Sing me up for that low minute plan. I use so many minutes that If could pay for just a data plan and zero plan minutess with each one costing their max I?d probably make out.
Too bad I couldn't roll my minutes over to you. I only have 1920 minutes off a 200 minute plan. Gotta love the rollover feature!
Too bad I couldn't roll my minutes over to you. I only have 1920 minutes off a 200 minute plan. Gotta love the rollover feature!
I think I have abotu 50% more than you, so I?m fine, though when I got the iPhone 3G and signed up for the new plan they removed all my rollover minutes. I called and they gave me a whole bunch of minutes and a rebate off that month, which was nice.
I just hoping for a low minute plan with a decent amount data. Or at least let people choose a low minute plan with the data plan they need and not lock them into a special data plan just because of the amount of minutes they chose. I think the more flexibility they give customers, the more apt current iPhone customers will be willing to stay and I think it will also help bring in new iPhone customers as well.
The AT&T rates is what's keeping me from owning an iPhone. Glad to see there's some pressure to bring those down, because it's hard to justify $60/month for Internet access at home and another $35 for Internet access on the phone... ridiculous.
I don't know about you guys, but I'm really tired of AT&T's lies...
One look at their March 09 quarter balance sheet tells me that reducing the price of their unlimited plan is NOT going to seriously impact their bottom line. They are not hurting for money. The capped plan is just more BS.
Someone needs to tell that f^&khead at AT&T he ain't foolin nobody.
That is quite a spread. $30 for unlimited (5GB) --OR-- $20 for 200MB (+ overage fees)
My guess is that the vast majority of people would fall somewhere inbetween meaning that this option is (a) useless or (b) going to cause people to be paranoid about using data and therefore have a more negative smartphone experience or (c) end up paying more with overage charges.
For some unknown reason, my current stat clocks in at about 280MB total, and I don't remember what I did with that data. I'm not actually out of a WiFi zone (home or work) for very much of a given day, and the very short commutes are just playing audio. The 200MB figure might be good for someone that doesn't use any data at all.
Quote:
Originally Posted by charlituna
at this point they can't. contract and all that. not to mention the issue of not all carriers use GSM and Apple's not likely to waste the time and money on making a CDMA supporting model of the phone.
Contracts, corporate politics and carriers notwithstanding, if they could get one out, I bet they would easily be able to sell over a million CDMA iPhones a year. Even if it's only a tenth that of GSM models by quantity, that has to be way more than high enough of a volume to make the development and production highly profitable. The reality is that global number of CDMA users are about 1/4th the number of global GSM users, so a tenth is just a low ball figure in my part to point out the potential volume.
Quote:
Originally Posted by a_greer
There is a strong case to justify voice as premium pricing...QoS If a packet or two drop when loading a web page, you spend a few microseconds waiting on a retransmit, if those packets are dropped on voice calls, you get some gargling at best, or a drop at worst, so you are paying for a much higher level of priority for voice data.
I don't know of that packet prioritization really costs much money as a percentage of the costs needed to serve a given user, but I can see it being a consideration. I think the problem is that cellular companies have so much of their business model riding on the money voice service brings, they can't afford to give it away as part of their data plan so people can just use 3G data for $30 and nothing else. If anything, you would probably get an option for a $100-something a month for unlimited everything for one device.
i'm getting really close to not continuing my iPhone in June ($100/month)...I have the first gen. iPhone but am considering going back to my ATT free regular phone and only checking my email on my desktop once in the AM and once in the PM and saving $40-$50/month!
Or replace my iMac with next gen. MBA and a 24" monitor to have the MBA for travel.
why don't you get the new portable hot spot >> MI-FI << for your MBA
That is quite a spread. $30 for unlimited (5GB) --OR-- $20 for 200MB (+ overage fees)
My guess is that the vast majority of people would fall somewhere inbetween meaning that this option is (a) useless or (b) going to cause people to be paranoid about using data and therefore have a more negative smartphone experience or (c) end up paying more with overage charges.
Notice that there's no $10 option for text messages between 200 ($5) and 1500 ($15). AT&T is no stranger to stupid tiered pricing.
i'm getting really close to not continuing my iPhone in June ($100/month)...I have the first gen. iPhone but am considering going back to my ATT free regular phone and only checking my email on my desktop once in the AM and once in the PM and saving $40-$50/month!
Or replace my iMac with next gen. MBA and a 24" monitor to have the MBA for travel.
I got a pay as I go phone, it uses AT&T networks for voice, the phone only cost $30, it's slim and fits comfortably in my pants pocket. Since I don't talk all that much on it, I only use $10-$20 a month. Lose the phone or it breaks, no big deal. Haven't yet in three years, *knocks on wood*
If I'm going to yack it up, I'll jump on VOIP on my home internet for $24 a month.
MacBook Pro for anything else. Kids PS3 for games if need be, first person shooter fix.
So I only spend $34-$44 a month for voice and near unlimited data/internet.
Top iPhone apps are games, silly small games. For $100 a month and no broadband, AT&T hobbled using 3G for Wifi.
Apple is just taking the laid back approach to gaining market share. I never thought the exclusive deals made any sense. Advances is chip set design make it relatively simple to have iPhones with different radio technology... including CDMA. This tech is 20-25% of the 3G subs.
Verizon caters to hi end customers, including corporate plans and family plans. There is a hi switching cost for them to change carriers. It is a market that should not have been ignored.
Implementing CDMA with 1X and EVDO tech is not that complicated since entire chip sets come pre packaged. The tech actually more stable than UMTS. With EVDO separate a separate data channel (1.25 MHz) channel is used. So hi data transmission rates do not affect quality of voice which can be a problem for the 3G that ATT uses. The CDMA tech uses synch transmission and narrower bandwidth so the battery consumption tend to be lower than UMTS tech that ATT uses.
True but that's not what they are "really" setting out to do.
I can NOT believe this TRAP.
This is all a ploy to get the iPhone ready for teethering.
Why bother trying to police the usage and teethering of your iPhone when you can just add a cap to the all things Apple. First it's the cap in the phone, then out comes teethering followed by a new Apple DATA device.
If anyone thinks AT&T is doing us a favor, THINK again.
This is nothing but a ploy to get more if your money, not less. No favors here.
Quote:
Originally Posted by iPeon
The honest thing to do is to charge customers for what they use and only what they use.
All else is just a gimmick to take advantage of people.
You should only be charged for the minutes you use and the data you use. Period!
Charging people an outrageous amount of money for going "over their" minutes is criminal. It's called entrapment.
here is the SIMPLE way to do it. which of course they won't
set your lower caped data point be it 200MB or 5GB
and when that is went over, you get charged the $20 (or whatever it is) but you then become an unlimited user for the month, a text or email is sent to you and you are made aware of that fact.
One caveat would be that if the overage is 5, 3, 2 days before the end of the month, the unlimited use rolls over for that one single month.
the user wins, if they start using their device more than they thought.
the company wins because they are far more likely to get MORE users to use MORE data, because its pretty fair.
they can ADVERTISE their monthly data plans at the lower price, because THAT IS what it costs, but they can sell those unlimited months on the side.
its a gateways system the telcos should love it, but they are too blind to see the simplicity of it
although, if Jobs has AT&Ts ear, don't be surprised to see something as simple as this popping up!
I don't know every last detail of every telco, so maybe, just maybe, its possible that this system is already run somewhere, but i doubt it.
There is a strong case to justify voice as premium pricing...QoS If a packet or two drop when loading a web page, you spend a few microseconds waiting on a retransmit, if those packets are dropped on voice calls, you get some gargling at best, or a drop at worst, so you are paying for a much higher level of priority for voice data.
This is a new one on me. Normally, at least in Europe, QoS is in regards to the data speed not packet lose. I to not think any operator in their right mind would offer this kind of QoS as so many unforseen things can affect the quality of the data while a properly built and managed network and for the most part assure a reasonable data speed.
The reality is that global number of CDMA users are about 1/4th the number of global GSM users, so a tenth is just a low ball figure in my part to point out the potential volume.
Voice is another form of data. The problem is we the customer don't mind being fleeced by the carriers. Why are we paying so much for data? I read somewhere that it works out to be something like $1000 per MB for text messaging.
So we're still talking roughly one in five. So I don't think it's at all unreasonable to think that more than 1 in 10 iPhones might be sold as CDMA if available. It might seem a small proportion, but it still computes to a staggering number of devices, more plenty enough to make development and mass production worthwhile, assuming the other hurdles that I mentioned weren't a problem. Apple made a statement of targeting 1% of the total phone market, 1% of CDMA subscribers is 4.5 million.
The US doesn't account for half the CDMA market either. The biggest at something like 45% last I saw, but far from the only one.
Voice is another form of data. The problem is we the customer don't mind being fleeced by the carriers. Why are we paying so much for data?
Of course it?s data, but it?s a different kind of data. It?s like saying that the $15 you spend for 700MB of data on a CD should be a lot less because you an buy a DVD with 8500MB for under $10 in bin at Walmart. When you get an email QoS is not important because a momentary pause in the data stream is not going to affect the content once it?s DLed, but voice is realtime and needs to be sent so that both parties can get be heard as quickly as possible and in the right order to move the conversation along. An email or a website can receive a packet out of order and simply just request a missed or corrupted packet again. You can even set up home routers with basic QoS and port forwarding so realtime apps work a little better, like WoW or Skype.
i'm getting really close to not continuing my iPhone in June ($100/month)...I have the first gen. iPhone but am considering going back to my ATT free regular phone and only checking my email on my desktop once in the AM and once in the PM and saving $40-$50/month!
Or replace my iMac with next gen. MBA and a 24" monitor to have the MBA for travel.
Just curious, if you close out the AT&T account are you able to still use the device like an iPod Touch?
Comments
Sing me up for that low minute plan. I use so many minutes that If could pay for just a data plan and zero plan minutess with each one costing their max I?d probably make out.
Too bad I couldn't roll my minutes over to you. I only have 1920 minutes off a 200 minute plan. Gotta love the rollover feature!
Too bad I couldn't roll my minutes over to you. I only have 1920 minutes off a 200 minute plan. Gotta love the rollover feature!
I think I have abotu 50% more than you, so I?m fine, though when I got the iPhone 3G and signed up for the new plan they removed all my rollover minutes. I called and they gave me a whole bunch of minutes and a rebate off that month, which was nice.
One look at their March 09 quarter balance sheet tells me that reducing the price of their unlimited plan is NOT going to seriously impact their bottom line. They are not hurting for money. The capped plan is just more BS.
Someone needs to tell that f^&khead at AT&T he ain't foolin nobody.
That is quite a spread. $30 for unlimited (5GB) --OR-- $20 for 200MB (+ overage fees)
My guess is that the vast majority of people would fall somewhere inbetween meaning that this option is (a) useless or (b) going to cause people to be paranoid about using data and therefore have a more negative smartphone experience or (c) end up paying more with overage charges.
For some unknown reason, my current stat clocks in at about 280MB total, and I don't remember what I did with that data. I'm not actually out of a WiFi zone (home or work) for very much of a given day, and the very short commutes are just playing audio. The 200MB figure might be good for someone that doesn't use any data at all.
at this point they can't. contract and all that. not to mention the issue of not all carriers use GSM and Apple's not likely to waste the time and money on making a CDMA supporting model of the phone.
Contracts, corporate politics and carriers notwithstanding, if they could get one out, I bet they would easily be able to sell over a million CDMA iPhones a year. Even if it's only a tenth that of GSM models by quantity, that has to be way more than high enough of a volume to make the development and production highly profitable. The reality is that global number of CDMA users are about 1/4th the number of global GSM users, so a tenth is just a low ball figure in my part to point out the potential volume.
There is a strong case to justify voice as premium pricing...QoS If a packet or two drop when loading a web page, you spend a few microseconds waiting on a retransmit, if those packets are dropped on voice calls, you get some gargling at best, or a drop at worst, so you are paying for a much higher level of priority for voice data.
I don't know of that packet prioritization really costs much money as a percentage of the costs needed to serve a given user, but I can see it being a consideration. I think the problem is that cellular companies have so much of their business model riding on the money voice service brings, they can't afford to give it away as part of their data plan so people can just use 3G data for $30 and nothing else. If anything, you would probably get an option for a $100-something a month for unlimited everything for one device.
i'm getting really close to not continuing my iPhone in June ($100/month)...I have the first gen. iPhone but am considering going back to my ATT free regular phone and only checking my email on my desktop once in the AM and once in the PM and saving $40-$50/month!
Or replace my iMac with next gen. MBA and a 24" monitor to have the MBA for travel.
why don't you get the new portable hot spot >> MI-FI << for your MBA
That is quite a spread. $30 for unlimited (5GB) --OR-- $20 for 200MB (+ overage fees)
My guess is that the vast majority of people would fall somewhere inbetween meaning that this option is (a) useless or (b) going to cause people to be paranoid about using data and therefore have a more negative smartphone experience or (c) end up paying more with overage charges.
Notice that there's no $10 option for text messages between 200 ($5) and 1500 ($15). AT&T is no stranger to stupid tiered pricing.
i'm getting really close to not continuing my iPhone in June ($100/month)...I have the first gen. iPhone but am considering going back to my ATT free regular phone and only checking my email on my desktop once in the AM and once in the PM and saving $40-$50/month!
Or replace my iMac with next gen. MBA and a 24" monitor to have the MBA for travel.
I got a pay as I go phone, it uses AT&T networks for voice, the phone only cost $30, it's slim and fits comfortably in my pants pocket. Since I don't talk all that much on it, I only use $10-$20 a month. Lose the phone or it breaks, no big deal. Haven't yet in three years, *knocks on wood*
If I'm going to yack it up, I'll jump on VOIP on my home internet for $24 a month.
MacBook Pro for anything else. Kids PS3 for games if need be, first person shooter fix.
So I only spend $34-$44 a month for voice and near unlimited data/internet.
Top iPhone apps are games, silly small games. For $100 a month and no broadband, AT&T hobbled using 3G for Wifi.
Different strokes for different folks naturally.
All else is just a gimmick to take advantage of people.
You should only be charged for the minutes you use and the data you use. Period!
Charging people an outrageous amount of money for going "over their" minutes is criminal. It's called entrapment.
Verizon caters to hi end customers, including corporate plans and family plans. There is a hi switching cost for them to change carriers. It is a market that should not have been ignored.
Implementing CDMA with 1X and EVDO tech is not that complicated since entire chip sets come pre packaged. The tech actually more stable than UMTS. With EVDO separate a separate data channel (1.25 MHz) channel is used. So hi data transmission rates do not affect quality of voice which can be a problem for the 3G that ATT uses. The CDMA tech uses synch transmission and narrower bandwidth so the battery consumption tend to be lower than UMTS tech that ATT uses.
Again, Apple has never been about mass market.
I can NOT believe this TRAP.
This is all a ploy to get the iPhone ready for teethering.
Why bother trying to police the usage and teethering of your iPhone when you can just add a cap to the all things Apple. First it's the cap in the phone, then out comes teethering followed by a new Apple DATA device.
If anyone thinks AT&T is doing us a favor, THINK again.
This is nothing but a ploy to get more if your money, not less. No favors here.
The honest thing to do is to charge customers for what they use and only what they use.
All else is just a gimmick to take advantage of people.
You should only be charged for the minutes you use and the data you use. Period!
Charging people an outrageous amount of money for going "over their" minutes is criminal. It's called entrapment.
set your lower caped data point be it 200MB or 5GB
and when that is went over, you get charged the $20 (or whatever it is) but you then become an unlimited user for the month, a text or email is sent to you and you are made aware of that fact.
One caveat would be that if the overage is 5, 3, 2 days before the end of the month, the unlimited use rolls over for that one single month.
the user wins, if they start using their device more than they thought.
the company wins because they are far more likely to get MORE users to use MORE data, because its pretty fair.
they can ADVERTISE their monthly data plans at the lower price, because THAT IS what it costs, but they can sell those unlimited months on the side.
its a gateways system
although, if Jobs has AT&Ts ear, don't be surprised to see something as simple as this popping up!
I don't know every last detail of every telco, so maybe, just maybe, its possible that this system is already run somewhere, but i doubt it.
There is a strong case to justify voice as premium pricing...QoS If a packet or two drop when loading a web page, you spend a few microseconds waiting on a retransmit, if those packets are dropped on voice calls, you get some gargling at best, or a drop at worst, so you are paying for a much higher level of priority for voice data.
This is a new one on me. Normally, at least in Europe, QoS is in regards to the data speed not packet lose. I to not think any operator in their right mind would offer this kind of QoS as so many unforseen things can affect the quality of the data while a properly built and managed network and for the most part assure a reasonable data speed.
The reality is that global number of CDMA users are about 1/4th the number of global GSM users, so a tenth is just a low ball figure in my part to point out the potential volume.
Source?
Wikipedia says 13% market share for CDMA.
The exclusivity agreement with AT&T reduces the number of possible CDMA customers even further for some years to come.
CNet's"Face it: The iPhone Sucks."
Source?
Wikipedia says 13% market share for CDMA.
The exclusivity agreement with AT&T reduces the number of possible CDMA customers even further for some years to come.
It would help if you left in the user name and post info when quoting so people know who you are responding to.
The referenced document that was the source of that stat is no longer available.
My information was a little bit older than I thought, the numbers do fluctuate a lot every year.
Supposedly there are 450 million CDMA subscribers:
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/31509.php
Supposedly 2.5 Billion GSM subscribers:
http://news.softpedia.com/news/2-5-B...rs-56848.shtml
So we're still talking roughly one in five. So I don't think it's at all unreasonable to think that more than 1 in 10 iPhones might be sold as CDMA if available. It might seem a small proportion, but it still computes to a staggering number of devices, more plenty enough to make development and mass production worthwhile, assuming the other hurdles that I mentioned weren't a problem. Apple made a statement of targeting 1% of the total phone market, 1% of CDMA subscribers is 4.5 million.
The US doesn't account for half the CDMA market either. The biggest at something like 45% last I saw, but far from the only one.
Voice is another form of data. The problem is we the customer don't mind being fleeced by the carriers. Why are we paying so much for data?
Of course it?s data, but it?s a different kind of data. It?s like saying that the $15 you spend for 700MB of data on a CD should be a lot less because you an buy a DVD with 8500MB for under $10 in bin at Walmart. When you get an email QoS is not important because a momentary pause in the data stream is not going to affect the content once it?s DLed, but voice is realtime and needs to be sent so that both parties can get be heard as quickly as possible and in the right order to move the conversation along. An email or a website can receive a packet out of order and simply just request a missed or corrupted packet again. You can even set up home routers with basic QoS and port forwarding so realtime apps work a little better, like WoW or Skype.
i'm getting really close to not continuing my iPhone in June ($100/month)...I have the first gen. iPhone but am considering going back to my ATT free regular phone and only checking my email on my desktop once in the AM and once in the PM and saving $40-$50/month!
Or replace my iMac with next gen. MBA and a 24" monitor to have the MBA for travel.
Just curious, if you close out the AT&T account are you able to still use the device like an iPod Touch?