iPad Bait and Switch — No More Unlimited Data Plan 670
_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."
Hmmm (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Yes, how terrible that they are changing the terms that they are offering to new customers. Vile. Just vile.
I guess it's a bit of a bummer for the people that paid extra for the 3G with the idea that they might activate it only now and then, but I'm not sure they should have expected the terms to last forever (but expecting the terms to last for more than a month probably isn't crazy).
Re:Hmmm (Score:4, Insightful)
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Um, this ain't Apple. It's AT&T that's changing their available contract terms...
Apple & Google buy carriers? (Score:4, Interesting)
The real market, besides the devices themselves, is the services related to the devices. It's only a matter of time before cloud storage, on-demand extra processing power, app sells, and even ads are all major sources of income for these mobile devices so throwing in cheap data plans is just a way to get people spending on the other goodies.
Anyone that thinks Apple or Google aren't pushing for cheaper data plans is just blind. Why do you think Apple was selling the $30/mo unlimited no contract data plan so much? I bet Jobs is pissed at AT&T.
Re:Apple & Google buy carriers? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
I haven't found a wireless router with a 56.6k modem on it yet. I live in the US you upitty high speed internet user!! (or insensitive clod)
This is crazy, but not surprising. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
How, exactly, would they lose their shirts?
I get cable service to my house for something just short of $30/month - I don't pay much attention to the bills. It's pretty shoddy service as far as cable is concerned - only 5Mbit/2Mbit.
But it's under $30. For this cable installation they need to put in:
* Reels of very expensive copper cable.
* Fiber between neighborhoods.
* Relay boxes/aggregators/whatever they call them in each neighborhood.
* VoIP analog boxes on every house, whether they're using phone service
Re:This is crazy, but not surprising. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:This is crazy, but not surprising. (Score:4, Insightful)
At some point wireless networks will have capacity that far exceeds demand
This is so absurdly wrong that I'm doing away with moderating in this discussion to comment.
With a wired network you can always run more wire and fiber to increase bandwidth and create full duplex communication. You can multiplex different signals through the same fiber. You can do all of these things to continually increase bandwidth to a location because you can protect the signals from interference by a millimeter of shielding.
With a wireless network you have a limited number of frequencies that are usable. Only a limited number that aren't blocked/reflected by sheetrock, a piece of paper, or water vapor in the air. And the frequencies that do work get interference from reflections, devices that leak EM, and other broadcasting towers. For a given range of frequencies (the bandwidth) there are hard and fast rules about how many bits you can transmit. Not technological limitations, these are laws of the universe.
The only way to work around this is to make the cells smaller, which means you need more towers, and more costs. Say that you have 6 towers to cover an area, if you halve designed transmit distance, you'd need 24 towers to cover the same area. And that only works so far because you have to balance transmit distance with still having enough power to transmit though walls.
Perhaps if some sort of quantum entanglement method is created for cell phones that doesn't require EM radiation to operate, then unlimited wireless for everyone will be a reality. Until that point it's just delusions.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Luxury items (Score:2, Insightful)
Luxury prices. You want it, you get it, now shut up. I'll keep my PC, thankyouverymuch.
Why the Tech industry sucks. (Score:5, Insightful)
Outside of tech and telecom, are there any industries that can get away with "reserving the right" to "change the terms of this agreement without notice" or to sell products without "any implied fitness for merchantability or usefulness for any purpose"? Car companies and real estate deals could never operate with this kind of crap -- people just wouldn't stand for it.
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I've never had to deal with it outside of tech and telecom. I've been royally, and probably illegally screwed before by ISPs, including one which changed the terms of my contract, including removing the part that said terms couldn't be changed except with 30-day notice, then tried to charge me with "hacking" for accessing a shell account my contract gave me the right to access.
Sure, credit card companies adjust rates, but that is known (or should be) going into the deal... and now there is a law against do
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nor is it enforceable.
Lawyers can write what they want, 90% of it is worthless and means nothing. They just hope that you are not smart enough to understand that.
Litigation costs money (Score:3, Interesting)
nor is it enforceable.
It's enforceable if paying what the contract says would cost an individual customer less than hiring a lawyer to get a judge to declare it unenforceable.
Re: (Score:2)
I fail to see why contract issues would matter in this case. The 3G data plan is not on a contract. That was kinda the whole point, unlimited data just on the months you need it.
This is of course partially Apple's fault as well as AT&T, because Apple tied the iWhatevers to AT&T. Its about time that Apple gets hit with the same wonderful consideration that normal people receive every day when they are locked into a particular vendor.
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Yup... If AT&T were being honest they would also announce that all incoming SMS messages were now free once more, like it was.
but they dont want to let go of that money fountain either...
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iPhones aren't locked to a specific carrier in Canada, you can get them on Rogers, Bell or Telus.
And yet, amazingly, all three offer identical plans at identical rates.
Purely coincidental, of course, there's no collusion in telecommunications, just like there's no collusion at the gas pumps.
When iPad and iPhone are available on other US carriers, you have exactly the same situation to look forward to. You'll be able to get exactly the same plan at exactly the same price from any of 2-3 different "competitor
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Credit card companies, airlines,... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Credit card companies, airlines,... (Score:4, Informative)
It is illegal (in the US) for an airline to do that to you. If they cancel a flight (or even if circumstances force a cancellation), they have to provide you with an alternate flight. They even have to pay for accommodations if the next available flight is the next day.
If you use any kind of travel agency, they are free to charge you whatever they'd like for the rescheduling.
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Re:Credit card companies, airlines,... (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Why the Tech industry sucks. (Score:5, Insightful)
You got +5 Interesting, but are entirely off topic. AT&T are changing the plans they offer, existing customers don't lose their current plans.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
How about the airline industry? They can decide to do a lot of stuff on-the-fly. Like cancel your flight. Or have you pre-pay for a specific seat and when you board they tell you that the airplane has a different layout and that you will end up sitting somewhere else.
Or change how much luggage you can bring on board. Or what can be in that luggage. I'm very sure you cannot claim that it was allowed to bring a bottle of something on board at the time I purchased my ticket, so I want to bring it on board now.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: airlines -- there are legitimate changes in logistics due to mechanical failure, weather pattern changes, volcanoes, whatever else have you, that can affect what planes or crew are available, or whether or not the flight can safely take off.
I'm sure there are examples in other industries of this sort of thing happening from time-to-time, but it just seems to me to be endemic in tech and telecom. Look at software for instance -- "pay s $300 for the right to use what's on this plastic disk, but not owner
And the justification starts... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:And the justification starts... (Score:5, Funny)
Still Unlimited! (Score:5, Funny)
2gigs times 0k/sec
At this rate we all have an unlimited plan!
Complain Much? (Score:2, Insightful)
I agree that losing the unlimited plan isn't great, and that the new plans should be set higher than 200MB and 2GB per month.
Other than that you are off base. You can purchase the iPad online at Apple's website. How would you like AT&T to notify you of changing plans? They are changing the plans with a week's notice, if you don't like the new plan you don't have to switch to it. Simple. The new 200MB plan would probably work for most people and save them money since they have wifi in their home and
Re:Complain Much? (Score:5, Insightful)
The new 200MB plan would probably work for most people and save them money since they have wifi in their home and work.
What plan should people get if they can get 3G but not cable or DSL where they live?
This is me. i use sprint 3g on a mobile card, and am looking into using the EVO as a hotspot. I can see att losing many customers this way. but perhaps thats the plan. getting rid of the data suckers is cheaper than building better infrastructure?
Doesn't anyone remember their slogan? (Score:5, Funny)
"We're not happy until you are not happy"
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Re:Doesn't anyone remember their slogan? (Score:5, Informative)
We don't care. We don't have to. We're the Phone Company.
Not Just The iPad/iPhone - It's All Smartphones (Score:5, Insightful)
At first like the submitter I thought this was only for the iPhone and iPad, but after checking the press release from AT&T [att.com] it turns out it's for all Smartphones. So these are the new data plans for the iPhone, the iPad, the Nexus One (and all other Android phones), the N900 - everything.
AT&T claims that this will bring down bills for the average user, and I don't doubt this is true. However the better the Smartphone the easier it is to burn through data, so this seems to be a tactical strike against all high-end Smartphone users, and a blatant attempt to drive away iPad users (2GB for an entire month of browsing on a 10" device, really?). And this is timed to coincide with the launch of the next-gen iPhone, which is widely beleived to have a front-facing camera for video conferencing, which would burn through additional data. I also don't know how you're going to get away with significant video streaming on 2GB a month, but perhaps that's the idea?
Progress, it seems, is getting less for more. Ultimately the 5GB of data that actually came with an "unlimited" plan is now $25 + $30 in overages. It continues to amaze me just how far we've come since 2008...
Always has been... (Score:4, Interesting)
(on AT&T)
Tethering has always been more.
There have always been limits
-tethering was limited by the TOS
-a USB modem plan was $55 for 5GB (which is what the iPad is)
-a USB modem plan was $30 for 200MB
Apple forced a sweetheart deal on data with the iPhone so it would really shine (can you imagine an iPhone without data?), and AT&T's reputation suffered as a result of the onslaught of data usage.
Re:Not Just The iPad/iPhone - It's All Smartphones (Score:4, Insightful)
Switching from unlimited to a meter will have an effect on web advertising as well. Nobody in the right mind wants to pay for downloading ad videos.
Personally, I would welcome text-only internet if it comes to it. I kind of miss the environment of academy-only days of bitnet, email lists, usenet and gopher.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
I was outraged when I saw the press release, then a friend calmly asked how many GB of data I use. After going through the last 6 months of bill statements, it looks like I use anywhere from 140 - 200 MB per month. I use data pretty indiscriminately, so I assumed my usage numbers would be much higher.
AT&T is lowering my bill by $15/month? My mind has been blown.
Re:Not Just The iPad/iPhone - It's All Smartphones (Score:5, Funny)
I know what the ladies like.
Re:Did you forget entirely about WiFi? (Score:4, Insightful)
These days you just can't count on wifi to be open. I don't care if a nearby home or hotel has wifi if it's encrypted. These days it seems you have to be inside an establishment that offers wifi to have access to it - that leaves about 99% of the city where I'm stuck with cell coverage.
And just before the new iPhone ships too (Score:4, Insightful)
well, this will put a crimp in whether to purchase that snazzy new iPhone purportedly coming out this month. Nice, AT&T. First we find out that yes, AT&T has a 5 year exclusive deal, so yes, you will only be able to buy the new iPhone on AT&T's crappy network because you'll be there for 2 years. But now with the 2GB cap (tethered only? Or do you have the option of the original unlimited without it? The TFA doesn't say) it all of a sudden becomes hmmmm, should I? Maybe a Droid isn't so bad after all despite its shortcomings in usability.
The long and the short of this one is: guess I won't jump to the phone I really wanted if there is no unlimited plan, as I'm not interested in getting walloped with that nice $1/MB or whatever they're charging as overrage fees.
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Maybe a Droid isn't so bad after all despite its shortcomings in usability.
Wait, what?
Apple is like a new girlfriend... (Score:2, Informative)
Expected (Score:2)
Now they're just laughing at us.
I wonder if these changes were due to unexpected demand, and them knowing there's a larger amount of people who'll be happy to be gouged.
Slashdot ranting a bit here... (Score:5, Insightful)
So, they are producing two new dataplans that are cheaper then the current that they say cover 98% of their use base. To me, I think this means I'm going to at least save $5 a month here. Also, tethering is FINALLY announced! I'm excited with this news! I would like unlimited tethering but I work with technology and realize not all things are feasible as continued unlimited plans, especially with tethering, would destroy an already slammed network.
Slashdot seems to be missing reality here and the compromise that AT&T is making with their network. Ok, hit me with all your complaints about how evil something or other is.
Slashdot's ongoing break from reality (Score:3, Insightful)
So, they are producing two new dataplans that are cheaper then the current that they say cover 98% of their use base. To me, I think this means I'm going to at least save $5 a month here. Also, tethering is FINALLY announced! I'm excited with this news!
This is like the culmination of everything bad about Slashdot, distilled down to the essence of why the general posting population have got the tech market so wrong for about a decade now.
It's yet another "No wireless. Less space than a nomad moment" except
Bad info in summary? (Score:2)
WTF? I just checked the Apple Store and you CAN buy iPads online.
APPL (Score:2, Insightful)
apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple apple
Ok, now that that's out of our system, can we talk about something else for once?
Google FTW. (Score:5, Insightful)
I heart my Nexus 1. Not being tied to a carrier.
Shell out the bucks out front. You'll save it in the long run.
Abso-fing-lutely (Score:3, Insightful)
Screw AT&T - take your Nexus One you've got on AT&T's network and get a plan from Verizon!
Oh, it doesn't work on Verizon. Well, fuck that - go to Sprint!
Oh, it doesn't work on Sprint either. Damn it, go use T-moboile!
Oh, it won't do data on their high speed network.
See, even if you buy your own hardware, the lack of cellular data standards will fuck you over anyway. Unless, of course, you want to buy another unsubsidized phone, in which case you can pay an extra $600 (=$25/mo for two years) to switc
Rethinking Possible - read the fine print (Score:4, Informative)
OK guys, calm down.
If you already have an iPad, you can get grandfathered in, and AT&T /can not/ legally change your plan once you're on it (read your terms and conditions, it's in there. slamming and cramming = bad). Grandfathered plans /will not/ be removed unless the feature actually gets removed from your account.. and you (or someone with access to your account.. don't give out your SSN and/or passcode) are the only one who can authorize that.. (and if it gets removed by accident and it WASN'T authorized.. well.. it /can/ be added back.. you just need to get a manager to override it).
Furthermore.. iPhone tethering has always been available.. it's called a jailbreak. It's not hard. Just google "spirit jailbreak" and in less than 10 minutes you'll have Cydia and can download the tethering app of your choice, whether AT&T likes it or not. Poof, iPhone tethering with unlimited data, no need to wait for Apple to release OS4 to the iPhone and then get put on a 2gb plan for the iPhone as well -- keep your iphone unlimited data forever if you want. 3
Re:Rethinking Possible - read the fine print (Score:4, Insightful)
Those iPad owners are grandfathered in, as long as they keep paying on that plan.
Part of the allure of the iPad was being able to drop and pick up the plan AT WILL because you are not locked in to a contract. They will no longer be able to do so.
Demand Credits for every ad you download. (Score:5, Interesting)
If you're limited to 2GB of data, and half of that data turns out to be web-based advertising you don't want, then call up AT&T customer service *every time* you download an ad, and demand a credit to your 2GB limit.
After all, if you started getting unwanted text messages every time you got on your phone, and you were paying 20 cents per text message, I bet you'd call them up to demand a credit. Or let's say you recieved long, unsolicited sales calls about buying time-shares or something on your cell, which you are paying airtime for, and I bet you'd complain.
So, the only way to get them to change is to cost them a zillion dollars in customer service time by calling them up EVERY TIME you download an ad. Otherwise, you're paying twice.
Re:Demand Credits for every ad you download. (Score:4, Insightful)
Has anyone actually read these charges? (Score:5, Interesting)
This is one of the reasons companies like to offer "unlimited" one-size-fits-all plans. The plan is unlimited but really it's more like 5gb, and almost nobody actually uses that much, and it's not ok to tether because then you'll be using more than they planned for, and nobody complains because you think of it as a plan that's "unlimited" but only up to the point that a cell phone would be expected to use. (Essentially Comcast and their ilk do the same, my "home" internet is "unlimited" but not exactly and only in the amount and reliability that a home user would expect, and in some ways that's ok.) But when these companies decide to change the plan to "you get 2gb/month" then I damn well expect that my 2gb should be given to me in whatever way I want it.
There's another little thing in this press release that I'm a fan of. For the 200mb plan (really, 200mb, really?): "If customers exceed 200 MB in a monthly billing cycle, they will receive an additional 200 MB of data usage for $15 for use in the cycle." And for the 2gb plan, "Should a customer exceed 2 GB during a billing cycle, they will receive an additional 1 GB of data for $10 for use in the cycle." Hooray everybody, it's the old Blockbuster late fee model! Use 2.001gb of data in a month pay for 4! Hooray!
Relevant quote (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Apple versus Microsoft (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Apple versus Microsoft (Score:5, Insightful)
AT&T is in no danger of going out of business offering unlimited plans. Bandwidth is measured in throughput, not transfer.
Re:Apple versus Microsoft (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Apple versus Microsoft (Score:5, Insightful)
And if there is sufficient competition, they won't succeed. In a functioning free market, the price of their service should approach the cost of offering it. If they are able to artificially restrict service, then it's obvious more competition is needed.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Apple versus Microsoft (Score:4, Insightful)
You can artificially introduce competition by requiring the companies that own the infrastructure to lease it at a fair price to competitors (or you could tell them to sort it out themselves, without the need for legislation).
MVNO [wikipedia.org].
Re:Apple versus Microsoft (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Apple versus Microsoft (Score:5, Insightful)
Pretty much the same thing can be said about democracy I suppose.
Re:Apple versus Microsoft (Score:4, Informative)
The free market is as much an idealized unattainable as the Star Trek no money communism utopia.
Since pretty much every incarnation of Star Trek depicted the use of "money" (i.e., a token that has no intrinsic value of its own, but has been defined to have value by the government), I guess the free market is quite attainable.
What confuses people is that 95% of Star Trek episodes are set on the ship or in a diplomatic situation. On current US warships, sailors don't need money for very much other than gambling among themselves...meals are free, etc. Why should the starship Enterprise be any different?
In diplomatic situations, the host country (planet) doesn't make the guests pay for their food and entertainment at the state dinners, and often lets them use housing that is set aside for such occasions.
But, the crew paid for food and drinks in restaurants and bars, tribbles cost money to purchase, and bribes were paid for information.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Most US warships have vending machines and stores that sell anything from snacks to clothing to DVD players (depending on the size of the ship and its store), so yes, money is still used.
Re:Apple versus Microsoft (Score:4, Interesting)
The free market is as much an idealized unattainable as the Star Trek no money communism utopia.
Oh yeah?
Success stories like Cogent Communications [wikipedia.org] disagree. They went from literally nothing to a highly valuable multinational corporation in a scant few years. How? Leveraging market economics, innovative ideas, and contempt for contemporary approaches, they turned comms upside down (and pissed off the big dogs in the process).
If I recall correctly, Schaeffer started Cogent in Omaha, NE due to regional economic benefits, and he has a history of commercial property rentals and a degree in physics. So he came at Cogent out of far left field, but made a very solid go at it using "free market principles".
Re:Apple versus Microsoft (Score:4, Insightful)
What makes you think that US wireless service (or much of any other U.S. industry for that matter) is a functioning free market?
It's huge companies operating in a virtual trust structure. You have no real choice... just varying degrees of bad.
Or consider Cournot (Score:3, Informative)
They are in danger of becoming dumb, fat, pipes and then collapsing into Bertrand.
What makes you think they'll go Bertrand and not Cournot [wikipedia.org]?
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
The reality is in this day and age, all internet pipes are pretty much the same. Or at least they should be unless the company screws up their own network design somehow. The only difference, in reality, is if a network is oversold or not, other than that all networks are the same pretty much. So basically everyone is selling dumb, fat pipes to everyone. The only issue is who actually has more bandwidth and isn't over selling their network and promising you pie in the sky about bandwidth they don't really h
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Well, this is the problem, isn't it? Who wants to sell fat, dumb pipes?
The cable cos figured this out fairly quickly. First, CATV was a way to deliver better reception; a fat, dumb pipe. Then cable got alternative programming, then exclusive or premium programming, then pay-per-view. Video is pretty much tapped out since Interactive TV failed, and along comes the Internet. A way to sell the same pipe again. Yes, it needed bigger pipes, but that's offset by the revenue. VOIP gave them a third way to s
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How is this insightful? is this Fox News? AT&T controls the network, Apple does not. Why would Apple care if you tether the iPhone? Apple wants you to use the iPhone, period.
By your failed logic, Apple would disallow tethering outside of the USA, which of course is not the case. This is simply AT&T dictating the use of their network.
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By your failed logic, Apple would disallow tethering outside of the USA, which of course is not the case. This is simply AT&T dictating the use of their network.
This isn't exactly true. iPhone doesn't have tethering either here in France for instance; of course, I am not aware of every place in the world, but as tethering is available on android phones, and it doesn't seem to bother network operators, I wouldn't say that Apple is completely unblamable.
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...Do you pay more to your ISP if you connect a router and two different computers?...
There was a time that every large cable and DSL provider would cripple your connection if they detected a router connected to your modem. For them to un-cripple it (that is, allow the MAC address of your router on their network), many of them charged ridiculous fees. They would often charge more based on the number of computers you told them you were connecting (only idiots were truthful).
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Do you own an Iphone?
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But it is easy to assign blame to AT&T. In the rest of the world we have tethering, and always have. We also have competition. Up here in Canada pretty much every cell carrier (at least all that carry smart phones) sell the iPhone, and you can tether. When my wife bought her new iPhone from Telus tethering was one of the promotional points they used to sell it to her. Not only that, but a telus rep helped her to figure out how to set up a VOIP system at home (through another company) with a "digita
Re:Apple versus Microsoft (Score:5, Insightful)
Of course, had Apple not produced a locked down, proprietary iPhone, we would have been tethering all along, and it would be easy to assign blame to AT&T. From where I sit, Apple is helping AT&T
They're not just helping AT&T, they're in a symbiotic relationship.
Full disclosure, I own an iPhone.
Apple: "Customer, dear customer, you want tethering? Well, it's in the App Store from a company called Null River."
AT&T: "No it's not."
Average iPhone Customers: "What's tethering?"
Apple: "We pulled the app for review, but will bring it back shortly."
AT&T: "No you won't"
Customers: "Want tethering even MORE now!"
Apple: "If you buy the new iPhone 3Gs you can now get tethering!"
AT&T: "No you can't."
Apple: "If you buy the new iPhone 3Gs [in a country other than USA] you can now get tethering!"
Customers: "Tethering! *frothing* Tethering!"
Apple: "We worked out a remarkable deal with AT&T, and now you can tether! Buy an iPhone 4G today!"
Customers: "Tethering! See, I knew tethering would happen if I just bought enough iPhones!"
AT&T: "Sure, it's true, you can tether, but at a rate that it will be useless for laptops. And pay more for the reduced network bandwidth losers! Ahahahahaha!"
Apple: "Look at all these iPhone moneys! We can haz cheeseburger now."
Null River: "Um, what the hell happened?"
Re:Apple versus Microsoft (Score:4, Informative)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
It's not all that difficult [blackra1n.com] to free your iPhone. Mine can not only tether, but it also will create an 802.11 access point to share my 3G connection with anyone in range. I also get the added benefit of apt, including pretty much any command-line based utility (ssh, tcpdump, nmap, etc.). I showed my father the roaming 3G access point, and now his phone is jailbroken as well. He did it himself.
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Re:Apple versus Microsoft (Score:4, Insightful)
Of course, had Apple not produced a locked down, proprietary iPhone, we would have been tethering all along, and it would be easy to assign blame to AT&T. From where I sit, Apple is helping AT&T, and while they may not be the only company to do so, it is certainly not the case that Apple is completely innocent here.
Since Verizon and Sprint don't use GSM like the rest of the world, "being locked down to AT&T" in the US means "not making a separate, completely different model from what the rest of the world uses for Verizon and Sprint". It's not as easy as just having an exclusivity deal expire. Using different networks is one way the US carriers can avoid having the market be as competitive as in Europe.
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T-Mobile is a GSM carrier but they don't offer 3G service on the same frequency bands as AT&T and in fact a totally different band. In order to support T-Mobile's 3G a phone has to have a baseband radio that supports it. You can't just take a random phone from AT&T and use 3G on T-Mobile's network. Ask anyone with a SIM unlocked iPhone, they're stuck on EDGE with T-Mobile. So in the US you really only have the option of AT&T if you want to put a commonly available baseband in your phone.
Re:Apple versus Microsoft (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah no...I get it...free and cheap is nicer...but I'd rather have the tiered data plan then have them go out of business and have nothing.
What makes you think that was the choice? Is AT&T on the verge of bankruptcy and I haven't heard?
I'm a bit tired of people implying that we should sympathize with these companies by saying, "But they had to screw our customers and engage in shady and unscrupulous behavior! The only other option is to give everything away for free, and they'd go out of business!" Meanwhile these companies are raking in billions of dollars in profit.
Re:BP (was: Apple versus Microsoft) (Score:3, Insightful)
Yeah! And BP *had* to ignore all those safety protocols or else they wouldn't have been profitable and they would have gone out of business. Let's forgive them too! After all, they only way the could have survived was to dump 800 gazillion gallons of oil into a Louisiana swamp. And then run away.
In other words, I agree. Stop apologizing for giant corporations who happily screw you in the name of profits. The CEO of AT&T probably makes enough in bonuses alone to pay for everyone's unlimited data plans. H
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I'm going to go out on a limb ... from just the summary it would appear that this has very little to do with actions from Apple and has to do with actions from AT&T. If we were required to pick a 'bad guy' in this situation the choice would clearly be AT&T. However, everyone knew it was just a matter of time before tiered data plans started and unlimited stopped as it just makes sense.
Yeah no...I get it...free and cheap is nicer...but I'd rather have the tiered data plan then have them go out of business and have nothing.
Really? Have you read none of the articles on what the markup is for a Gigabyte of data bandwidth; on a text message? Please. Nobody is going to see AT&T go out of business. I hope they get their arses handed to them in a class action suit.
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This has nothing to do with Apple, AT&T are doing this. I doubt Apple knew anything about this.
Re:Apple versus Microsoft (Score:5, Interesting)
Indeed. However it's worth noting that almost all of this information is based on reinterpreted rumor. I wouldn't be surprised to see a clarification within the next week or so that changes some of these details for the iPad.
iPhone though... well sure. This was a long time coming. I consider myself a moderate data user on 3G (lots of data but no streaming video/audio) and my usage has peaked at 540mb in a month, but usually sits around 300mb. I do all my email, push from work as well, so it's not as though I'm really a light user in disguise. Even better, with the $15 option I can cut my bill because my wife peaks at about 100mb a month usually sitting at about 50mb as she is home most of the time, well in range of Wi-Fi.
In the end I'll save $20 cutting down plan costs, just enough to enable tethering if I ever need it... though so far, I've never needed such a feature (Wi-Fi is everywhere around here and I don't travel.)
I do hope there is a clarification on iPad 3G. I can imagine Stevie's inbox is packed with "WTF" letters right now. Given the way the data plans were announced alongside the iPad, I would be surprised if Apple is happy about this change. In fact, one could construe this as an act by AT&T against Apple, supporting the rumors that Apple is going to produce iPhones for competing networks.
Exciting times!
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Steve's WWDC Speech (Score:3)
When in the course of phone maker events it becomes necessary for one to dissolve the carrier lockin which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal availability to which T-Mobile, Verizon and Sprint entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of users requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to that separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all phone users are created equal, that they are endowed by Apple with
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And when will slashdotters see that Apple is bad for the industry?
Because AT&T changed their data plans?
They want to control everything, require you to buy Mac OSX to develop for iPad and iPhone, charge a lot more for hardware than needed and do shit things like this.
How utterly controlling of Apple to let AT&T do something like this! Wait...
Apple is the new bad guy, not Microsoft.
Call me when Apple engages in even a tenth the shenanigans that MS has.
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Nice troll - how do the points in your post have anything to do with TFA? AT&T is the culprit here.
Apple is the new bad guy, not Microsoft.
You're correct in that Microsoft can never be the "new bad guy" as they're the oldest bad guy on the block. Followed by Sony. And which of the two is worse will probably result in Sony being the winner at this point. (Since we're OT anyways, might as well bring in both "bad guys") And what do both these companies have in common? Their best days are behind them from the looks of things and both are screwing
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Please inform Supreme Commander Jobs that we have found another human immune to the Reality Distortion Field. He will be dealt with the usual way.
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Slashdotters have seen this for a long time. Unfortunately, many who complain about Apple get modded as troll and face the same old "if you don't like it, don't buy it" nonsense which completely ignores the potential damage that can result in the PC and Mobile device markets at large. It's rather like the game DRM discussions where people say don't buy blizzard or whatever game maker is installing ridiculous measures that manage to get cracked before it hits the store shelves. It's not about the publishe
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But seriously, this is
Re:The short story. (Score:4, Insightful)
Or I could just jailbreak my iPhone and give AT&T the finger.