The iPhone 4 Does Not Mean 4G

All across the United States and around the world, when the world renowned computer giant Apple Inc. debuts a new product, people will line up for hours outside of the store hoping to make it inside to get their hands on it. A product launch inspires the same insanity as Bieber Fever, except the excitement hits the middle-aged gadget geek crowd. This obsessive brand loyalty is not only based on the fact that the company produces innovative wireless Internet products with appealing designs. The same could be said for a number of different Fortune 500 tech companies that do not have half as much cache as the Silicon Valley monolith does in today’s marketplace. It is because Apple has managed to center its branding on something that eludes most companies: the cool factor. With its sleek, minimalist white and black designs and its invention of the iPod, the ultimate MP3 player, as well as its highly memorable "I’m a Mac"/"I’m a PC" commercials, the company continues to dominate the market of young, hip, and contemporary.



But any time a company or an individual starts to succeed largely based on its own coolness, the savvy consumer needs to step back and ask whether or not the product that they are making continues to live up to its mystique. That said, this article will examine whether or not the iPhone 4 is really all that it is cracked up to be, or whether it is just another victim of the cult of (brand) personality.



The first thing that must be considered is the kind of service that it gets. Remember, the whole point of getting a smart phone is having it be able to connect to wireless Internet no matter where you are or what you are doing. So does this latest phone stack up? Sadly, no. The iPhone 4 has a deceptive name, because many customers purchased the device assuming that they would be able to get on the nation’s high-speed 4G networks with it. This is especially true for people who waited until the nation’s biggest cell phone carrier Verizon started selling the device. Verizon was known for its rapid expansion of its 4G networks across the country, especially when compared to the original seller of the iPhone, AT&T. With phones that function on 4G promising speeds of up to four times those of 3G networks, it does not really make sense to sink so much money into a phone that is actually behind the times technology-wise!



The next thing to consider is price. If you already have an account with one of the two providers that offer the phone, then as long as you are eligible for an upgrade you should be able to get a decent price. But if you are not eligible for a new phone, or you need to break a contract with another provider that does not offer the smart phone, then you could end up spending more than $600 for the phone alone! This hardly seems worth it considering that it won’t even connect to a 4G network.



For more reasonable smart phone deals, check out www.clearwirelessinternet.net/clear-internet-deals.html.