Slashdot Mirror
iPad Bait and Switch — No More Unlimited Data Plan
_KiTA_ writes "AT&T announced today that the iPhone will gain tethering, finally, at an extra $20 a month, but only for people on a new 2GB a month plan. They also quietly announced at the same time the real news — that the $30 Unlimited Data plan on the iPad 3G will be axed in lieu of the same data plan. Yes, this would be the same 'revolutionary data plan' that Steve Jobs was so proud of during the iPad unveiling — it lasted just a month after the 3G model was delayed to May 7. People feeling vibes of previous Apple iDevice releases are not alone. Existing accounts will be allowed to grandfather in, although Apple has removed the ability to purchase the iPad from the online store at this time, and AT&T has a history of changing its plans without warning. Finally, there is no word on what happens if you ever let your Unlimited plan lapse for a month at this time."
Sorry but if you can grandfather in then where's the beef? Really, are you being forced into buying these devices, in some cases for an obnoxious amount of money, and then forced into buying full blown access plans?
Oh you are, I forgot, the price of being cool. Really for whom do you think the iPad was made, you? Try again. Try the publishers and providers. I watch as friends blow fifty to over a hundred a month on their phones/devices for access and start to get new respect for marketers.
If you have a business need then fine, get them to pay for it. But wants cost money. Either put up or shut up. Apple has convinced far too many that to be cool they have to have X and Y.
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
Seriously Apple WTF?
Steve Jobs and his inner circle at Apple must have known this all along. I can see Steve Jobs conspiring with AT&T, something like this, with Steve Jobs doing all the talking: As soon as the iPad proves itself, as soon as we sell two million ipads, we can jack the prices up and suck some more money out of the bastards. Trust me fellows, I have been doing it like forever at the Apple iTunes Store. Can't wait for the Android and Microsoft tablets to hit the market, open system, true open systems, to be available at all carriers. this Apple monopoly needs to stop right now! DOJ, FCC, FTC please investigate AT&T and especially Apple !!!
a blatant attempt to drive away iPad users (2GB for an entire month of browsing on a 10" device, really?
Yes, REALLY.
When you consider that most of the time you'd be using the iPad somewhere like home or a hotel - with WiFi.
For most users, 2GB is actually plenty for a months worth of use. And if it's not, they simply pay more for what they need.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I have been waiting for data plan prices to become more reasonable
Well then here you go! The plan is $5/month cheaper now over what it was! Don't you have WiFi in your home at all to avoid using only the data network? Have you ever looked at your ACTUAL monthly data usage on a smart phone? Mine is not even close to 2GB/month, even using tethering.
In fact if you do have WiFi and are mostly doing stuff around WiFi, you might well opt for the even CHEAPER DataPlus plan -just 200MB/month on the cell network, but it's also only $15 instead of $25 (and remember the current plan was $30). For those who mostly use WiFi, isn't it nice to have a choice? I mean, Slashdot in general seems to say they are about choice, but when an actual choice is presented they growl like a rabid ferret.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I don't, I'm getting tired of people responding to any criticism of Apple as a "why do you hate freedom!?". Yes, they're free to change their terms for new customers, just as we're free to say they're greedy fucks for doing so.
Or, to paraphrase the GP... how terrible that we have dared use our freedom of speech to criticize Apple's move. Vile, just vile.
No problem is insoluble in all conceivable circumstances.
ou and the GP are hilariously off base in two key aspects. First of all, yes this new plan system _may_ be cheaper for 95% of the people out there. However the 5% who it won't be cheaper for are disproportionately concentrated on geeky sites like slashdot.
Wrong. I am a very heavy data user and I have yet to crest 1GB/month, ever.
What you have totally forgotten is that REALLY heavy network users (read: the technical folk here at slashdot) simply could never live without a faster wired network today - which means they have WiFi wherever they spend a lot of time.
The 5% of people I was talking about are those that have no other good data options, not true of 95% of the users on Slashdot either.
Second, you and the GP are pretty much saying, it's not that bad, and besides now we can do tethering! ... so you're excited that the average cost per MB has gone up,
And here we see a geek driven to utter stupidity, calculating an "average cost per MB" which is a meaningless figure when YOU NEVER GET NEAR THE CAP!
I mean, the ACTUAL REALITY here is that I pay $5 less, every month, for the same data usage I've had for years now. Only on Slashdot would you find someone so out of touch as to even attempt to calculate a gain into a loss. And only on Slashdot, would they be so full of themselves as to think they had succeeded!
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Dead wrong. I've had NOT ONE LIMITATION on filesize sent over 3G, from youtube to vimeo.
Remember how I was talking about an application from the app store?
Try buying a large app from the app store over 3G. Go on, we'll wait.
For you to say you are sorry for the confusion and how you will do a little research before posting again.
You see, being an iPhone/iPad developer I am very cognizant of how small you need to make binaries so users can purchase them on 3G...
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
No less underhanded than dropping the price o the iPhone two months after it came out. The question is, did Apple have a plan in the works with AT&T to do this, or did AT&T just stab Apple in the back after a HUGE product launch in which the data plans were a significant talking point?
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