Dumb Shit

So, there are just a few TeeVee shows that I'm drawn to: How the Universe Works and Nova among them. Mostly for the universe topics. Tonight's Nova wasn't about the universe, but the 'rise' of China's tech sector. The crux of the episode is Huawei, which means, mostly, cellphones. Turns out that the 'tech writer' responsible for the presentation (I didn't note whether he's among the show writers) sounds more like a China propagandist. The first third to half of the episode is about Huawei's 5G 'innovation' and, of course, the banning of the company.

So, here's the dumb shit part: the 'tech writer' narrator makes a big deal out of Huawei's dominance in 5G infrastructure, crowing about how their 5G gear makes 5G so much better than what comes before and that Huawei is so much ahead of the good ole USofA. We all know, don't we, that such is 4G/LTE, yes? Well, soto voce, the narrator tells us that Huawei's 700 Mhz gear is what makes 5G the high-button shoes of tomorrow. And we all know, don't we, that the key to such devices is the litho machines from ASML? (The narration finally does admit that much later. Key parts are made right here in The Land of Steady Habits.) Yikes!!!

It would be nice if such programs spent a few minutes deciphering for the viewer the difference among: low (700 Mhz), mid (C-band Ghz), and mmWave (high Ghz) 5G. 700 Mhz 5G is only distinguishable from LTE by instruments, not cellphone users. Gad. One might wonder how much Xi paid PBS for this dumb shit.