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AT&T CEO's "Only Regret" is Offering Unlimited Data Packages
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All successful companies (well, most of them anyway) would never succeed if it wasn't for greed. But whining in "seller's remorse" is just pathetic, and no CEO should ever do that.
in that letter, they never define what the amount of heavy data is. in fact, they have never defined a specific amount as to what heavy use is. it could be 500mb or 50gb, no one knows. they come up with these numbers from thin air, and refuse to back it up with a source.
"AT&T has never defined how much data on average someone needs to use to trigger the throttling. And that's because it's a moving target. But the company hasn't really defined how it calculates the which customers are considered in the top 5 percent. For example, are these customers being compared to other unlimited users only? Or are they being compared to customers on tiered plans? Is the usage percentage calculated by region or is it nationwide?
AT&T has left its policy as vague as possible so that it has more flexibility in enforcing it. Meanwhile, it can still claim that it offers an unlimited data plan.
If most of these heavy users are just over the 2GB mark, AT&T can entice more of them to sign up for a tiered data plan if they set the cap at 3GB. This way these customers can pay the same as they were paying for unlimited service, but they won't have their service throttled and they won't have to pay an overage fee if they exceed 2GB."
http://m.cnet.com/news/57362303
like you, i use wi-fi when i can, because its faster; but i dont feel bad if i use as much 3g as i want, because i pay for unlimited. shouldnt people get what they pay for and are under contract for? like i said, when my contract is up, and if verizon says no more unlimited data, ill be fine with it, but until then, its on them to provide adquate support for what they agreed to. i applaud the guy who stood up to at&t over his data use, they keep trying to pull these bs tactics and they dont work.
In your post.
I'd say the "Apple price gouges" phrase falls under that (along with "competition is good" thing that some people post in place of "first" or "+1"). And that was the entirety of your post.
Yeah... saying that I said it doesn't make it true, as I did not.
I said it was absurd to believe Apple *would not* gouge you more than the current cell providers already do. I did not say they are gouging people currently.
Apple's products are, for the most part, fairly reasonably priced.
The notable exceptions to this are additional RAM and HDDs on custom ordered machines, of which the prices are utterly absurd.
Love you fanboy guys. Apple making huge profit margin = GREAT. ATT&T making small profit margin = EVIL.
No one, er, most people, don't begrudge a profit margin when it comes honestly. The problem here is vastly overcharging for something that costs next to nothing (text) if it was by itself and even less when considered as data. So Apple finds a way around that and that is added value for what we pay for their products. For him to think that we should pay a ridiculous upcharge just for the purpose of putting more money in his pocket is, yes, evil.
Hmmm, I need an unroll eyes emoticon.
Apple makes big profits, but they provide some of the best gear available for the money. (my opinion) If you don't agree with this, buy Android or Windows phone, or whatever and you still have to pick a carrier. In some areas carrier coverage is limited so choice is also limited.
Where I am Verizon has the best coverage followed by AT&T and I don't know anyone who owns a Sprint device around here to compare if its good or not. (Only covering them since they are the only "Apple Approved" iPhone carriers in my area).
My real problem with AT&T and Verizon are their limitations vs what they advertise. For example, if you look at AT&T's 4G page:
http://www.att.com/network/?wtSlotClick=1-006SEZ-0-1
It talks all about what you can do faster, better, etc but nothing about data caps or limitations other than coverage area. Quoted from the page:
The * in that is that 4G is not in all areas, nothing about a cap.
While I'm not arguing that people don't know or find out there is a cap, AT&T's advertising seems to want people to believe they can use it as if it is unlimited. How many "movies in minutes" until I go over my cap and have to pay big $.
If regular land based ISPs can offer unlimited data for reasonable prices and keep increasing bandwidth as technology advances, why can't wireless carriers? Obviously Sprint found a way to offer unlimited and still remain competitive.
2GB for $25 is less than half of a single layer DVD worth of data spread over a month. 2GB ends up being roughly 66MB/Day. On a phone, maybe that's OK, but I would say it is definitely not OK to advertise "download movies in minutes" when a single HD movie can cap a months worth of data and put you into overage territory. Start emailing PDFs around and you could go over that with just email.
In the end I think the reality is they are going to charge all they can until they start losing customers, but customers are pinched with few options so have to take it. Some day we will probably see unlimited plans again from AT&T and Verizon, but I don't expect to see that any time soon.
Where I am Verizon has the best coverage followed by AT&T and I don't know anyone who owns a Sprint device around here to compare if its good or not. (Only covering them since they are the only "Apple Approved" iPhone carriers in my area).
My real problem with AT&T and Verizon are their limitations vs what they advertise. For example, if you look at AT&T's 4G page:
http://www.att.com/network/?wtSlotClick=1-006SEZ-0-1
It talks all about what you can do faster, better, etc but nothing about data caps or limitations other than coverage area. Quoted from the page:
The * in that is that 4G is not in all areas, nothing about a cap.
While I'm not arguing that people don't know or find out there is a cap, AT&T's advertising seems to want people to believe they can use it as if it is unlimited. How many "movies in minutes" until I go over my cap and have to pay big $.
If regular land based ISPs can offer unlimited data for reasonable prices and keep increasing bandwidth as technology advances, why can't wireless carriers? Obviously Sprint found a way to offer unlimited and still remain competitive.
2GB for $25 is less than half of a single layer DVD worth of data spread over a month. 2GB ends up being roughly 66MB/Day. On a phone, maybe that's OK, but I would say it is definitely not OK to advertise "download movies in minutes" when a single HD movie can cap a months worth of data and put you into overage territory. Start emailing PDFs around and you could go over that with just email.
In the end I think the reality is they are going to charge all they can until they start losing customers, but customers are pinched with few options so have to take it. Some day we will probably see unlimited plans again from AT&T and Verizon, but I don't expect to see that any time soon.
No, you are not paying for nothing. You are paying for an infrastructure and the services necessary to get that text message and for R&D to build future infrastructure. That's a product, just like Apple delivers a product. You can make your own judgement of the quality of each product but that's personal choice. BOTH companies are out to make maximum profit, not just AT&T, and in fact AT&T make a WHOLE lot less than Apple does. SAy what you want but those are the facts, the rest is opinion.
Tony
In how many places can you use your land based provider? One.
If mobile carriers only had to provide you with data in one static location they could do the same as land based ISPs.
I would think this is self-evident, but apparently not.
Quite often, when choosing a company, we have to choose one that gives us two out of three: good quality, good service, or good price. Sprint only manages one: price. Hardly a company to hold up as an example.
Michael
Over 700 posts in this thread, all because the man was honest in sharing his thoughts. He didn't become the CEO of one of the worlds largest telecoms, because he is an idiot.
Yet so many members here, all act like experts and have nothing but anger, acerbic comments, and trash talk to spew.
Very revealing indeed.
Yet so many members here, all act like experts and have nothing but anger, acerbic comments, and trash talk to spew.
Very revealing indeed.
I disagree with your first statement on here. There is a huge difference between perseverance, dedication, ambition… and GREED on the other hand. I can see many people and business owners confusing the deference thou..
These are two sides of the same matter, the same way that the will to power stems from the will to create.
Yes the same matter, starts one way (positive) and if you go too far it turn to something different and beyond your control (negative).. you just gotta know your limits
Greed is how the world works? If so, that is a SAD SAD statement about the world. Many people are NOT all about greed and your statement that they ALL are is both false and abhorrent in my eyes. We have so many people that claim to belong to religions that preach against greed and serving money instead of God and yet they clearly serve money (and you believe we ALL do).
There are few things I hate worse than that level of hypocrisy and yet I believe there are a lot of people that are charitable and their life long goals are not all about money. There are more important things in life and beyond. You can't take it with you so spending your entire life trying to collect money and 'things' is pointless and ultimately detrimental to one's soul. If you don't believe in such a thing, then I guess you would tend to think eat and be merry for tomorrow we die.Making a reasonable living and being greedy to the point of causing harm to others are two entirely different things. It's easy to tell the difference in most cases.
This is part of what's wrong with this world. Creating companies should not be all about making money, but making a commodity or providing a service. Yes, you have to make money to survive, but this idea that the world should be all about profits and NOTHING else is ultimately destructive to society as a whole. But then greed is not about the whole. It's about the individual and any geek knows that the good of the many should outweigh the good of the few (or the one).
So, let's see:
AT&T has 104 million subscribers. From providing 24/7 service, AT&T profited by a total of $3.6 billion over the quarter.
That's an average of $2.67 profit per customer per week.
O.M.G.
It wouldn't be surprising if fast food places made more profit from the same individuals on this forum who have complained the most.
AT&T has 104 million subscribers. From providing 24/7 service, AT&T profited by a total of $3.6 billion over the quarter.
That's an average of $2.67 profit per customer per week.
O.M.G.
It wouldn't be surprising if fast food places made more profit from the same individuals on this forum who have complained the most.
On apple profits:
Apple make big profits, because they have streamlined the hell out of their production and supply chain.
Their products are competitively priced when you compare on quality. The ultrabook market is a prime example of this. No one in the PC market has been able to build a competitor.
Why?
Because their business is not integrated the way apple is. They have far too many different product lines which means they can not order components or manufacture components in bulk. There's a reason the MBP and MBA chassis hasn't changed in multiple years - its because it works, and the tooling change required to alter it is dead money that would eat into the profit margin.
If you are looking to buy, say... a HP notebook. They have
compaq presario
elite book P series
elite book W series (workstation)
pro book
folio
envy
All in several sizes (generally 3+ sizes per product line), all in customisable build specs... so thats what... 5x3 (the folio is only 13") = 16 different models, before you even get to the option to do stupid stuff like remove the webcam, etc. They also change enclosure style on a regular basis.
Its a joke. Sure, you get a huge number of choices but they're all lower quality because of the massive cost increase to support so many different products - manufacturing, design, marketing, etc. For HP to build something as well as apple does, it would cost them a lot more per unit.
Plus... as a customer looking to buy a laptop off their site... what the hell do you choose? Sure if you get off on spec-sheet racing, there's hours of fun there... but if you're a normal person, its too hard.
Apple make big profits, because they have streamlined the hell out of their production and supply chain.
Their products are competitively priced when you compare on quality. The ultrabook market is a prime example of this. No one in the PC market has been able to build a competitor.
Why?
Because their business is not integrated the way apple is. They have far too many different product lines which means they can not order components or manufacture components in bulk. There's a reason the MBP and MBA chassis hasn't changed in multiple years - its because it works, and the tooling change required to alter it is dead money that would eat into the profit margin.
If you are looking to buy, say... a HP notebook. They have
compaq presario
elite book P series
elite book W series (workstation)
pro book
folio
envy
All in several sizes (generally 3+ sizes per product line), all in customisable build specs... so thats what... 5x3 (the folio is only 13") = 16 different models, before you even get to the option to do stupid stuff like remove the webcam, etc. They also change enclosure style on a regular basis.
Its a joke. Sure, you get a huge number of choices but they're all lower quality because of the massive cost increase to support so many different products - manufacturing, design, marketing, etc. For HP to build something as well as apple does, it would cost them a lot more per unit.
Plus... as a customer looking to buy a laptop off their site... what the hell do you choose? Sure if you get off on spec-sheet racing, there's hours of fun there... but if you're a normal person, its too hard.
I had AT&T for years with unlimited and switched to Verizon when I got "throttled" at just 2.5gb one month. It was laughable seeing them try to actually tell me that I was slowing down their network at a GB amount that was less than other amounts they offered. It was and is a 100% greed move that should be illegal.
I am now on Verizon's Unlimited Business plan and use as much as I want/need without throttling.
Amazing how you came to that conclusion. Do you have some special insight into death that you just know it's the end? I mean if you think about it, if that's all there is, then you might as well have not lived at all since from your perspective, you would have never existed in the first place once you stop existing. It's like it was utterly pointless. How very sad for you.
Me, I've got past life memories as far back as I can remember (I can remember back to 1 week old and I was born almost 2 months premature). I know better.
Amazing how you came to that conclusion. Do you have some special insight into death that you just know it's the end? I mean if you think about it, if that's all there is, then you might as well have not lived at all since from your perspective, you would have never existed in the first place once you stop existing. It's like it was utterly pointless. How very sad for you.
Me, I've got past life memories as far back as I can remember (I can remember back to 1 week old and I was born almost 2 months premature). I know better.
Or you had some type of oxygen / brain issue at some point.