How is it silly or pretentious to accurately list one's qualifications? Google the word pretentious and it says, "attempting to impress by affecting greater importance, talent, culture, etc., than is actually possessed." Earning a PhD means that you earned the right to be called Dr. the "D" in PhD stands for doctor.
There's likely some regional differences here. In the United States it's considered extremely pretentious to refer to yourself as "Doctor" if you are not a medical doctor. As a general point of etiquette, earning the right to be referred to with an honorific title by others does NOT give you the right to refer to yourself with that title. For example, you would never refer to yourself as "Mister Name".
All that said, who cares? Ian's obviously not American so it doesn't make any sense to apply American standards of etiquette, and he doesn't really come off as pretentious generally so I'm not sure why he felt the need to point it out.
Clarification: in my final sentence I meant that Ian doesn't come off as pretentious generally so I'm not sure why the OP felt the need to point out that he called himself Doctor.
Ian is from the UK as am I and we see no issue here in the use of of Doctor before your name such as the example here.
It may be looked at differently in the US, but Anandtech is an international site with international writers and an international user base and some people would do well to remember that.
I'm assuming you guys are referring to the written portion above, where it says "Featuring: Dr. Ian Cutress". And if so... Oh come on. I'm from the US and I've never heard of it being "extremely pretentious" to include your title when identifying yourself in formal writing... unless you're a "medical doctor". What are you talking about? It's not at all unusual for a Ph.D to include their title in formal letters.
Maybe it's just a regional thing... "Pretentious" can have pretty broad definitions in certain parts of the US.
In a professional context, using the title "Dr." for someone with a Doctorate degree is common practice, even in the US. It could be considered pretentious to do so at a house party, but no matter how much fun this podcast is, it is not a house party. Protip: introducing yourself simply as The Doctor will either get you cheers, jeers, or puzzled looks, depending on the crowd.
Actually in Germany LTE is used even if you don't have a LTE contract. You are just limited to 3G speed, but you use the LTE connectivity. Which it's awesome, since it has far lower power consumption.
Also carriers are starting (O2) to phase out non-LTE-contracts alltogether.
I'm glad to see the podcast is back. However, if you guys are going to be doing these on a regular basis then I think you need to invest in higher quality microphones! It will really help with speech intelligibility.
Also when discussing the Galaxy S6, all you did was run off a spec list. Where is the description of how it felt to use, smoothness, screen and build quality and the rest?
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Mondozai - Wednesday, March 18, 2015 - link
C'mon Ian, you're calling yourself Dr. now? PhD or not, that is rather silly & pretentious :)Still looking forward to the podcast!
LarrDog - Wednesday, March 18, 2015 - link
How is it silly or pretentious to accurately list one's qualifications? Google the word pretentious and it says, "attempting to impress by affecting greater importance, talent, culture, etc., than is actually possessed." Earning a PhD means that you earned the right to be called Dr. the "D" in PhD stands for doctor.LtGoonRush - Wednesday, March 18, 2015 - link
There's likely some regional differences here. In the United States it's considered extremely pretentious to refer to yourself as "Doctor" if you are not a medical doctor. As a general point of etiquette, earning the right to be referred to with an honorific title by others does NOT give you the right to refer to yourself with that title. For example, you would never refer to yourself as "Mister Name".All that said, who cares? Ian's obviously not American so it doesn't make any sense to apply American standards of etiquette, and he doesn't really come off as pretentious generally so I'm not sure why he felt the need to point it out.
LtGoonRush - Wednesday, March 18, 2015 - link
Clarification: in my final sentence I meant that Ian doesn't come off as pretentious generally so I'm not sure why the OP felt the need to point out that he called himself Doctor.Coup27 - Thursday, March 19, 2015 - link
Ian is from the UK as am I and we see no issue here in the use of of Doctor before your name such as the example here.It may be looked at differently in the US, but Anandtech is an international site with international writers and an international user base and some people would do well to remember that.
dragonsqrrl - Friday, March 20, 2015 - link
I'm assuming you guys are referring to the written portion above, where it says "Featuring: Dr. Ian Cutress". And if so... Oh come on. I'm from the US and I've never heard of it being "extremely pretentious" to include your title when identifying yourself in formal writing... unless you're a "medical doctor". What are you talking about? It's not at all unusual for a Ph.D to include their title in formal letters.Maybe it's just a regional thing... "Pretentious" can have pretty broad definitions in certain parts of the US.
alphasquadron - Wednesday, March 18, 2015 - link
That's Doctor Ian to you. Also Ian, I've been having really bad heartburn lately what do you recommend?Coup27 - Wednesday, March 18, 2015 - link
Have some respect.tjoynt - Monday, March 23, 2015 - link
In a professional context, using the title "Dr." for someone with a Doctorate degree is common practice, even in the US. It could be considered pretentious to do so at a house party, but no matter how much fun this podcast is, it is not a house party.Protip: introducing yourself simply as The Doctor will either get you cheers, jeers, or puzzled looks, depending on the crowd.
Intervenator - Wednesday, March 18, 2015 - link
YYYYYEEEEESSSSS!Azune - Wednesday, March 18, 2015 - link
Actually in Germany LTE is used even if you don't have a LTE contract. You are just limited to 3G speed, but you use the LTE connectivity. Which it's awesome, since it has far lower power consumption.Also carriers are starting (O2) to phase out non-LTE-contracts alltogether.
blanarahul - Friday, March 20, 2015 - link
You're so lucky. :(syxbit - Wednesday, March 18, 2015 - link
I'll listen to this on the bus ride home.I was hoping you'd talk about the Nvidia Shield, but I guess you covered the Tegra x-1 last time :)
Laxaa - Wednesday, March 18, 2015 - link
The podcast is back! Looking forward to hearing your takes on the MWC announcements.Stochastic - Wednesday, March 18, 2015 - link
I'm glad to see the podcast is back. However, if you guys are going to be doing these on a regular basis then I think you need to invest in higher quality microphones! It will really help with speech intelligibility.SoC-IT2ME - Thursday, March 19, 2015 - link
Agreed, why such low quality audio?!Also when discussing the Galaxy S6, all you did was run off a spec list. Where is the description of how it felt to use, smoothness, screen and build quality and the rest?