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Semi conspiracy alert: 5G is mainly motivated by surveillance through IoT. 4G is still mostly ok as a regular "cellphone" network but isn't cheap enough to be e

Semi conspiracy alert: 5G is mainly motivated by surveillance through IoT. 4G is still mostly ok as a regular "cellphone" network but isn't cheap enough to be embedded in every device. Many consumer goods now have a wifi option (like my new dishwasher) but it still need to be configured after installation, which many people won't care to do. 5G will make it cheap enough for manufacturers to bundle always-on cellular modems in every device. The cost of networking plan will be assumed by the manufacturer and be offset by the value of telemetry data collected and subscription services made possible by the always-on network. Special dishwasher cycles for an extra 3$ and other shenanigans. Obsolence no longer has to be preprogrammed but can be declared unilaterally at the time most convenient by and for marketing departments.

AnthonyMouse 5y ago
I'm not seeing it. I mean yes, corporations are definitely going to attempt that and they can all die in a fire, but telemetry like that requires minimal bandwidth. It doesn't need "5G" for anything.
therein 5y ago
And beamforming is going to be useful for having precise location as a part of the protocol itself.
- alphabettsy 5y ago
  Doesn’t the number of antennas make location more precise without beamforming? Doesn’t seem like it has anything to do with location precision.
drevil-v2 5y ago
> 5G will make it cheap enough for manufacturers to bundle always-on cellular modems in every device How do you figure that? Is there something special about the 5G electronics and chipset manufacturing that make would make it much cheaper than 4G electronics? I don't think this is true.
- teruakohatu 5y ago
  Maybe scale? Not that long ago shields for Arduino with WiFi were crazy expensive, now esp8622 devices cost so little I don't know how many I have lying around.
IAmGraydon 5y ago
Why would 5G be cheaper to implement in IoT devices vs 4G?

AnthonyMouse 5y ago

I'm not seeing it. I mean yes, corporations are definitely going to attempt that and they can all die in a fire, but telemetry like that requires minimal bandwidth. It doesn't need "5G" for anything.

therein 5y ago

And beamforming is going to be useful for having precise location as a part of the protocol itself.

alphabettsy 5y ago
Doesn’t the number of antennas make location more precise without beamforming? Doesn’t seem like it has anything to do with location precision.

drevil-v2 5y ago

> 5G will make it cheap enough for manufacturers to bundle always-on cellular modems in every device How do you figure that? Is there something special about the 5G electronics and chipset manufacturing that make would make it much cheaper than 4G electronics? I don't think this is true.

teruakohatu 5y ago
Maybe scale? Not that long ago shields for Arduino with WiFi were crazy expensive, now esp8622 devices cost so little I don't know how many I have lying around.

IAmGraydon 5y ago

Why would 5G be cheaper to implement in IoT devices vs 4G?