AT&T data begins raping customers.
Ok...I've taken a few days to think about this...and to be honest I'm still pretty hopping mad.
If you didn't know...read this article below:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20006534-1.html?tag=mncol
What the article says (in a very slanted way...but it is a blog/opinion piece) is that AT&T is moving to a 'tiered' service in regards to data use on their phone network.
What gets me with this is how everyone is rallying to the 'it'll be cheaper' mindset. Yes...for some it will be. My wife has the motorola backflip...and looking at her usage...she never gets above 200 MB's a month...so she MAY be going on this plan...(however read below for why that's a bad idea...)...me after checking my usage I saw that I run around 500 megs with the last month or so going up to close to a gig (as I use Pandora more and more these days...mowing the lawn, at my colocation, even in the car)...so I'll be at the 2 GB model (as I'll be FORCED to switch in the next month as I plan on getting the new iPhone to deal with my battery issues).
I posted the below mathematics to the article posted...but before you start saying how cheaper it is...realize that you're being misled.
The fact is this does NOT help the consumer. If you're someone who uses 200 MB or less...AT&T doesn't consider you a real user practically. You check your mail...you may look at a web page...but the fact is you're not using all that your phone can do and they got their money from you for A: Buying the phone and B: Signing the contract you signed. You're probably the type of person whom if they didn't FORCE you to get a data plan...you wouldn't have.
Frankly...this article reads like a puff piece/propoganda from AT&T. I know it's an opinion/blog area but I half expect to read that the writer is getting unlimited free usage from AT&T from somewhere. (I don't mean this as a personal attack rather I call into question the angle at which this piece was written). Saying "majority of current smartphone users will be able to reduce their monthly bill without seeing any impact on their day-to-day usage" is flat out untrue. The fact is as it stands now the 5 GB limit we have on our 'unlimited' plan allows for almost any usage of the iPhone (as AT&T requires us to use our personal wifi if we want to download something large like TomTom etc). The truth is if you probe deeper and CRUNCH numbers...you're going to see this is NOT good for the consumer...but AT&T.
If you operate under the 5 GB 'cap' that AT&T currently uses then the following is true.
If you take the 15 dollar a month plan...then what you get is almost 4% allotment of your current service for half the price. So for HALF the amount of the SAME data you're using now...you get LESS than 5% usage per month...raising the profit gained from that data by that same level. AT&T just took the data you currently were using and made it much more valuable for them. You're paying MORE for the amount of data you were using. Plus you don't have the option of letting others check out your phone for fear of below.
IN ADDITION! Should you accidentally go OVER that 200 MB threshold (you got a few picture messages...as I imagine they use data...much like Verizon does maybe...wanted to show someone your phone and they go right to YouTube and watch episodes of Fresh Prince...whatever. )...you're socked IMMEDIATELY for another $15 to bring you yet another 200 MB or only 8% of what you USED to pay the same amount of money for. Read that again...for the SAME 30 dollars you're only getting 8% of what you USED to pay for!!! If you go over ANOTHER 200...then look out...you're now 50% above what you used to pay for not even 25% of the data...and another 200 MB (Not even a GIG of transfer) and you guessed it...you've doubled your fee and only gotten 16% of what you used to pay for.
NOW...the 2 GB limit for 25 a month...again using the current 5 GB limit AT&T is operating under (as your 'unlimited' really ISN'T unlimited)...you're paying almost 95% of the cost of your current 5 gig limit...for less than 50% of what you currently can use. If you for some reason had to get to the magical 5 GB you currently have...it would cost you $55 that month...almost DOUBLE what you're paying now.
IN ADDITION...if you do this you're probably MAINLY looking to use the tethering option...which is only going to tick up the data usage faster...making it (again) more profitable for AT&T. Tethering is using your phone as a wireless modem. Once you do that...not only is your phone using data (checking mail behind the scenes, etc)...but now your laptop is going to gobble a TON of data doing what it does. This would end up CRUSHING your current allotment quickly.
The fact is...these numbers when analyzed make sense for only one entity...AT&T. They raise the profitability of their current (lackluster) data infrastructure exponentially...while sticking it to the common user with the idea that you don't use as much anyway...so why pay?
The fact is they want to charge me 25 a month for 2 gigs...(and I'm not even HITTING 1 Gig most months.) and I don't like that. What this is about is their option to plink me for ANOTHER 25 if I hit their mystical limit. Looking at my usage for the past 7 months...I've only gotten close to 1 GB once...however...every month I'm using more and more...and so I can't see making this switch just for tethering...but now I read they're going to FORCE us to get this data plan to get the new iPhone...which just flat out SUCKS!
The fact is though...I love my iPhone. I'm NO DOUBT going to pay for it...and hope beyond hope that someone gets their head on straight. Ideally...I'd pay 40 dollars for the current 'unlimited' plan to know that I won't get plinked...but I know that this is where telecom's and cable want to go. They want to ration our usage. It's a fight I want to fight against because I feel that doing that is like rationing my TV watching...and charging me by the hour. If I had Pay Per View only options...I'd be a much better reader...but internet is now something we as a society can't live without.
Just my opinion.
Thanks for reading;
If you didn't know...read this article below:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20006534-1.html?tag=mncol
What the article says (in a very slanted way...but it is a blog/opinion piece) is that AT&T is moving to a 'tiered' service in regards to data use on their phone network.
What gets me with this is how everyone is rallying to the 'it'll be cheaper' mindset. Yes...for some it will be. My wife has the motorola backflip...and looking at her usage...she never gets above 200 MB's a month...so she MAY be going on this plan...(however read below for why that's a bad idea...)...me after checking my usage I saw that I run around 500 megs with the last month or so going up to close to a gig (as I use Pandora more and more these days...mowing the lawn, at my colocation, even in the car)...so I'll be at the 2 GB model (as I'll be FORCED to switch in the next month as I plan on getting the new iPhone to deal with my battery issues).
I posted the below mathematics to the article posted...but before you start saying how cheaper it is...realize that you're being misled.
The fact is this does NOT help the consumer. If you're someone who uses 200 MB or less...AT&T doesn't consider you a real user practically. You check your mail...you may look at a web page...but the fact is you're not using all that your phone can do and they got their money from you for A: Buying the phone and B: Signing the contract you signed. You're probably the type of person whom if they didn't FORCE you to get a data plan...you wouldn't have.
Frankly...this article reads like a puff piece/propoganda from AT&T. I know it's an opinion/blog area but I half expect to read that the writer is getting unlimited free usage from AT&T from somewhere. (I don't mean this as a personal attack rather I call into question the angle at which this piece was written). Saying "majority of current smartphone users will be able to reduce their monthly bill without seeing any impact on their day-to-day usage" is flat out untrue. The fact is as it stands now the 5 GB limit we have on our 'unlimited' plan allows for almost any usage of the iPhone (as AT&T requires us to use our personal wifi if we want to download something large like TomTom etc). The truth is if you probe deeper and CRUNCH numbers...you're going to see this is NOT good for the consumer...but AT&T.
If you operate under the 5 GB 'cap' that AT&T currently uses then the following is true.
If you take the 15 dollar a month plan...then what you get is almost 4% allotment of your current service for half the price. So for HALF the amount of the SAME data you're using now...you get LESS than 5% usage per month...raising the profit gained from that data by that same level. AT&T just took the data you currently were using and made it much more valuable for them. You're paying MORE for the amount of data you were using. Plus you don't have the option of letting others check out your phone for fear of below.
IN ADDITION! Should you accidentally go OVER that 200 MB threshold (you got a few picture messages...as I imagine they use data...much like Verizon does maybe...wanted to show someone your phone and they go right to YouTube and watch episodes of Fresh Prince...whatever. )...you're socked IMMEDIATELY for another $15 to bring you yet another 200 MB or only 8% of what you USED to pay the same amount of money for. Read that again...for the SAME 30 dollars you're only getting 8% of what you USED to pay for!!! If you go over ANOTHER 200...then look out...you're now 50% above what you used to pay for not even 25% of the data...and another 200 MB (Not even a GIG of transfer) and you guessed it...you've doubled your fee and only gotten 16% of what you used to pay for.
NOW...the 2 GB limit for 25 a month...again using the current 5 GB limit AT&T is operating under (as your 'unlimited' really ISN'T unlimited)...you're paying almost 95% of the cost of your current 5 gig limit...for less than 50% of what you currently can use. If you for some reason had to get to the magical 5 GB you currently have...it would cost you $55 that month...almost DOUBLE what you're paying now.
IN ADDITION...if you do this you're probably MAINLY looking to use the tethering option...which is only going to tick up the data usage faster...making it (again) more profitable for AT&T. Tethering is using your phone as a wireless modem. Once you do that...not only is your phone using data (checking mail behind the scenes, etc)...but now your laptop is going to gobble a TON of data doing what it does. This would end up CRUSHING your current allotment quickly.
The fact is...these numbers when analyzed make sense for only one entity...AT&T. They raise the profitability of their current (lackluster) data infrastructure exponentially...while sticking it to the common user with the idea that you don't use as much anyway...so why pay?
The fact is they want to charge me 25 a month for 2 gigs...(and I'm not even HITTING 1 Gig most months.) and I don't like that. What this is about is their option to plink me for ANOTHER 25 if I hit their mystical limit. Looking at my usage for the past 7 months...I've only gotten close to 1 GB once...however...every month I'm using more and more...and so I can't see making this switch just for tethering...but now I read they're going to FORCE us to get this data plan to get the new iPhone...which just flat out SUCKS!
The fact is though...I love my iPhone. I'm NO DOUBT going to pay for it...and hope beyond hope that someone gets their head on straight. Ideally...I'd pay 40 dollars for the current 'unlimited' plan to know that I won't get plinked...but I know that this is where telecom's and cable want to go. They want to ration our usage. It's a fight I want to fight against because I feel that doing that is like rationing my TV watching...and charging me by the hour. If I had Pay Per View only options...I'd be a much better reader...but internet is now something we as a society can't live without.
Just my opinion.
Thanks for reading;
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