YADA, Yet Another Damn Acronym

Dan Jones, Mobile Editor

February 20, 2007

1 Min Read
Welcome to Acronym Hell

5:50 PM -- One of my least favorite aspects of the 3GSM Show was the fungi-like spread of yet another damn acronym.

This time it's HSUPA, which stands for high speed uplink packet access. This is the other side of the coin to HSDPA -- you guessed it -- high speed downlink packet access.

It's getting pretty silly when both sides of what is essentially a stepping-stone upgrade for third generation GSM networks each get their own acronym. That seems to be about where we're at in the mobile industry today though.

And I have to say I can be as guilty of using jargon and acronyms as anyone else as well. Just last week, our bearded Copy Chief-cum-Spirits Adviser called me out for using the words "Wave Two" in a WiMax story.

The scary thing is, I was using industry jargon in a bid to avoid more acronyms. To be considered as Wave 2 products, Mobile WiMax chipsets have to support stuff like MIMO and "beamforming" and... Well, you can see where this is headed.

It's hard not to feel a bit like less hip, more tech version of William S. Burroughs when you sit down to write a piece sometimes.Now stand back as I release my acronym horde...

— Dan Jones, Site Editor, Unstrung

About the Author(s)

Dan Jones

Mobile Editor

Dan is to hats what Will.I.Am is to ridiculous eyewear. Fedora, trilby, tam-o-shanter -- all have graced the Jones pate during his career as the go-to purveyor of mobile essentials.

But hey, Dan is so much more than 4G maps and state-of-the-art headgear. Before joining the Light Reading team in 2002 he was an award-winning cult hit on Broadway (with four 'Toni' awards, two 'Emma' gongs and a 'Brian' to his name) with his one-man show, "Dan Sings the Show Tunes."

His perfectly crafted blogs, falling under the "Jonestown" banner, have been compared to the works of Chekhov. But only by Dan.

He lives in Brooklyn with cats.

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