Bridging the Reality Gap

Bridging the Reality Gap

Too often we fail to learn from lessons of the past. As an industry, we have over 20
years of experience in designing cellular handsets and deploying cellular networks.
The past tells us precisely what is and what is not possible in terms of future technology
deployment. This allows us to detect when reality gaps occur. Reality gaps are
those between technical practicality and wishful thinking. They happen all the time
and can be particularly painful when technically complex systems are being deployed.
Almost all technologies start with a reality gap. The technology fails to deliver as
well as expected. Some technologies never close the gap and become failed technologies.
Some people can make money from failed technologies, but the majority doesn’t.
Failed technologies ultimately fail because they do not deliver user value.
We also tend to forget that user expectations and customer expectations change over
time. Atechnology has to be capable of sufficient dynamic range to be able to continue
to improve as the technology and user expectations mature. Failed technologies often
fail because they cannot close the reality gap and cannot catch up with changing user
expectations.
Successful technologies are technologies that deliver along the whole industry value
chain�"device vendors, handset manufacturers, network manufacturers (software and
hardware vendors), network operators, and end users.
We aim to show how 3G technology is evolving to become a successful proposition,
both technically and commercially. We hope you enjoy and profit from the next 20
chapters.