So I save $5 out of $30 for less than half the amount of usage? Why can't they charge us less than half the price?? i.e. $12....now that would be a deal! It's the principle that ATT can charge much less than they are...that's why everyone should be pissed off about.
ATT is doing a preemptive strike on its users....once the tech (iphone 4th gen) requires more usage (video chatting, multi tasking, NETFLIX!!) they will offer higher GB at higher prices....I can see a future "unlimited" ATT plan running for $40.
Stop defending this Crap, if they realize they were over chairing, why didn't then KEEP the "unlimited" (really 5 gig) plan and make a new plan for 1 gig for $15 and keep the "unlimited" plan.
If you have the unlimited plan now you get to keep it.
Quote:
Yeah maybe NOW you don't, but what happens once video chat comes out, or Itunes cloud, Sling box over 3g, Hulu, SKYPE Etc.. You don't realize the data you will be using. The iPad plan change is a SLAP in the face. this weekend I downloaded a movie off itunes on my iPad(since i was not at home) it was 1.4 gigs, I streamed the Celtics game using sling box (600 mb). Downloaded a GPS app (1.7 gigs) downloaded the Wired magazine app (500 mb) This was just one weekend!!!
Well if you want to do all of that over 3G you will have to pay for it.
Quote:
This is BULL CRAP. AT&T Should be expanding their capacity on their net work not lowing their CAPs and charging MORE. They are just gouging now.
AT&T is actively expanding their WiFi network and allowing iPhone/iPad to use it for free.
Quote:
The Tethering plan is a F'ING joke! pay extra $20 for the same bits but get NO more data. WTF do they really think we are stupid. This is Bull its time to switch.
You can go to Verizon where they charge the same for only 5GB.
So... with this new plan I can pay $25 (instead of the current $30), and add $20 for tethering, and use the tethering to get 3G service on my iPad, thus allowing me to avoid paying $30 per month for the iPad 3G service? Or am I missing something?
That won't work. You won't be able to tether to the iPad. At least, that's my impression.
Edit: And why would you want to? You'd have to have your phone with you to connect to the internet?
What did you guys expect? Free unlimited tethering?! We all knew this was coming. You want tethering then pay for it. This might save me $30/month for both iPhone on my family plan. I have WiFi everywhere and I use less than 200MB cellular data.
To me, it sounds that AT&T will lose its iPhone exclusivity this Jun.
In Canada I pay $30 a month for 6 GB of data and have free tethering. Tethering isn't an additional service provided when the data plan is already capped, the iPhone does all the work.
Paying for tethering is like paying the gas station attendant for wiping your windows, even though you did it yourself and brought your own squeegee.
be careful that you understand what is happening here. Your comment sounds like you think it's a pay as you go type plan where you pay for data 2GB at a time. It's not. on the phone it is 2 GB per month every month on contract, if you go over you can add data 1gb at a time until the month runs out. but if you don't use it all, sucks for you. there's no data carryover. same on the ipad but without the contract part.
so I would be sure that you don't go over 2gb (maybe that month you guys were on vacation but otherwise not) before you drop down.
Makes me glad I just purchased an iPad 3G yesterday. If it is still permissible, I'd lock in to the unlimited for 29.99 until I see what my needs actually are, and it's still nice to know there is no "cap".
Guess now when somebody says what can an iPad do for me, I can say it allows me to have all the 3G access I need while only paying for a nominal amount of data for the iPhone whenever I get one. At my age and with my eyes, I'd much rather view things on the iPad then the smaller iPhone screen anyway and it's not necessarily about carrying two devices all the time, as each will be at hand to serve their purpose when appropriate.
Just out of curiosity, for those that know, what is YOUR 3G data usage from AT&T? Are you well below 2GB? Do you fit in AT&T's statistics?
As a "heavy" user this upsets me tremendously. I go way over 2GB a month, and do you know why? I am buying music, movies, and apps from Apple and playing online games that I paid for. This is an example of how the mainstreaming of the internet is screwing the people who have been around for a long time. These companies charge an arm and a leg and then start capping the amount that people can download. That is bs. I will abandon Apple and keep switching to companies that offer true unlimited data plans. To those who cave in and say "this is the future" you are ignorant and letting companies push you around. With the amount of money these companies make it shouldn't be blamed on consumers using "too much bandwidth" - it is the company's responsibility to improve their infrastructure by updating their tech to meet the demands of the future. I can't tell you how many dropped calls I get a day on my iPhone, but I put up with the crap because I know that I at least get unlimited data. What is the point of staying with this crappy network if they don't even offer one good perk.
i just checked and last month i used 146 megs of 3G data.
[i'm on wifi at work, at home, at all of my friends / family homes]
and now my wife can get an iphone - she didn't like the idea of paying $30 a month when all she wants is an iPod and phone all in one - occasionally using google maps.
...so both of our data plans will cost as much as mine does now.
one question - how much data/bandwidth will iChat consume over 3G???
I welcome the tiered data plans with grateful open arms. I've been wanting this for a long time. I'm almost always on a wi-fi network so my 3G data usage is shockingly low. It irked me to no end that I was required to pay so much for a service that I didn't even use. Now at least the fees are more manageable. $15 a month for 200MB is more than sufficient for my uses and I doubt I'll ever come close to reaching the limit.
I also think these new plans will curtail usage by the fringe who are using 3G data at insane levels.
My big gripe is that tethering costs so darn much. Why a monthly charge? Shouldn't it be like the iPad plan be an opt in at any time thing? I might be willing to pay the $20 to tether my wi-fi iPad to my iPhone 3G if I was going on a trip where I knew there wouldn't be wi-fi access. But I'm not paying $20 a month even if I don't use tethering. Also it seems insane that tethering would cost me more than the $15 a month data plan on my iPhone. Shouldn't tethering cost less than your data plan?
So not perfect, but still a welcome change.
Exactly! Welcome the tiers also, and other comments are spot on.
Also, if you go over 200Meg ... another $15 for 200Meg, but if you go over the 1Gig, only $10. Thats just goofy.
Then still charging for text messages if you have a data plan... pure rip off.
Bring on the competition, otherwise the Govt will jump in.
Seriously though, 2gb is crap. When I was in Iowa I did mild web browsing tethered to my phone after work. I stayed in this craptastic hotel for 3 months which had like 20kbps download speeds. It was unbearable. Anyways, I was averaging over 5gb a month, and this was just through web browsing. No big file downloads or anything.
What people are saying about a higher price in the future for "unlimited" seems about right. This is just AT&T playing their business cards as best as they can to keep profits as high as they can. For any business, managing that bottom line can be tricky. What's the least you can give for the most amount of money before customers drop you altogether...
At least with Sprint, unlimited is actually unlimited, but even they're charging an extra $10 a month for the evo because they know those phones will use up a lot of bandwidth.
In Canada I pay $30 a month for 6 GB of data and have free tethering. Tethering isn't an additional service provided when the data plan is already capped, the iPhone does all the work.
Paying for tethering is like paying the gas station attendant for wiping your windows, even though you did it yourself and brought your own squeegee.
I agree with you. I think with time AT&T will have to match the competition and offer free tethering just like Verizon. However, people want tethering AND unlimited, which will never happen.
So now your story becomes that you speculated that AT&T would change data price structure in any way. Even though your implication is that they would raise the price. Your speculation said nothing about lowering the price.
I guarantee you this is directly because of LTE. They are lowering the costs of 3G so that more people get smart phones and data plans become the norm. This sets up for them to charge a premium for 4G.
My implication was that they would raise the price, and what they have done is raise the price. The cell model has always been the same, scare you into buying more of whatever service you use by charging ridiculous rates for overages. That is the model they have just reestablished here as well.
The same amount of use as before on the unlimited plan now costs $55 due to overages. The second you hit one megabyte over on the lower priced plan, you double the cost.
Will this likely scale even higher when 4G arrives, even while reports are telling us they will be able to triple the amount of data sent using the same bandwidth while lowering costs, of course it will.
Understand that I never claimed that costs for LTE wouldn't be used as a rationale for raising prices. I simply said they didn't need to wait until then based off the moves they were making.
They haven't. Unbundling and metered use is all about raising costs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cmf2
Tethering should be free, there is no additional service provided. You could make an argument with an unlimited plan, but not for one with a hard cap.
Glad I'm in Canada. You guys should tell AT&T to shove it.
I might. I'm on Tmobile right now and was pondering a move, now perhaps not so much. If they had the network to justify such costs, it might be worth it. In otherwords even if I pay the same on Verizon, at least I know I'm getting the network to go with it.
1. What kind of tethering? If it's only USB/Bluetooth then it's worthless. WiFi tethering is the only worthwhile way to go, and I have no plans to stop my iPhone from doing so.
I wouldn't say "worthless." I've tethered on 3G via bluetooth on Verizon's netowork, and it wasn't bad. Not great speed, but acceptable.
Quote:
2. $15/200 mb is good, but not good enough. For people new to iPhone, who are leery about the extreme cost (given that they barely use data at all), this 200 mb a month should be FREE. That's right it should. Free. If you exceed the first 200 mb, then AT&T can charge you $15 for 200 more for the month. THIS would be useful for attracting all those 50 and 60 year olds who would love a phone they could actually see (nothing compares to iPhone) and could actually justify the cost.
Free? Why...because you bought an iPhone? The net result of this is that people w/o data plans end up paying for people that use data!
Quote:
3. 2 gb/$25 is extortion, borderline criminal. This is going backwards, and its the worst news we have ever received in the life of the iPhone.
Extortion? Criminal? That's looney. The vast majority of people don't use this much data. It's more than reasonable. The only problem is tethering. If the $20 fee doesn't entitle one to more data, that's a serious problem.
Quote:
4. Thank God AT&T is not going to screw existing customers out of their Unlimited plans (at least not this year, be prepared for it to happen though!).
I don't really need mine, so I don't care. 2GB is fine. 200MB might even be OK, though I think I use more like 500, so I'll have to see.
Just out of curiosity, for those that know, what is YOUR 3G data usage from AT&T? Are you well below 2GB? Do you fit in AT&T's statistics?
?
?
?
Waaay below, usually about 100meg, use home wifi alot.
Now if I didn't have Wifi... hmmm. thats an interesting quesetion whether to dump cable and go purely tethering. I don't know how much my average wifi usage is. Is there a program that can track that on my PC?
The problem is software updates and videos. What to do when windoz does an update etc. would have to make a special trip to local wifi spot.
This opens up a lot of questions about the AT&T and Apple's partnership moving forward.
I have to think that wish such a shitty option for anything more than 2GB that no one else is getting the iPhone next week, but AT&T will no longer have a contract with Apple and the iPhone will be unlocked, like the iPad.
The dropping of the iPad unlimited for $30 may lead to a class action, even though month-to-month are subject to change at any time. I think most would use well under 2GB and therefore save $5 but I can see a lawsuit happening.
I didn't mind the lack of free tethering for the unlimited plans which were clearly unlimited for that device, nothing else, but when you cap the usage then charging for tethering is a slap in the face. Unless that required extra $20 also gets you a couple more GBs then I can't see it as a decent offer.
AT&T seems to have made the wrong business choices yet again.
Quote:
Originally Posted by trumptman
All I've got to say is Tenobell, I was right. Us geeks know that AT&T's former plan, even when called unlimited had a small print limit of 5 gigs.
Small print, yes, that is well known, but it was never enforced. Even when I was doing 40GB a month I was charged more, warned, capped or throttled.
I agree with you. However, people want tethering AND unlimited, which will never happen.
Those people are just unreasonable. However, even the "unlimited" plan had a 5 GB cap of some sort, as I'm not on AT&T I don't know what the consequences of hitting it were.
Those people are just unreasonable. However, even the "unlimited" plan had a 5 GB cap of some sort, as I'm not on AT&T I don't know what the consequences of hitting it were.
The current iPad and iPhone plans are actually unlimited. No 5GB limit.
In Canada I pay $30 a month for 6 GB of data and have free tethering. Tethering isn't an additional service provided when the data plan is already capped, the iPhone does all the work.
Paying for tethering is like paying the gas station attendant for wiping your windows, even though you did it yourself and brought your own squeegee.
That's what I find distasteful about these plans. If you have a cap, why also put restrictions on how you can use the data? My analogy would be you have paid for a dessert at Dairy Queen, you get a single cone for a price. But if you want to share it with your son you have to pay an additional 80%. You don't get any more ice cream but you get to share it.
The other part is the price for 2GB. Previously they were getting essentially 5GB with the softcap for $30. The new plans give them 2/5 of this for 5/6 of the price. Per GB these plans are much higher. To get back to 5GB would cost $55. So, they are getting less for more. Sort of like a supermarket saying "most customer are not using the whole carton of eggs. So, we are going to give you more flexibility. Instead of $4 for a dozen eggs we are going to let you buy 3 eggs for $3.50 and buy each additional egg for $1." For the majority that didn't eat a dozen eggs, they do save a tiny bit of money. But if they ever eat a more than the normally do, they will pay much more for it.
In Canada I pay $30 a month for 6 GB of data and have free tethering. Tethering isn't an additional service provided when the data plan is already capped, the iPhone does all the work.
Paying for tethering is like paying the gas station attendant for wiping your windows, even though you did it yourself and brought your own squeegee.
EXACTLY!
There was an article not too long ago about iPhone users in Spain being provided with a SIM card for their iPad with no additional charge.
Comments
ATT is doing a preemptive strike on its users....once the tech (iphone 4th gen) requires more usage (video chatting, multi tasking, NETFLIX!!) they will offer higher GB at higher prices....I can see a future "unlimited" ATT plan running for $40.
Stop defending this Crap, if they realize they were over chairing, why didn't then KEEP the "unlimited" (really 5 gig) plan and make a new plan for 1 gig for $15 and keep the "unlimited" plan.
If you have the unlimited plan now you get to keep it.
Yeah maybe NOW you don't, but what happens once video chat comes out, or Itunes cloud, Sling box over 3g, Hulu, SKYPE Etc.. You don't realize the data you will be using. The iPad plan change is a SLAP in the face. this weekend I downloaded a movie off itunes on my iPad(since i was not at home) it was 1.4 gigs, I streamed the Celtics game using sling box (600 mb). Downloaded a GPS app (1.7 gigs) downloaded the Wired magazine app (500 mb) This was just one weekend!!!
Well if you want to do all of that over 3G you will have to pay for it.
This is BULL CRAP. AT&T Should be expanding their capacity on their net work not lowing their CAPs and charging MORE. They are just gouging now.
AT&T is actively expanding their WiFi network and allowing iPhone/iPad to use it for free.
The Tethering plan is a F'ING joke! pay extra $20 for the same bits but get NO more data. WTF do they really think we are stupid. This is Bull its time to switch.
You can go to Verizon where they charge the same for only 5GB.
So... with this new plan I can pay $25 (instead of the current $30), and add $20 for tethering, and use the tethering to get 3G service on my iPad, thus allowing me to avoid paying $30 per month for the iPad 3G service? Or am I missing something?
That won't work. You won't be able to tether to the iPad. At least, that's my impression.
Edit: And why would you want to? You'd have to have your phone with you to connect to the internet?
What did you guys expect? Free unlimited tethering?! We all knew this was coming. You want tethering then pay for it. This might save me $30/month for both iPhone on my family plan. I have WiFi everywhere and I use less than 200MB cellular data.
To me, it sounds that AT&T will lose its iPhone exclusivity this Jun.
In Canada I pay $30 a month for 6 GB of data and have free tethering. Tethering isn't an additional service provided when the data plan is already capped, the iPhone does all the work.
Paying for tethering is like paying the gas station attendant for wiping your windows, even though you did it yourself and brought your own squeegee.
be careful that you understand what is happening here. Your comment sounds like you think it's a pay as you go type plan where you pay for data 2GB at a time. It's not. on the phone it is 2 GB per month every month on contract, if you go over you can add data 1gb at a time until the month runs out. but if you don't use it all, sucks for you. there's no data carryover. same on the ipad but without the contract part.
so I would be sure that you don't go over 2gb (maybe that month you guys were on vacation but otherwise not) before you drop down.
Makes me glad I just purchased an iPad 3G yesterday. If it is still permissible, I'd lock in to the unlimited for 29.99 until I see what my needs actually are, and it's still nice to know there is no "cap".
Guess now when somebody says what can an iPad do for me, I can say it allows me to have all the 3G access I need while only paying for a nominal amount of data for the iPhone whenever I get one. At my age and with my eyes, I'd much rather view things on the iPad then the smaller iPhone screen anyway and it's not necessarily about carrying two devices all the time, as each will be at hand to serve their purpose when appropriate.
Just out of curiosity, for those that know, what is YOUR 3G data usage from AT&T? Are you well below 2GB? Do you fit in AT&T's statistics?
?
?
?
As a "heavy" user this upsets me tremendously. I go way over 2GB a month, and do you know why? I am buying music, movies, and apps from Apple and playing online games that I paid for. This is an example of how the mainstreaming of the internet is screwing the people who have been around for a long time. These companies charge an arm and a leg and then start capping the amount that people can download. That is bs. I will abandon Apple and keep switching to companies that offer true unlimited data plans. To those who cave in and say "this is the future" you are ignorant and letting companies push you around. With the amount of money these companies make it shouldn't be blamed on consumers using "too much bandwidth" - it is the company's responsibility to improve their infrastructure by updating their tech to meet the demands of the future. I can't tell you how many dropped calls I get a day on my iPhone, but I put up with the crap because I know that I at least get unlimited data. What is the point of staying with this crappy network if they don't even offer one good perk.
buy on wi-fi
let me repeat that, ALL THE TIME.
i just checked and last month i used 146 megs of 3G data.
[i'm on wifi at work, at home, at all of my friends / family homes]
and now my wife can get an iphone - she didn't like the idea of paying $30 a month when all she wants is an iPod and phone all in one - occasionally using google maps.
...so both of our data plans will cost as much as mine does now.
one question - how much data/bandwidth will iChat consume over 3G???
I welcome the tiered data plans with grateful open arms. I've been wanting this for a long time. I'm almost always on a wi-fi network so my 3G data usage is shockingly low. It irked me to no end that I was required to pay so much for a service that I didn't even use. Now at least the fees are more manageable. $15 a month for 200MB is more than sufficient for my uses and I doubt I'll ever come close to reaching the limit.
I also think these new plans will curtail usage by the fringe who are using 3G data at insane levels.
My big gripe is that tethering costs so darn much. Why a monthly charge? Shouldn't it be like the iPad plan be an opt in at any time thing? I might be willing to pay the $20 to tether my wi-fi iPad to my iPhone 3G if I was going on a trip where I knew there wouldn't be wi-fi access. But I'm not paying $20 a month even if I don't use tethering. Also it seems insane that tethering would cost me more than the $15 a month data plan on my iPhone. Shouldn't tethering cost less than your data plan?
So not perfect, but still a welcome change.
Exactly! Welcome the tiers also, and other comments are spot on.
Also, if you go over 200Meg ... another $15 for 200Meg, but if you go over the 1Gig, only $10. Thats just goofy.
Then still charging for text messages if you have a data plan... pure rip off.
Bring on the competition, otherwise the Govt will jump in.
Seriously though, 2gb is crap. When I was in Iowa I did mild web browsing tethered to my phone after work. I stayed in this craptastic hotel for 3 months which had like 20kbps download speeds. It was unbearable. Anyways, I was averaging over 5gb a month, and this was just through web browsing. No big file downloads or anything.
What people are saying about a higher price in the future for "unlimited" seems about right. This is just AT&T playing their business cards as best as they can to keep profits as high as they can. For any business, managing that bottom line can be tricky. What's the least you can give for the most amount of money before customers drop you altogether...
At least with Sprint, unlimited is actually unlimited, but even they're charging an extra $10 a month for the evo because they know those phones will use up a lot of bandwidth.
<~~~Oh hey, post #1000
In Canada I pay $30 a month for 6 GB of data and have free tethering. Tethering isn't an additional service provided when the data plan is already capped, the iPhone does all the work.
Paying for tethering is like paying the gas station attendant for wiping your windows, even though you did it yourself and brought your own squeegee.
I agree with you. I think with time AT&T will have to match the competition and offer free tethering just like Verizon. However, people want tethering AND unlimited, which will never happen.
So now your story becomes that you speculated that AT&T would change data price structure in any way. Even though your implication is that they would raise the price. Your speculation said nothing about lowering the price.
I guarantee you this is directly because of LTE. They are lowering the costs of 3G so that more people get smart phones and data plans become the norm. This sets up for them to charge a premium for 4G.
My implication was that they would raise the price, and what they have done is raise the price. The cell model has always been the same, scare you into buying more of whatever service you use by charging ridiculous rates for overages. That is the model they have just reestablished here as well.
The same amount of use as before on the unlimited plan now costs $55 due to overages. The second you hit one megabyte over on the lower priced plan, you double the cost.
Will this likely scale even higher when 4G arrives, even while reports are telling us they will be able to triple the amount of data sent using the same bandwidth while lowering costs, of course it will.
Understand that I never claimed that costs for LTE wouldn't be used as a rationale for raising prices. I simply said they didn't need to wait until then based off the moves they were making.
They haven't. Unbundling and metered use is all about raising costs.
Tethering should be free, there is no additional service provided. You could make an argument with an unlimited plan, but not for one with a hard cap.
Glad I'm in Canada. You guys should tell AT&T to shove it.
I might. I'm on Tmobile right now and was pondering a move, now perhaps not so much. If they had the network to justify such costs, it might be worth it. In otherwords even if I pay the same on Verizon, at least I know I'm getting the network to go with it.
Couple of Points:
1. What kind of tethering? If it's only USB/Bluetooth then it's worthless. WiFi tethering is the only worthwhile way to go, and I have no plans to stop my iPhone from doing so.
I wouldn't say "worthless." I've tethered on 3G via bluetooth on Verizon's netowork, and it wasn't bad. Not great speed, but acceptable.
2. $15/200 mb is good, but not good enough. For people new to iPhone, who are leery about the extreme cost (given that they barely use data at all), this 200 mb a month should be FREE. That's right it should. Free. If you exceed the first 200 mb, then AT&T can charge you $15 for 200 more for the month. THIS would be useful for attracting all those 50 and 60 year olds who would love a phone they could actually see (nothing compares to iPhone) and could actually justify the cost.
Free? Why...because you bought an iPhone? The net result of this is that people w/o data plans end up paying for people that use data!
3. 2 gb/$25 is extortion, borderline criminal. This is going backwards, and its the worst news we have ever received in the life of the iPhone.
Extortion? Criminal? That's looney. The vast majority of people don't use this much data. It's more than reasonable. The only problem is tethering. If the $20 fee doesn't entitle one to more data, that's a serious problem.
4. Thank God AT&T is not going to screw existing customers out of their Unlimited plans (at least not this year, be prepared for it to happen though!).
I don't really need mine, so I don't care. 2GB is fine. 200MB might even be OK, though I think I use more like 500, so I'll have to see.
...
Just out of curiosity, for those that know, what is YOUR 3G data usage from AT&T? Are you well below 2GB? Do you fit in AT&T's statistics?
?
?
?
Waaay below, usually about 100meg, use home wifi alot.
Now if I didn't have Wifi... hmmm. thats an interesting quesetion whether to dump cable and go purely tethering. I don't know how much my average wifi usage is. Is there a program that can track that on my PC?
The problem is software updates and videos. What to do when windoz does an update etc. would have to make a special trip to local wifi spot.
I have to think that wish such a shitty option for anything more than 2GB that no one else is getting the iPhone next week, but AT&T will no longer have a contract with Apple and the iPhone will be unlocked, like the iPad.
The dropping of the iPad unlimited for $30 may lead to a class action, even though month-to-month are subject to change at any time. I think most would use well under 2GB and therefore save $5 but I can see a lawsuit happening.
I didn't mind the lack of free tethering for the unlimited plans which were clearly unlimited for that device, nothing else, but when you cap the usage then charging for tethering is a slap in the face. Unless that required extra $20 also gets you a couple more GBs then I can't see it as a decent offer.
AT&T seems to have made the wrong business choices yet again.
All I've got to say is Tenobell, I was right. Us geeks know that AT&T's former plan, even when called unlimited had a small print limit of 5 gigs.
Small print, yes, that is well known, but it was never enforced. Even when I was doing 40GB a month I was charged more, warned, capped or throttled.
I agree with you. However, people want tethering AND unlimited, which will never happen.
Those people are just unreasonable. However, even the "unlimited" plan had a 5 GB cap of some sort, as I'm not on AT&T I don't know what the consequences of hitting it were.
Those people are just unreasonable. However, even the "unlimited" plan had a 5 GB cap of some sort, as I'm not on AT&T I don't know what the consequences of hitting it were.
The current iPad and iPhone plans are actually unlimited. No 5GB limit.
In Canada I pay $30 a month for 6 GB of data and have free tethering. Tethering isn't an additional service provided when the data plan is already capped, the iPhone does all the work.
Paying for tethering is like paying the gas station attendant for wiping your windows, even though you did it yourself and brought your own squeegee.
That's what I find distasteful about these plans. If you have a cap, why also put restrictions on how you can use the data? My analogy would be you have paid for a dessert at Dairy Queen, you get a single cone for a price. But if you want to share it with your son you have to pay an additional 80%. You don't get any more ice cream but you get to share it.
The other part is the price for 2GB. Previously they were getting essentially 5GB with the softcap for $30. The new plans give them 2/5 of this for 5/6 of the price. Per GB these plans are much higher. To get back to 5GB would cost $55. So, they are getting less for more. Sort of like a supermarket saying "most customer are not using the whole carton of eggs. So, we are going to give you more flexibility. Instead of $4 for a dozen eggs we are going to let you buy 3 eggs for $3.50 and buy each additional egg for $1." For the majority that didn't eat a dozen eggs, they do save a tiny bit of money. But if they ever eat a more than the normally do, they will pay much more for it.
The current iPad and iPhone plans are actually unlimited. No 5GB limit.
Then why have I been hearing about a 5 GB limit in the fine print for ages?
In Canada I pay $30 a month for 6 GB of data and have free tethering. Tethering isn't an additional service provided when the data plan is already capped, the iPhone does all the work.
Paying for tethering is like paying the gas station attendant for wiping your windows, even though you did it yourself and brought your own squeegee.
EXACTLY!
There was an article not too long ago about iPhone users in Spain being provided with a SIM card for their iPad with no additional charge.