuff that makes me want to throw things at my computer :rage:

Apple’s iPhone SE is the nail in the mmWave 5G coffin - The Verge

EDIT: And Sagan over at PC Mag is joining the stupidity parade this morning as well…

Does the New iPad Air Make the iPad Pro Obsolete? | PCMag

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Yeah, I find there’s a bit of looseness with facts to fit a narrative that riles people up. But that probably describes most media/blogging these days when instant views and likes are incentivized.

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Hollister’s second sentences said it all:

“When I rejoined The Verge in 2018, my first big assignment looked like an absolute peach — fly to the gorgeous Hawaiian island of Maui, sip cool drinks on the sand ( The Verge paid for my trip; we don’t accept junkets), and become one of the first journalists to experience blazing 5G speeds at a Qualcomm event. Instead, I found myself exposing a lie.”

Mighty Sean exposed the lie. And don’t even get me started on dear Sasha - he is the KING of self-important know-it-alls around the world. I would be the first to admit that Apple has run the Air right up to the line of iPad Pro, but he completely exposes himself in the end with the inevitable fact of an iPad Pro 2022 that will widen the gap again - why be so disingenuous with his lead argument of obsoleting the iPad Pro. By his own benchmark, last year’s iPad Mini 6 “obsoleted” the iPad Air 4 at that time as well…

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I feel like starting a thread “Is TPCR getting too cranky?” :yum:

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Yeah, so what ya goin’ to do about it Joey… :stuck_out_tongue: :stuck_out_tongue: :stuck_out_tongue:

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I can’t really contribute to the discussion here as I refuse to visit The Verge.

And I was quite active on their forums in the beginning. I very quickly soured of them. Terrible journalism that I simple won’t support.

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The problem isn’t with the Verge per se, but the type of tech journalism that they somewhat pioneered. The original premise was solid which was to review and comment on tech, more from an actual consumer oriented view and not the gearheads aesthetic that was predominant up until then.

My problem specifically is with the writer I linked to (and many like him now on various web sites) that get success and readership and from that start drinking their own Kool-Aid. In other words what they like and dislike, and what they deem important or not is WHAT MATTERS. When the reality is that the needs and wants of those buying tech now are more diverse than ever.

I’m certain that he (and Sam Byford, someone else that just infuriates me) get the most “clicks” and thus the incentive to let them keep producing their BS.

In other words, we are experiencing and also care more about this because we are enthusiasts and see through their garbage.

Sadly their style seems to be prevailing at least right now, even more broadly. And it extends to things like Audio reviews, music and book reviews as well where it far more “this is what matters to me” than objective thoughtful discussion Have you read a book review lately?

And I don’t see it getting better at least in the near term as it’s giving the public what they at least think they want. Heck I’m an at least reluctant perpetuator of it both by reading the article and in turn linking to it and discussing it here.

And I don’t really have any real idea how to combat it, other than talk about it as more than ever the venue to see and learn about new tech is through these sites :frowning:

I absolutely know who to blame, Apple and the iPhone, but that’s a big topic for another post :slight_smile:

PS: Still keeping up my streak of at least one tome a week :slight_smile:

PPS: Despite his pontificating, the real reason that Apple didn’t put mm wave support in either the SE or the mini has far more to do with cost than anything, as adding it (especially the antennas and associated shielding) is a significant cost delta over supporting mid and low band.

And a consumer whose primary driver is cost is most likely not the same that will use/care about mm wave. And if they want/need it there is the regular iPhone line to support them (albeit at a higher cost)

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I gave them up around a decade ago and only visit when someone here posts a link. If the topic is interesting enough. I don’t hate them, it’s more like when your regular café goes downhill: it doesn’t always clean their mugs well—you get hot sauce on the lip, yuck!—and the pastries aren’t very fresh and tasty anymore. The waitfolk become impatient, even rude. Then they raise prices. So you go somewhere else instead.

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This is what irks me the most - these “journalists” miss the real facts - and yet thanks to the internet advertising model, clicks are all that count so it is a self-perpetuating nightmare. I too contribute to the problem because I fall for the click bait THEN kick my own *** for doing so… :woozy_face:

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Problem is I’ve started disliking almost all café’s! :grin: Glad we’ve got our neighborhood pub over here!

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Honestly, they were never that good anyway.

They came from Engadget, which was very much a tech tabloid. I say ‘came from’, but really it was a very acrimonious and bitter split.

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Maybe 5G and/or the iPhone SE just bring out something in these guys. Chaim Gartenberg had a real doozy himself:
[The 5G iPhone SE will be for carriers, not customers - The Verge]

In which he argues that a new 5G SE is just here to appease carriers, not actually benefit consumers. I’d argue that putting in an A15 and 5G future proofs these devices for the next four years, which is something a value shopper would want.

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wow all this fancy futuristic talk about 5g.

i’m still clinging to my 3g phone, until the whole network goes down.

but, i have a backup plan. i have a windows phone, that supports 4g,
so hopefully that networks should be around for awhile, before being forced to upgrade.
from what i read, it ‘might’ be there for a decade or so. so i won’t have to get another
phone. (i hope).

later
-1

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You know, I have never yet experienced 5G except noticing it show up on my phone as I passed through the outskirts of Las Vegas last October. I didn’t stop to try it out. Tomorrow I travel to a location that shows 5G and I plan to stay a month, so we’ll see what this newfangled technology is like.

And yes, I know it’s not about speed advantage over LTE with the low band stuff I’ll encounter. But for the past week I’ve been on AT&T’s 5Ge (aka 4G LTE Advanced) and I think it’ll be hard to beat.

AT&T Fake 5G

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My real complaint is that AT&T should be hamstrung until they change that signal indicator to 4Ge - it is not a species of 5G. When I finally got a 5G phone and lit up 5G here in Midland I could tell the difference right away. BUT, I also notice I have to do a reset more often to get my 13 Pro to take advantage of that speed. I met a client for lunch and could barely text him directions, then did the reset and it was blazing again.

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Ditto with my iPhone 13 Pro on LTE. Any time it gets sluggish or web pages stall, even blanking out and claiming no internet connection, I do airplane mode and back to reset it. Always works but such an annoyance. :anger:

Agreed about the AT&T indicator falsehood. How do they get away with that? Maybe there aren’t any legal rules on the matter, but it’s terribly misleading.

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I’ll give that a try - much easier than hard reset! As for AT&T, you’d think that is false advertising, but guess nobody cares (Justice Department busier investigating the Biden and Trump families(…

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Actually the “blame” goes all the way back to Bush and 3G. The FCC wanted it to actually to display at least somewhat useful information such as (band 11) But Sprint (along with Intel)who tried unsuccessfully with their own proprietary early version of 4G called “WiMax” successfully sued claiming the that the FCC rules(suggestions) were restricting trademark.

And the lobbyists for the telecoms have persisted since.

And that’s why phones also to this day are sometimes recalcitrant to switch as you describe due to lack of clear standards on naming which could trigger software to switch more smartly.

The same issue existed for awhile in the A B C era of WIFI too.

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THAT is the real answer…

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well, it was bound to happen.

my 3g phone, has finally given up on working properly. it still boots and everything,
but its time to say goodbye to windows phone 7.8 (i could just get another used
one, but really, i think i can let it go at this point).

so NOW, i’ve moved over to a windows 10 phone, the lumia 650. which is a dual sim
phone, that handles 4g.

now, theres a little LTE symbol in the indicators. well i guess i’m ready to join the futuristic
world.

supposedly, tmobile, and other companies, will support this standard for the next decade,
so i’ve got 10 more years of windows phone to look forward to. now, if i could just get
use to a touchscreen.

i already have a bluetooth keyboard for it, but its pretty big. so i’ll have to order a smaller one,
to do the texting and other functions. i don’t think they make keyboard cases for this form factor.

later
-1

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