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Well Verizon will also charge you regardless of whether or not you actually use all of your allotted data. The difference here is that they'd also like to charg

Well Verizon will also charge you regardless of whether or not you actually use all of your allotted data. The difference here is that they'd also like to charge you a second time to let you use your allotted data in different ways.

eli 14y ago
This is just how they decided to segment the market. Would it be less offensive if they let you use whatever devices you want, but charged per MB because that kinda sorta mirrors their costs better? Why does that matter? You aren't paying twice for the same thing because the normal data plan explicitly didn't allow tethering.
- davorak 14y ago
  Hypothetical: Let say the local water company has a flat rate of $30 a month as long as you do not use more then 50 liters of water and then a reasonable rate for every liter after that. However there is an additional fee if you want to use that water to water you lawn, it costs an extra $30 a month to have the water directed to the lawn. However when industrious home owners decides to water their lawn by hand from sink water and avoid the extra $30 dollars a month the water company cuts their service. Do you have a problem with the water company segmenting their market in this fashion?
  - eli 14y ago
    I don't think that's a good idea (seems like it would be awfully hard to implement), but I don't think it's immoral or unethical. Adobe Photoshop is available to college students at a deep discount. Hobbyists who are not in school have to pay more for the exact same product. That's a little uncool, but is it unethical?
    - Karunamon 14y ago
      Honestly, all "hobbyists" I know who want to use Photoshop that badly just pirate it. Talk about overpriced...
- Karunamon 14y ago
  >You aren't paying twice for the same thing because the normal data plan explicitly didn't allow tethering. Which is a completely artificial and needless distinction. The phones have the necessary hardware and software and have for years. And that's where the outrage comes from - there is no difference between 5gb transferred over a tethered device and 5gb transferred over the device natively. They're double dipping. Adding no value and expecting more money for it. And everyone knows it. This might even be remotely acceptable if the wireless marketplace were in the least bit open. It is not. I can't possibly be the only person to notice that the major carriers plans are almost mirror images of each other.

eli 14y ago

This is just how they decided to segment the market. Would it be less offensive if they let you use whatever devices you want, but charged per MB because that kinda sorta mirrors their costs better? Why does that matter? You aren't paying twice for the same thing because the normal data plan explicitly didn't allow tethering.

davorak 14y ago
Hypothetical: Let say the local water company has a flat rate of $30 a month as long as you do not use more then 50 liters of water and then a reasonable rate for every liter after that. However there is an additional fee if you want to use that water to water you lawn, it costs an extra $30 a month to have the water directed to the lawn. However when industrious home owners decides to water their lawn by hand from sink water and avoid the extra $30 dollars a month the water company cuts their service. Do you have a problem with the water company segmenting their market in this fashion?
- eli 14y ago
  I don't think that's a good idea (seems like it would be awfully hard to implement), but I don't think it's immoral or unethical. Adobe Photoshop is available to college students at a deep discount. Hobbyists who are not in school have to pay more for the exact same product. That's a little uncool, but is it unethical?
  - Karunamon 14y ago
    Honestly, all "hobbyists" I know who want to use Photoshop that badly just pirate it. Talk about overpriced...
Karunamon 14y ago
>You aren't paying twice for the same thing because the normal data plan explicitly didn't allow tethering. Which is a completely artificial and needless distinction. The phones have the necessary hardware and software and have for years. And that's where the outrage comes from - there is no difference between 5gb transferred over a tethered device and 5gb transferred over the device natively. They're double dipping. Adding no value and expecting more money for it. And everyone knows it. This might even be remotely acceptable if the wireless marketplace were in the least bit open. It is not. I can't possibly be the only person to notice that the major carriers plans are almost mirror images of each other.