3 ms·

Blame the short-sighted greed of Verizon and AT&T, for jacking up the price of wireless data beyond reason after Steve Jobs died. My iPhone is essential while m

Blame the short-sighted greed of Verizon and AT&T, for jacking up the price of wireless data beyond reason after Steve Jobs died. My iPhone is essential while my iPad is "nice to have" because my iPhone is always connected and always has a high speed, unlimited data connection to the Internet. I pay full price for iPhone upgrades to keep my unlimited data plan (although each time it reminds me how dearly I'd love to ditch Verizon forever). My iPhone goes everywhere with me, but my iPad typically stays at home because of its lack of wireless. I will never buy a metered data plan, nor does it seem reasonable to me to pay separately for an extra device, which is functionally for me just a bigger screen. If my iPad had always on, unlimited wireless broadband, I'd take it with me almost everywhere, too.

MichaelGG 12y ago
If that were true, then other countries might see more use, as they seem to have more sane options. But even in the US, you can walk into a grocery store and get a SIM with "unlimited" (3GB at real speed) for $50 a month. Maybe less for data only. I'm trying NET10 now and they seem fine. And I see adverts everywhere talking about shared plans. Maybe your problem is looking at Verizon, which is notoriously hostile.
- dougabug 12y ago
  Clearly, Verizon and AT&T (I've had both) are the problem. For various reasons, alternative carriers are not yet competitive at scale. I have zero interest in a metered, shared data plan. Throttled to 3GB monthly for me is not unmetered.
  - MichaelGG 12y ago
    Does anyone have any interest in selling you an unlimited data plan? If not, why?
    - dougabug 12y ago
      There are countless many unmet needs and wants in the economy; and countless solutions which badly fit the problems that people actually have. Steve Jobs strong armed the carriers into offering unlimited data for $30/month. With Steve Jobs out of the way, the carriers see 2GB a month as being equal to unlimited. They just fundamentally do not get it. This is by far one of the largest markets awaiting disruption.
      - soylentcola 12y ago
        I'm still wondering how such a disruption could take place (though I guess that's the whole point) due to the cost needed to compete with incumbents. Even smaller networks (TMo with $30/mo for 5GB LTE and unlimited low-speed after, Sprint with unlimited voice/text/data for $50/60/mo) and the various MVNOs with similar plans are considered non-starters to many people because they can lack nationwide coverage. I'm lucky enough that I spend 99% of my time in metro areas so I can get away with paying $30/mo for data and a handful of minutes that I rarely use anymore. But clearly the "big guys" are leveraging their legacy and reach to charge more for something others can't afford to offer. I wonder what other sorts of ways there could be to offer nationwide voice and data coverage (or even just data) that enough people could access that it's considered comparable to the services offered by the bastard children of the "Baby Bells".
  - maxerickson 12y ago
    Isn't cost the real problem? There's lots of purposes where $1 per gigabyte would be great.
    - dougabug 12y ago
      Ultimately cost is always at least part of the problem. You want to compare a niche, point solution to a general solution (always connected, first option for mobile everything). People are wondering why iPad sales have seemingly topped out, while iPhone sales are soaring. Like it's inexplicable magic or beyond the limits of comprehension. The iPhone delivers greater value at a lower cost. Whoa. Crazy. The wireless carrier business is nearly a duopoly in the US, and both are essentially legacy businesses whose pricing models are inconsistent with modern Internet usage. Once a viable modern carrier at scale enters the market (think wireless analog of Google Fiber, deployed everywhere), I'm done with AT&T and Verizon forever.
      - maxerickson 12y ago
        Wireless data prices are too high to interest me, and I'm sure they are much higher than the incremental costs the carriers have, but I don't think it is obvious that they can offer real unlimited data for reasonable fees.

MichaelGG 12y ago

If that were true, then other countries might see more use, as they seem to have more sane options. But even in the US, you can walk into a grocery store and get a SIM with "unlimited" (3GB at real speed) for $50 a month. Maybe less for data only. I'm trying NET10 now and they seem fine. And I see adverts everywhere talking about shared plans. Maybe your problem is looking at Verizon, which is notoriously hostile.

dougabug 12y ago
Clearly, Verizon and AT&T (I've had both) are the problem. For various reasons, alternative carriers are not yet competitive at scale. I have zero interest in a metered, shared data plan. Throttled to 3GB monthly for me is not unmetered.
- MichaelGG 12y ago
  Does anyone have any interest in selling you an unlimited data plan? If not, why?
  - dougabug 12y ago
    There are countless many unmet needs and wants in the economy; and countless solutions which badly fit the problems that people actually have. Steve Jobs strong armed the carriers into offering unlimited data for $30/month. With Steve Jobs out of the way, the carriers see 2GB a month as being equal to unlimited. They just fundamentally do not get it. This is by far one of the largest markets awaiting disruption.
    - soylentcola 12y ago
      I'm still wondering how such a disruption could take place (though I guess that's the whole point) due to the cost needed to compete with incumbents. Even smaller networks (TMo with $30/mo for 5GB LTE and unlimited low-speed after, Sprint with unlimited voice/text/data for $50/60/mo) and the various MVNOs with similar plans are considered non-starters to many people because they can lack nationwide coverage. I'm lucky enough that I spend 99% of my time in metro areas so I can get away with paying $30/mo for data and a handful of minutes that I rarely use anymore. But clearly the "big guys" are leveraging their legacy and reach to charge more for something others can't afford to offer. I wonder what other sorts of ways there could be to offer nationwide voice and data coverage (or even just data) that enough people could access that it's considered comparable to the services offered by the bastard children of the "Baby Bells".
- maxerickson 12y ago
  Isn't cost the real problem? There's lots of purposes where $1 per gigabyte would be great.
  - dougabug 12y ago
    Ultimately cost is always at least part of the problem. You want to compare a niche, point solution to a general solution (always connected, first option for mobile everything). People are wondering why iPad sales have seemingly topped out, while iPhone sales are soaring. Like it's inexplicable magic or beyond the limits of comprehension. The iPhone delivers greater value at a lower cost. Whoa. Crazy. The wireless carrier business is nearly a duopoly in the US, and both are essentially legacy businesses whose pricing models are inconsistent with modern Internet usage. Once a viable modern carrier at scale enters the market (think wireless analog of Google Fiber, deployed everywhere), I'm done with AT&T and Verizon forever.
    - maxerickson 12y ago
      Wireless data prices are too high to interest me, and I'm sure they are much higher than the incremental costs the carriers have, but I don't think it is obvious that they can offer real unlimited data for reasonable fees.