TechTheDay

So the world has finally entered 2019 and with CES and MWC out of the way, people turn their heads to video games for this year’s E3. Tech companies had a lot of things that they presented this year, but one topic rose above the rest and that’s 5G. People have talked about 5G a lot since last year and with the coming of 2019, it is expected that tech companies are going to be putting the final touches to their 5G-compliant products. It doesn’t matter if it is a smart refrigerator or a smart sex toy. What matters is that when ISPs launch their 5G networks by the end of this year, everything will still be up and running for different products and services that’s is being used by people today.

Faster Networks, Better Services

There is certainly a lot of things you can do if the speed of data transfer becomes faster. One of these is streaming. If the internet does become faster you can expect companies that offer streaming services for all kinds of content to appear. “What kind of content” you may ask?

1. Entertainment Content (like Music, Movies, and TV Shows) – People have been doing this for a long time and if the speed of the internet further improves, it might make it practical enough to warrant the death of the old traditional media that is the television. The internet has already caused the death of the newspaper because it is simply more practical to disseminate information through the internet and just get paid for ads and clicks instead of having it printed on paper, which adds more cost. It has also caused the collapse of the traditional CD industry because music is much easier to sell and spread online than they are on CDs.
2. Systems – So imagine that your company bought a system that will be used for its operations. You wanted the different branches of your company across the world to use the same system and you want them to start using it all at the same time. The answer for that is to create a server in your headquarters and install the system there, and just have your different branches connect to the server to use the system. This way of using centralized systems are already being done by different companies today. And it will even be more practical in the future should 5G becomes a reality.
3. Video Games – This is a very touchy subject when it comes to newer gamers, who are used to seeing “games as service” business practices, versus the older generation of gamers, who are more used to the idea that video games meant that people should be able to own a physical representation of what they buy. This will intensify even more if, like the example of no.2 above, game companies just stream their games to people and expect people to pay them to be able to play it. Of course, pay-to-play online services have died a long time ago with the first generations of Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPG). But some form of it still lives if the gamers get something in return, the physical copy of the game itself. Remove that and older people will be more reluctant to buy games, while younger people might welcome the idea.

Improvements

Just like every piece of new technology, however, there may be adverse effects. 5G requires that signal frequencies get smaller and this can dangerously affect people, animals, and the environment. There is already news about how a 5G test in Europe ended up killing birds.

That just means that the technology isn’t perfect yet and tech companies will need to work together to make 5G safe, environment-friendly, and commercially possible. If they succeeded, it will be the biggest leap forward yet for the internet.