Couldn't agree more. These folks have obviously never heard of wifi.
Also an extra 1GB for 10.00 isn't bad at all even if you go over the 2GB. I doubt many users use more then 3gb in a month. So in reality even if you use 3gb a month your only paying an extra 5.00 a month compared to the 30.00 unlimited plan.
Also I seriously doubt Verizon is going to follow suit, without the iPhone their network doesn't have nearly the stress compared to ATT.
did the dimwitted analyst cited in this "story" ever stop to think that Blackberrys use less MgB's because they cannot do all the things that an iPhone does?
ed
Oh, I am sure the 'dimwitted' analyst knew that. But he also knew that he could get his name out there in the press this way, since sites like AI would pick it up and report it.
Also an extra 1GB for 10.00 isn't bad at all even if you go over the 2GB. I doubt many users use more then 3gb in a month. So in reality even if you use 3gb a month your only paying an extra 5.00 a month compared to the 30.00 unlimited plan.
Also I seriously doubt Verizon is going to follow suit, without the iPhone their network doesn't have nearly the stress compared to ATT.
Yes, and yes.
Moreover, ATT must be quite worried (and perhaps legitimately so, given past experience with iPhone uses) that the tethering will put them over the edge.
I believe its unfair for ATT to single out the iPhone like this and really knock down the data plan.
You do mean the current plan is "unfair", not the one announced today, right?
Quote:
Originally Posted by extremeskater
Also an extra 1GB for 10.00 isn't bad at all even if you go over the 2GB. I doubt many users use more then 3gb in a month. So in reality even if you use 3gb a month your only paying an extra 5.00 a month compared to the 30.00 unlimited plan.
Moreover, ATT must be quite worried (and perhaps legitimately so, given past experience with iPhone uses) that the tethering will put them over the edge.
With tethering you will be able to smell smoke coming from the ATT servers......
I think this might be the result of what the AT&T rep said they were looking into, a way to crack down on the "data hogs". I was kind of suspicious though, and surprised that they didn't really take any steps to kick off people violating TOS with tethering. 3GB is a a lot of streaming audio, and I think it would be worthwhile, though I tend to listen to podcasts and such, which my computer downloads.
What this plan nets me is $5 cheaper bill. My usage would have to shift radically to be anything more than a blip, in a way, I'm subsidizing the heavy users. I wish I could do the $15 data plan like is offered on the iPad, I can live quite comfortably under that, though the price works in part because it's not a subsidized device.
Even if VZ got the next iPhone at the same time as ATT, I was leaning towards ATT because of these 2 reasons:
Rollover Minutes - I paid for them, it's up to me when I want to use them. Very sensible of ATT to allow me that freedom!
Voice and Data at the same time - not available on CDMA, unless VZ upgrades CDMA. But they are unlikely to do that, cause everyone's trying to get to LTE ASAP...
Today ATT changed their iPhone Data Pricing, and I am concerned! Why? Cause this is going to be my 1st iPhone and I don't know what my usage pattern will be. I know that I don't use many minutes on my cell phone, thus Rollover Minutes give me an even greater Peace Of Mind! But, with Data, now with this Unlimited Data Plan gone, I am reminded of the early days on Cell Phone, where I had to constantly look over my shoulder not to get into overtime with my minutes used!
My Solution - Wish for ATT:
Those who abuse ATT should be singled out for abuse, assuming there ever was an Invisible Cap behind ATT's Unlimited Plan! Charge them, but not others!
$25 for - 5 or 10GB
Or at least: ROLL OVER DATA! - It's my Data, I paid for it, I'll use it when I need to! It's like going to a restaurant, and asking for a Doggie Bag, so that one can finish their food later, as leftovers! It would be silly if that restaurant forced me to finish my food, or threaten to throw my food out!
Tethering should be part of Data! I see it like this:
If I want to sit on my lawn, or on the roof of my house, I should be able to plug a long extension chord into an outlet in my home to plug in a fen, or a TV! My Utility Company can't force me to pay extra $$ for that electricity, cause that outlet is in my home, under my electric bill...
Another analogy, back to restaurant + Doggie Bag:
It would be silly if that restaurant forced me to pay extra $$ for my doggie bag, if I walked out of a restaurant and gave it to a homeless person! It's my food, and it's up to me to eat it, throw it out, or give it to anyone!
Thus I think that ROLL OVER DATA would be the RIGHT THING for ATT to do! If VZ is smart, they should offer it, and Rollover Minutes - that would be a huge embarrassment to ATT, and a PR Victory for VZ!!!
Of course the other side of the argument, in ATT's favor would be this analogy:
All ONE can Eat Customer can't keep taking home Doggie Bags with left overs, never mind keep running outside the restaurant to feed homeless people, and then coming back repeatedly to re-fill the plate! But, even with those people who probably got rid of their Cable/DSL in favor of jailbreaking iPhones and Tethering, such "All ONE can Eat Customer can't take home Doggie Bag" Analogy can't apply, even if there was a Splitter Cable involved to Split ATT's Data Bill with a Neighbor's Computer...
Thus I think that ROLL OVER DATA would be the RIGHT THING for ATT to do!
I wish ATT read this Forum and wised up... We'll see how much noise their customers will or not make over this Data Rates hike...
The Fixed Rate on Unlimited Data is something that I'd be more comfortable with, since I am not always near WiFi, and I don't want to live in fear as to what my bill will be like!
SMS should be Free!
Once the Contract is Finished, the rate should drop, cause the ATT subsidy $$$ are recouped! At that time phone should be unlocked!
If ATT keeps getting that greedy then it creates an image of:
Smart Phones, particularly iPhone, are for rich people, not regular people!
That would work against iPhone and iPad adoption, because the Data Prices would discourage the new customers!
Yes, ATT is under a lot of pressure with iPhones, but to raise $$ like this is a turn off! It's a self inflicted Black Eye I hope that VZ PR machine finds a way to embarrass ATT on those points!
You do mean the current plan is "unfair", not the one announced today, right?
Word!
Well to be honest making a seperate iPhone plan in either case never really seemed fair. Then again when I tought about it BB has always had its own 30.00 required plan.
I do however believe the iPad 3g users got screwed a bit. It was pushed pretty heavy what a great deal they were getting for unlimited data at 30.00.
Let me ask this seeing I am sure you know the answer to this better then I do seeing I never look at my data usage. What kind of web hits are we talking about using 2-3gb?
Lets say your not streaming under 3G and simply web surfing and email. Pages like CNN, Weather Channel, MSN as examples do you have an idea what kind of data usage per page we are talking about?
what are people doing with their phones that 2G wouldn't be enough data? I use my iPhone all of the time and my history shows I've never gone over 400 megs, and typically am under 200 megs.
This is not just about right now but tomorrow as well. Today's "bandwidth hog" is tomorrow's average user. What AT&T just did was kill mobile TV on not only the iPhone but the iPad as well. Other carriers will probably follow suit and hurt the forward movement of technology.
When the move to LTE finally happens, I expect that there might be a slight increase in the data cap (possibly to 3GB) and they'll jack up the rates. Keep in mind that AT&T never cited bandwidth usage as the reason for the cap. Their intentions have nothing to do with the actual quality of the network.
It's a red herring to say that this is the fault of bandwidth hogs. The 2G iPhone was having troubles in places like NYC only six months after its initial launch. The issue is the amount of iPhone users.
Well to be honest making a seperate iPhone plan in either case never really seemed fair. Then again when I tought about it BB has always had its own 30.00 required plan.
I do however believe the iPad 3g users got screwed a bit. It was pushed pretty heavy what a great deal they were getting for unlimited data at 30.00.
Let me ask this seeing I am sure you know the answer to this better then I do seeing I never look at my data usage. What kind of web hits are we talking about using 2-3gb?
Lets say your not streaming under 3G and simply web surfing and email. Pages like CNN, Weather Channel, MSN as examples do you have an idea what kind of data usage per page we are talking about?
I've never done it on a per site basis. Here is one site I found that seems to work well...
And here is an AI post from another thread about my current data use. I consider myself a heavy user, even on the months I only tallied a few hundred MBs over AT&T's network.
And here is an AI post from another thread about my current data use. I consider myself a heavy user, even on the months I only tallied a few hundred MBs over AT&T's network.
I was going to buy an iPad 3G but now I don't see the point.
If I download a single movie on iTunes in HD I will be over my limit.
Suddenly every user who wants to watch a movie on an iPad is labelled as a "Heavy User".
This decision on ATT takes a lot of the magic out of the iPad in my opinion.
Apple should consider dropping ATT over this.
2 answers. 1) Buy your iPad now and sign up--you'll be ushered in on the unlimited plan. 2) To download an HD movie on iTunes, you'll need to spend at least 12 hours over 3G. Just download on your computer, or use the WiFi at home.
?Blackberrys use less MgB's because they cannot do all the things that an iPhone does
Two responses:
First: I can see the ad campaign: ?If you're watching your smartphone data pennies, the Blackberry gets you 15% more email on the same data budget!? Sure to be a winner, alright.
Second: the article did reference an announcement about some technology that'd compress regular web pages. Although Google gave me no background, I used something like that on my old dialup earthlink account. A royal pain; images were smeared to save bandwidth. Sometimes, you could see that the servers weren't doing anything because the page looked like it should. The biggest data hogs were incompressible (audio) and would be even more so today (video). I guess if my data were all text emails, and locking into the 2002 Internet was my thing, this'd be a Big Deal. But even we corporate droids wouldn't see any advantage when the Office emails me a new spreadsheet or presentation deck.
Conclusion: this ?advantage? is almost totally irrelevant to today's internet.
If one is always near a Free WiFi, this Price Change might be OK, but, if one is truly on the go, long drive etc. then it's a 3G Data, and life in fear of going over the limit!
Forget about Pandora, never mind YouTube while in a park, hiking on the beach! The Mobility is now restricted!
Steve Jobs kind of gave it away when the was talking about ATT on All Things Digital. He used word "shift data"... So, ATT made a Shift, and a Shaft! It's trying to have us closer to the WiFi spots, diminishing our Mobility Freedom!
With all the Cloud Stuff coming, these new Data Caps will Tether us closer to our Home or Office WiFi's or Coffee Shops with Free WiFi... But, that's not a True Mobility! It's a Perverted form of "Tethering", where we'd be tied to a buildings, rather Truly UnTethered to move around as we please!
One shouldn't be expected to sit in a coffee shop or an office on a Free WiFi all day! Mobility, Portability were the selling points for iPhone and and iPad - Internet in your pocket! Nobody said: as long as you stay close to the buildings to be on WiFi! With this Price Change, ATT is limiting user's Freedom of Movement on already spotty network, where Drop Calls are almost expected!
Apple seems to be letting them do it, because VZ is probably not budging much! So this $$ Bleeding will continue for a while, then it'll be Renamed: LTE!!!, where we'd be paying a little more for Speed and more Data!
Today all that talk about Apple's NC Data Center, Sling TV, Netflix, Pandora, YouTube - all that sounds really silly, unless one is a rich person who can afford the Data Plan, just to qualify! Thus:
iPhone is for Rich People stereotype might take hold! The poor people will go to Sprint and T-Mobile, and Apple will be seen as an Elitist, Rich People Toy!
I'd rather be wrong about that, but that is how it appears to me today!
So, when Steve Jobs offers to save print media, or TV etc, how is it possible, if Cell Phone Providers raise such high tolls to even enter that Mobile Worlds!!! And, of course, if one travels internationally, it's even worse!
2 answers. 1) Buy your iPad now and sign up--you'll be ushered in on the unlimited plan.
It looks like you have to sign up before next Monday. If you don't already have an iPad 3G in your hands or on its way to you right now, you're out of luck.
I wonder how many people noticed that disclaimer that the plan was a short term deal. I sure don't remember seeing it, and it's not as if the presentation slide was so busy, I guess it just didn't register.
Quote:
2) To download an HD movie on iTunes, you'll need to spend at least 12 hours over 3G. Just download on your computer, or use the WiFi at home.
I didn't realize that iPad can play iTunes HD files, I just assumed it didn't, a little detail that I overlooked. I went to their specs page to confirm that it can play them. I suppose if you're really desperate to be post-PC, you could do it over WiFi, but it's still far from optimal, better to let the computer handle as much of the download stuff as possible.
I didn't realize that iPad can play iTunes HD files, I just assumed it didn't. I went to their specs page to confirm that it can play them.
That was one of the features, playing HD video. The next iPhone and Touch should also be able to load and play 720p video.
Also, I don't think you can DL any video from the iTS over 3G at this time, SD or HD.
PS: Technically, the 3GS and iPad should be able to decode full HD 1080p60 Blu-ray, if the rumours of the VXD390 decode sister chip is being used with the SGX535 GPU are correct. Of course, power is always an issue, unless it's a new TV.
VXD390 is capable of decoding full high-definition H.264 L4.2 (1080P60) and can decode multiple streams simultaneously to fully meet Blu-ray and other multi stream decode requirements. It has industry leading low frequency requirements, typical H.264 High profile streams being decoded with a clock rate of just 70MHz.
No benefit to the customer here. This is simply a move to reduce IPHONE data usage so that AT&T can offer tethering. AT&T will be the winner with the extra revenue it will produce.
Data usage will increase. A perfect analogy would be a person buying a HDTV and only having one channel. Of course your going to pay for the extra channels or in this case the extra charge for the data.
While most people are saying 'I'm grandfathered in under the old plan" they don't realize that when their 2 year contract is up they automatically go to their choice of the new plans. So this is only a temporary delay for AT&T .
Looks as though AT&T is getting ready to compensate for loseing exclusivity of the IPHONE, first the increase in ETF and now an increase to data plan revenue.
Comments
Couldn't agree more. These folks have obviously never heard of wifi.
Also an extra 1GB for 10.00 isn't bad at all even if you go over the 2GB. I doubt many users use more then 3gb in a month. So in reality even if you use 3gb a month your only paying an extra 5.00 a month compared to the 30.00 unlimited plan.
Also I seriously doubt Verizon is going to follow suit, without the iPhone their network doesn't have nearly the stress compared to ATT.
did the dimwitted analyst cited in this "story" ever stop to think that Blackberrys use less MgB's because they cannot do all the things that an iPhone does?
ed
Oh, I am sure the 'dimwitted' analyst knew that. But he also knew that he could get his name out there in the press this way, since sites like AI would pick it up and report it.
Also an extra 1GB for 10.00 isn't bad at all even if you go over the 2GB. I doubt many users use more then 3gb in a month. So in reality even if you use 3gb a month your only paying an extra 5.00 a month compared to the 30.00 unlimited plan.
Also I seriously doubt Verizon is going to follow suit, without the iPhone their network doesn't have nearly the stress compared to ATT.
Yes, and yes.
Moreover, ATT must be quite worried (and perhaps legitimately so, given past experience with iPhone uses) that the tethering will put them over the edge.
I believe its unfair for ATT to single out the iPhone like this and really knock down the data plan.
You do mean the current plan is "unfair", not the one announced today, right?
Also an extra 1GB for 10.00 isn't bad at all even if you go over the 2GB. I doubt many users use more then 3gb in a month. So in reality even if you use 3gb a month your only paying an extra 5.00 a month compared to the 30.00 unlimited plan.
Word!
Yes, and yes.
Moreover, ATT must be quite worried (and perhaps legitimately so, given past experience with iPhone uses) that the tethering will put them over the edge.
With tethering you will be able to smell smoke coming from the ATT servers......
What this plan nets me is $5 cheaper bill. My usage would have to shift radically to be anything more than a blip, in a way, I'm subsidizing the heavy users. I wish I could do the $15 data plan like is offered on the iPad, I can live quite comfortably under that, though the price works in part because it's not a subsidized device.
Rollover Minutes - I paid for them, it's up to me when I want to use them. Very sensible of ATT to allow me that freedom!
Voice and Data at the same time - not available on CDMA, unless VZ upgrades CDMA. But they are unlikely to do that, cause everyone's trying to get to LTE ASAP...
Today ATT changed their iPhone Data Pricing, and I am concerned! Why? Cause this is going to be my 1st iPhone and I don't know what my usage pattern will be. I know that I don't use many minutes on my cell phone, thus Rollover Minutes give me an even greater Peace Of Mind! But, with Data, now with this Unlimited Data Plan gone, I am reminded of the early days on Cell Phone, where I had to constantly look over my shoulder not to get into overtime with my minutes used!
My Solution - Wish for ATT:
Those who abuse ATT should be singled out for abuse, assuming there ever was an Invisible Cap behind ATT's Unlimited Plan! Charge them, but not others!
$25 for - 5 or 10GB
Or at least: ROLL OVER DATA! - It's my Data, I paid for it, I'll use it when I need to! It's like going to a restaurant, and asking for a Doggie Bag, so that one can finish their food later, as leftovers! It would be silly if that restaurant forced me to finish my food, or threaten to throw my food out!
Tethering should be part of Data! I see it like this:
If I want to sit on my lawn, or on the roof of my house, I should be able to plug a long extension chord into an outlet in my home to plug in a fen, or a TV! My Utility Company can't force me to pay extra $$ for that electricity, cause that outlet is in my home, under my electric bill...
Another analogy, back to restaurant + Doggie Bag:
It would be silly if that restaurant forced me to pay extra $$ for my doggie bag, if I walked out of a restaurant and gave it to a homeless person! It's my food, and it's up to me to eat it, throw it out, or give it to anyone!
Thus I think that ROLL OVER DATA would be the RIGHT THING for ATT to do! If VZ is smart, they should offer it, and Rollover Minutes - that would be a huge embarrassment to ATT, and a PR Victory for VZ!!!
Of course the other side of the argument, in ATT's favor would be this analogy:
All ONE can Eat Customer can't keep taking home Doggie Bags with left overs, never mind keep running outside the restaurant to feed homeless people, and then coming back repeatedly to re-fill the plate
Thus I think that ROLL OVER DATA would be the RIGHT THING for ATT to do!
I wish ATT read this Forum and wised up... We'll see how much noise their customers will or not make over this Data Rates hike...
The Fixed Rate on Unlimited Data is something that I'd be more comfortable with, since I am not always near WiFi, and I don't want to live in fear as to what my bill will be like!
SMS should be Free!
Once the Contract is Finished, the rate should drop, cause the ATT subsidy $$$ are recouped! At that time phone should be unlocked!
If ATT keeps getting that greedy then it creates an image of:
Smart Phones, particularly iPhone, are for rich people, not regular people!
That would work against iPhone and iPad adoption, because the Data Prices would discourage the new customers!
Yes, ATT is under a lot of pressure with iPhones, but to raise $$ like this is a turn off! It's a self inflicted Black Eye I hope that VZ PR machine finds a way to embarrass ATT on those points!
Here is a nice Q&A about the plans that resolves many of the concerns I've read on this thread...
Good link. Thanks.
Here is a nice Q&A about the plans that resolves many of the concerns I've read on this thread...
You do mean the current plan is "unfair", not the one announced today, right?
Word!
Well to be honest making a seperate iPhone plan in either case never really seemed fair. Then again when I tought about it BB has always had its own 30.00 required plan.
I do however believe the iPad 3g users got screwed a bit. It was pushed pretty heavy what a great deal they were getting for unlimited data at 30.00.
Let me ask this seeing I am sure you know the answer to this better then I do seeing I never look at my data usage. What kind of web hits are we talking about using 2-3gb?
Lets say your not streaming under 3G and simply web surfing and email. Pages like CNN, Weather Channel, MSN as examples do you have an idea what kind of data usage per page we are talking about?
If I download a single movie on iTunes in HD I will be over my limit.
Suddenly every user who wants to watch a movie on an iPad is labelled as a "Heavy User".
This decision on ATT takes a lot of the magic out of the iPad in my opinion.
Apple should consider dropping ATT over this.
what are people doing with their phones that 2G wouldn't be enough data? I use my iPhone all of the time and my history shows I've never gone over 400 megs, and typically am under 200 megs.
This is not just about right now but tomorrow as well. Today's "bandwidth hog" is tomorrow's average user. What AT&T just did was kill mobile TV on not only the iPhone but the iPad as well. Other carriers will probably follow suit and hurt the forward movement of technology.
When the move to LTE finally happens, I expect that there might be a slight increase in the data cap (possibly to 3GB) and they'll jack up the rates. Keep in mind that AT&T never cited bandwidth usage as the reason for the cap. Their intentions have nothing to do with the actual quality of the network.
It's a red herring to say that this is the fault of bandwidth hogs. The 2G iPhone was having troubles in places like NYC only six months after its initial launch. The issue is the amount of iPhone users.
Well to be honest making a seperate iPhone plan in either case never really seemed fair. Then again when I tought about it BB has always had its own 30.00 required plan.
I do however believe the iPad 3g users got screwed a bit. It was pushed pretty heavy what a great deal they were getting for unlimited data at 30.00.
Let me ask this seeing I am sure you know the answer to this better then I do seeing I never look at my data usage. What kind of web hits are we talking about using 2-3gb?
Lets say your not streaming under 3G and simply web surfing and email. Pages like CNN, Weather Channel, MSN as examples do you have an idea what kind of data usage per page we are talking about?
I've never done it on a per site basis. Here is one site I found that seems to work well...And here is an AI post from another thread about my current data use. I consider myself a heavy user, even on the months I only tallied a few hundred MBs over AT&T's network.
I've never done it on a per site basis. Here is one site I found that seems to work well...And here is an AI post from another thread about my current data use. I consider myself a heavy user, even on the months I only tallied a few hundred MBs over AT&T's network.
Thanks. Really good links.
I was going to buy an iPad 3G but now I don't see the point.
If I download a single movie on iTunes in HD I will be over my limit.
Suddenly every user who wants to watch a movie on an iPad is labelled as a "Heavy User".
This decision on ATT takes a lot of the magic out of the iPad in my opinion.
Apple should consider dropping ATT over this.
2 answers. 1) Buy your iPad now and sign up--you'll be ushered in on the unlimited plan. 2) To download an HD movie on iTunes, you'll need to spend at least 12 hours over 3G. Just download on your computer, or use the WiFi at home.
?Blackberrys use less MgB's because they cannot do all the things that an iPhone does
Two responses:
First: I can see the ad campaign: ?If you're watching your smartphone data pennies, the Blackberry gets you 15% more email on the same data budget!? Sure to be a winner, alright.
Second: the article did reference an announcement about some technology that'd compress regular web pages. Although Google gave me no background, I used something like that on my old dialup earthlink account. A royal pain; images were smeared to save bandwidth. Sometimes, you could see that the servers weren't doing anything because the page looked like it should. The biggest data hogs were incompressible (audio) and would be even more so today (video). I guess if my data were all text emails, and locking into the 2002 Internet was my thing, this'd be a Big Deal. But even we corporate droids wouldn't see any advantage when the Office emails me a new spreadsheet or presentation deck.
Conclusion: this ?advantage? is almost totally irrelevant to today's internet.
Forget about Pandora, never mind YouTube while in a park, hiking on the beach! The Mobility is now restricted!
Steve Jobs kind of gave it away when the was talking about ATT on All Things Digital. He used word "shift data"... So, ATT made a Shift, and a Shaft
With all the Cloud Stuff coming, these new Data Caps will Tether us closer to our Home or Office WiFi's or Coffee Shops with Free WiFi... But, that's not a True Mobility! It's a Perverted form of "Tethering", where we'd be tied to a buildings, rather Truly UnTethered to move around as we please!
One shouldn't be expected to sit in a coffee shop or an office on a Free WiFi all day! Mobility, Portability were the selling points for iPhone and and iPad - Internet in your pocket! Nobody said: as long as you stay close to the buildings to be on WiFi! With this Price Change, ATT is limiting user's Freedom of Movement on already spotty network, where Drop Calls are almost expected!
Apple seems to be letting them do it, because VZ is probably not budging much! So this $$ Bleeding will continue for a while, then it'll be Renamed: LTE!!!, where we'd be paying a little more for Speed and more Data!
Today all that talk about Apple's NC Data Center, Sling TV, Netflix, Pandora, YouTube - all that sounds really silly, unless one is a rich person who can afford the Data Plan, just to qualify! Thus:
iPhone is for Rich People stereotype might take hold! The poor people will go to Sprint and T-Mobile, and Apple will be seen as an Elitist, Rich People Toy!
I'd rather be wrong about that, but that is how it appears to me today!
So, when Steve Jobs offers to save print media, or TV etc, how is it possible, if Cell Phone Providers raise such high tolls to even enter that Mobile Worlds!!! And, of course, if one travels internationally, it's even worse!
2 answers. 1) Buy your iPad now and sign up--you'll be ushered in on the unlimited plan.
It looks like you have to sign up before next Monday. If you don't already have an iPad 3G in your hands or on its way to you right now, you're out of luck.
I wonder how many people noticed that disclaimer that the plan was a short term deal. I sure don't remember seeing it, and it's not as if the presentation slide was so busy, I guess it just didn't register.
2) To download an HD movie on iTunes, you'll need to spend at least 12 hours over 3G. Just download on your computer, or use the WiFi at home.
I didn't realize that iPad can play iTunes HD files, I just assumed it didn't, a little detail that I overlooked. I went to their specs page to confirm that it can play them. I suppose if you're really desperate to be post-PC, you could do it over WiFi, but it's still far from optimal, better to let the computer handle as much of the download stuff as possible.
The iPhone is the only smartphone where web browsing feels kind of like a real PC.
I didn't realize that iPad can play iTunes HD files, I just assumed it didn't. I went to their specs page to confirm that it can play them.
That was one of the features, playing HD video. The next iPhone and Touch should also be able to load and play 720p video.
Also, I don't think you can DL any video from the iTS over 3G at this time, SD or HD.
PS: Technically, the 3GS and iPad should be able to decode full HD 1080p60 Blu-ray, if the rumours of the VXD390 decode sister chip is being used with the SGX535 GPU are correct. Of course, power is always an issue, unless it's a new TV.
Data usage will increase. A perfect analogy would be a person buying a HDTV and only having one channel. Of course your going to pay for the extra channels or in this case the extra charge for the data.
While most people are saying 'I'm grandfathered in under the old plan" they don't realize that when their 2 year contract is up they automatically go to their choice of the new plans. So this is only a temporary delay for AT&T .
Looks as though AT&T is getting ready to compensate for loseing exclusivity of the IPHONE, first the increase in ETF and now an increase to data plan revenue.