Sprint Cutting Unlimited 4G Data Plans 325
itwbennett writes "In a notice posted Thursday on the customer support section of its website, Sprint said it would impose monthly data caps on plans for all tablets, laptops, netbooks, USB and PC Card modems, and mobile hotspot devices — everything, that is, except smartphones. The caps will begin with each subscriber's next bill following notification, the carrier said."
iPhones seem to herald the end of flat-rate data. (Score:4, Insightful)
Seems like when the iPhone comes, unlimited data always goes despite the baseless concerns on data usage. All this should do is just make people figure out how to make everything look like a smartphone.
Welcome back to yesteryear when everything is nickel-and-dimed, since nobody will provide flat-rate data.
Re:iPhones seem to herald the end of flat-rate dat (Score:3, Insightful)
Welcome back to AT&T of yesteryear where douchebag hipsters on their iPhones hog all the bandwidth
Re:iPhones seem to herald the end of flat-rate dat (Score:3, Insightful)
Hook, line and sinker. Bandwidth is there to be used.
Hogging the network is a cop-out.
Re:They better stop advertising it as "unlimited". (Score:5, Insightful)
Smartphones still are and will be unlimited for the foreseeable future..
until next week?
until next month?
Smartphones Unlimited Until the sales dry out (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:An opportunity to get out of your plan (Score:5, Insightful)
They made an unenforceable threat and you caved instead of calling them out just as they expect. Grow a pair next time and don't let them bullshit you.
Re:They better stop advertising it as "unlimited". (Score:4, Insightful)
Smartphones still are and will be unlimited for the foreseeable future. They never advertised unlimited for the USB modems.
Given that a modern smartphone is pretty much a 3G/4G modem with a screen, and connection sharing is built into most of those devices, that's a pretty blurry line.
Re:They better stop advertising it as "unlimited". (Score:4, Insightful)
Look dickweed, I don't begrudge someone making money, but for what they charge for their "unlimited" data to a fucking smart phone is akin to what you can buy REALLY unlimited via your cable, dsl, etc. I know you are going to say, "But it comes magically through the air to you!" Really? No shit? This happens so often with technology is pisses me off. They come out with something they can rape you on, they get together and set the prices to so they can all rape you together and until too many hungry fuckers get in the game and screw it up for them, they keep raping away. Remember back when we paid a quarter a minute on the phone, or higher? They had the tech to make it a flat fee and make plenty of damn money off it, but is that enough to make great money? Fuck no, they have to make OMFG money, and it's easy with these pussy politicians that they buy lock stock and barrel at prices that would make whores blush.
Don't give me your pretzel logic for defending this horseshit, unless you work for these cocksuckers. Then I understand.
As far as making money, how about someone comes over to your house and kicks your teeth down your throat if you don't give them whatever they want? That's "making money", are you going to whine about that? Of course you will, because it's WRONG. You see, that is the beauty of living in something called a "society", we get to make up the rules of what is "wrong". But of course that is currently bullshit, because we don't get to make the rules anymore, the corporate cocksuckers do because they OWN the rule makers. This is why every time you turn around to buy something or pay a bill you are getting FUCKED, they all want as much out of you as they can possibly squeeze.
But if you don't "get it", I understand. Untold fortunes have been spent to brainwash Americans into a disgusting "serf mentality" to be good little drones and wish someday they too will be like those they are told to idolize. I can't undo that kind of brain damage in a couple of posts. Sweet Jesus, if I could I would be the savior of mankind wouldn't I? Who wants that? You end up on a cross or something.
So, Fido, be a good dog and pay that high price just to check your email for more dick enlarging spam or tweeting what you had for lunch to the other dogs. Holy fuck, you sure don't want to miss out on a nanosecond of Facebook, so by all means, don't let me get in your way. I am so damn sorry I bothered to protest the high price of a trifle of data. What was I thinking? I will go gouge out my eyes with a spoon in shame for such atrociousness. Set me on fire with a flame thrower please.
Re:Typical carrier garbage (Score:4, Insightful)
What's the rational behind capping one type of use, but not others? If it's network congestion, why does it matter how the network is being congested?
It's like a restaurant that offers an "all you can eat" buffet and doesn't allow your elephant in.
You don't pay for your data usage. You pay for the average data usage of everybody who has the same contract as you. So they disallow types of use that on the average lead to more network use, and allow types that on the average use less bandwidth.
So if you pay for "up to 5 GB" you are actually charged for "average use of anyone on the 5 GB plan", which is a lot less than 5 GB.
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:They better stop advertising it as "unlimited". (Score:5, Insightful)
I hate to be the one to say this, mostly because I have no doubt I will get flamed and/or modded to hell for it, but I'm feeling adventurous this morning, so here goes:
*deep breath*
Nobody is forcing you to buy a cellular data plan, or indeed buy any cell plan at all. It is perfectly possible to live life in the modern age without any kind of cellphone, and still take part in all that modern life has to offer without having to live like the Amish. You simply have to decide what is important to you.
If having that smartphone with data plan is important to you, then so be it. Be prepared to deal with the companies that sell that type of plan in your area. If you don't like the selections of companies or the manner in which these companies conduct business, then you must decide if that is more important to you than having the phone.
If your principles are more important, then to be true to them you MUST cancel your smartphone plan and go back to a land line and/or VOIP using an answering machine. Or possibly a smartphone without a cell plan using Wifi and Google Voice.
If having that smartphone is most important, then I would say that while you still have the right to your principles and opinion, they hold significantly less weight and are worth little regard to others as you yourself clearly don't believe in them enough to alter your life to suit them. In which case you are little more than a ranting, grouchy troll.
That said, I don't entirely disagree with you, It certainly does seem that the prices for cellular data plans remain artificially high, and the dropping of unlimited plans is not something that customers should want. However, if one looks at the big picture, one realizes that prices have actually come down overall for these plans.
If you think about it, back just 25 years ago a $100 a month cell plan with unlimited talk time was utterly unheard of. The best you could do was something like 1000 minutes and the prices were closer to $200 a month. And data couldn't be had for any price. Now you can get a single person plan with unlimited talk, text and (in Sprint's case, data) for right around $100 a month. Now, you may say that it hasn't come down far enough, fast enough, but ultimately that's a function of the market. If you don't like the prices, don't take part. Cellphones are (despite the protestations of /. members) still a luxury item.
Volume =/= liquidity (Score:5, Insightful)
Volume is not liquidity. If you have two computers trading a stock back and forth (in order to manipulate its price) that increases volume a lot but the liquidity is basically unchanged.
Then there are things like flash orders or whatever they're called which are neither about volume or liquidity but simply about giving an edge to those with a fast connection to the stock exchange... Essentially they can find out bid information which is supposed to be secret.
Your defense of HFT is weak.
Re:They better stop advertising it as "unlimited". (Score:3, Insightful)
Until they can get the rest of the cartel to follow suite.