What Does The ‘G’ Stand For With 4G Phones?

If you know the answer you're under the age of 35 or a smart middle-aged person. I am not. When I was in Florida spending time with Dad and many people in their 70s, they looked at my 4G phone like I was some sort of time traveler. "What does the 'G' stand for", asked a 79 year old friend of my father. Embarrassed I replied, "ummm, gooder?"

Well I was sort of correct as the 'G' stands for 'generation' and 4G is clearly 'gooder' than 1st, 2nd or 3rd generation phones. I just had to do some research to discover just how far we've come from those big bulky first generation phones of the 70s & 80s.

According to ArticlesBase.com we sure have come a long way in the cell phone world. In the beginning, the "cell phone" was kinda like a walkie-talkie or CB radio with a limited number of frequencies. Then the 1G phone had analog technology which could handle more than 359 simultaneous voice exchanges. Some early wireless phones could only transmit voice calls.

About a decade later, analog was transformed into digital technology and the introduction of the 2G technology. The best way to describe digital technology is that a copy of the audio will sound exactly like the original. 2G cell phones allowed multiple users on a single channel. Now users could make both voice calls and save and send data. This gave use fax machines and text messages.

Then 3G was developed. Cell phone users could now transmit video, audio, and applications, as well as enjoy better streaming quality. Soon we were video conferencing on our cell phones. 3.5G soon followed, concentrating on faster speeds to support the ever-increasing data needs of cell phone users.

Without a doubt, 4G phones are the fastest phones out there. When it comes to videos and audio, (HD) or high-definition, streaming and surfing the web, more and more 4G cell phones are being made to accommodate our hunger for the best.

It's safe to say that 5G is just around the corner. For sure, 5G would be even faster with extremely high speeds for cell phone users allowing them use available bandwidth more efficiently. I can't wait for what's next, because we've come a long way baby.