iPhone use strains resources
It always surprises me how many technical professionals seem to believe that there is no limit to the bandwidth that the Internet can provide. But there is a limit and the enormous growth in traffic created by the exploding transmission of video, images, and data is causing an increasing strain.
Where this might be heading is illustrated by AT&T’s problems with the traffic caused by its hosting of iPhone users. The New York Times business section has a story today about the iPhone problem:
Slim and sleek as it is, the iPhone is really the Hummer of cellphones.
It’s a data guzzler. Owners use them like minicomputers, which they are, and use them a lot. Not only do iPhone owners download applications, stream music and videos and browse the Web at higher rates than the average smartphone user, but the average iPhone owner can also use 10 times the network capacity used by the average smartphone user.
“They don’t even realize how much data they’re using,” said Gene Munster, a senior securities analyst with Piper Jaffray.
The result is dropped calls, spotty service, delayed text and voice messages and glacial download speeds as AT&T’s cellular network strains to meet the demand.
The AT&T network today, maybe the whole Internet tomorrow.
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