[Fed-Talk] More Bars - a useless indicator
[Fed-Talk] More Bars - a useless indicator
- Subject: [Fed-Talk] More Bars - a useless indicator
- From: Todd Heberlein <email@hidden>
- Date: Sat, 10 Jul 2010 10:14:29 -0700
20 years ago processor speeds used to be measured in MIPS - "Millions of Instructions Per Second". People soon began joking that MIPS stood for "Meaningless Index of Processor Speed" and the term was dropped from usage. I think the "bars" in your cellphone are even less reliable. Today's Wall Street Journal has the best article on the uselessness of these bars. Hidden Formulas Send Mixed Signals on Cellphones by Carl Bialik.
Here are some choice quotes:
There is no standard industry definition of what the number of signal bars shown on a cellphone should represent.
Many wireless companies and phone manufacturers won't reveal the math they use to convert signal strength to bars, calling the information proprietary.
The Android's software is available on the Internet, but representatives for MotorolaInc., Samsung Electronics Co., Research in Motion Inc. and Nokia Corp. all declined to disclose the formula their handsets use
Representatives for the four major U.S. carriers—AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel Corp. and Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile USA—also declined to share formulas
Representatives for the Federal Communications Commission and CTIA, the wireless-industry trade group, say they have no rules or standards for signal bars.
It isn't that Apple is using the "wrong" formula or that they were "lying". The Bars are just B.S. for everyone.
Todd |
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