Apple to Release Subsidized Tablet Through Verizon Later This Year?

[carmenodie]

I probably wouldn't blame Apple for this if it is true. When you're a publicly traded company wall street be all over your ass. Remember, they have investors and themselves to look out for. Apple is doing its best trying to stay true(IMHO) but the forces in New York are great. They push you around, talk about getting rid of key people and bringing Wall Street friendly patsies etc. Its ******** but it is business. Look at Starbucks. They opened up 600 damn stores for wall street just to give the appearance they were in demand but it was a farce. Starbucks soon closed all them suckers and 9000 folks lost their job.
Look at the pc vendors. They are nothing but a bunch of trolls rolling out cheap ass computers. And what do we have? A pc saturated market. Yeah, MS is loving it cause every pc sold is a Ka-ching in their pocket but the market is cluttered with that ****. The pc ic a devalued, whored commodity.

 

[Small White Car]

Why not what?

Why wouldn't you want to pay AT&T for the iPhone plan and Verizon for a tablet plan.

What's the problem?

 

[GeekLawyer]

Tablet on Verizon.
iPhone on AT&T.

... how silly.

It is silly. Especially since AT&T iPhone users will soon have a tethering plan. We'll have 3G internet for our MacTablets through our iPhones. Win-win?

Why wouldn't you want to pay AT&T for the iPhone plan and Verizon for a tablet plan.

What's the problem?

The problem, for me, would be keeping up with two different wireless contracts, two different bills, two different end-points, etc. Just let me tether my Tablet to my iPhone and I'm good. No need for dead-end CDMA radios in next-gen Mac tech products.

 

[Small White Car]

It is silly. Especially since AT&T iPhone users will soon have a tethering plan. We'll have 3G internet for our MacTablets through our iPhones. Win-win?

But AT&T is probably going to charge you $30 to tether.

So what's the difference between paying AT&T $30 to tether or paying Verizon $30 for a tablet plan?

 

[perpetuity]

Whats everyones deal with going to vzw? Iphone wont be att forever. O no! the iphone will be even less exclusive, well, even though everyone and their 10 yr old daughter have one. I guess everyone enjoys getting raped by atts data/voice plan

As opposed to getting "raped" by someone else's data/voice plan??

The ATT plan is not priced out of whack with what other providers offer for voice/data -- that's a straw man, man!

 

[delhokie]

I think the tablet is coming this year- we'll see an 'event' sometime in September for it's availability in October... I'm just not sure about the Verizon part... WiFi definitely, but if there is a $600-$700 touch device I think there is a lot of demand. If it can be tethered to a Verizon or AT&T device, then mobile internet connectivity is solved.

Assuming it has full blown OS X, I would imagine there would still be some way to piggy back iphone applications on it but I can't exactly see how to make that work with a different sized screen/resolution.

 

[bdkennedy1]

I hope they partner with Verizon. I'm tired or AT&T's ********.

 

[Bigdaddyguido]

There would have to be a wi-fi only model.

The primary market for this device would be mac owners of other devices. This media pad would be an excellent additional interface device for a wide range of activities for people who already had a MacBook, iMac, apple tv for things like music/video creation etc.

Think about the device with an app store so developers cancreaye all sorts of interfaces for their products.

To limit the sales to people who want another data contract is silly, I would gladly ante up 1,000 plus for a quality device with high development potential.

 

[Tallest Skil]

Assuming it has full blown OS X, I would imagine there would still be some way to piggy back iphone applications on it but I can't exactly see how to make that work with a different sized screen/resolution.

The iPhone Simulator developer application.

Other than that, there is no way to run an iPhone app on a Mac. It's ARM vs. X86. Completely incompatible.

 

[SilentPanda]

Why wouldn't you want to pay AT&T for the iPhone plan and Verizon for a tablet plan.

What's the problem?

I already pay for cell internet service via AT&T. I have no desire to pay for additional cell internet service through a separate provider. I do realize that I don't have to purchase the device of course. I probably won't anyway as I already have a laptop that gets little use and my iPhone is working fine for off wi-fi stuff.

People are averse to cell phone contracts as it is and "forcing" people to have two cell contracts on separate providers just seems odd to me. I'm not particularly fond of AT&T as my service quality is pretty poor where I live but I also don't get a lot of phone calls (I use about 20 mins a month).

Apple is fully within their rights to do whatever they want, but I think consumers won't be fond of having two contracts with cell companies that most people don't care for in the first place. Honestly if it's "cool enough" and they have an unsubsidized version I will probably end up with that... of course without knowing the full specs of the device I can't make a judgment on that. But I do enjoy punishing myself with early adopter fees.

 

[GeekLawyer]

But AT&T is probably going to charge you $30 to tether.

So what's the difference between paying AT&T $30 to tether or paying Verizon $30 for a tablet plan?

The problem, for me, would be keeping up with two different wireless contracts, two different bills, two different end-points, etc. Just let me tether my Tablet to my iPhone and I'm good. No need for dead-end CDMA radios in next-gen Mac tech products.

 

[Small White Car]

I have no desire to pay for additional cell internet service through a separate provider.

I think consumers won't be fond of having two contracts with cell companies that most people don't care for in the first place.

Ok, I get what you're saying, but I don't really understand the problem. I pay for my house's water and electricity on 2 different bills. Is that somehow a problem for me? Do I not 'like' it and wish it was one bill? Not really.

I mean, I don't really understand why it would be a problem for people.

EDIT:

The problem, for me, would be keeping up with two different wireless contracts, two different bills, two different end-points, etc.

Ok, I'm starting to understand what you both are saying.

I'm just surprised by it. I set up my Bank of America account to automatically pay my bills and that's pretty much it. I just check it to make sure it worked right every now and then.

You all make it sound like you spend hours on this stuff. Am I doing something wrong? Am I supposed to be spending time thinking about my phone bill? Because I don't.

 

[GeekLawyer]

Ok, I get what you're saying, but I don't really understand the problem. I pay for my house's water and electricity on 2 different bills. Is that somehow a problem for me? Do I not 'like' it and wish it was one bill? Not really.

I mean, I don't really understand why it would be a problem for people.

Taxes and fees. If I'm paying taxes and fees on my AT&T tethering plan I don't want to also pay taxes and fees on a separate Verizon data plan.

 

[SilentPanda]

Ok, I get what you're saying, but I don't really understand the problem. I pay for my house's water and electricity on 2 different bills. Is that somehow a problem for me? Do I not 'like' it and wish it was one bill? Not really.

I mean, I don't really understand why it would be a problem for people.

Because water and electric are different things. If you had to pay one company for upstairs water and one for downstairs water it would be weird.

People generally don't care for contract bills. Apple wants to sell this device. If people have to pay two different contract bills to own both it will reduce the number of people that buy the device.

I completely understand it's the same amount of money going out. It's a psychological difference but it's that same psychological difference that makes things cost $299.99 instead of $300. People can justify a $299.99 purchase where a $300 purchase is a lot more (in their head).

Paying bills is easy. I spend maybe 10-20 minutes every pay day paying all my bills and updating my Quicken. Most of them I could even take out automatically but I tend to pay them before they are due.

 

[Small White Car]

Taxes and fees. If I'm paying taxes and fees on my AT&T tethering plan I don't want to also pay taxes and fees on a separate Verizon data plan.

I would assume you'd still be taxed on additional items on an AT&t bill.

My whole argument comes from the idea that the money would work out the same either way, because that's what I'm thinking would happen.

 

[DELLsFan]

As opposed to getting "raped" by someone else's data/voice plan??

The ATT plan is not priced out of whack with what other providers offer for voice/data -- that's a straw man, man!

No, the voice/data plans from all carriers are ALL out of whack with what should be offered to consumers. This is particularly out of phase for those consumers already spending bucks (for data and other services) on the carrier of their choice. I'm tired of the bandwidth FUD. It's time for the carriers to compete and offer incentives - not unite in a greedy telecommunications / data cartel against the end user.

 

[Speedracer04]

LOL

So apple will be screwing anyone who switched to AT&T for the iPhone, making them unable to use the tablet because they arnt on verizon anymore?

I dont think they would do this.

 

[GeekLawyer]

I would assume you'd still be taxed on additional items on an AT&t bill.

My whole argument comes from the idea that the money would work out the same either way, because that's what I'm thinking would happen.

You might be right. And I don't particularly care if you can buy it and use it on Verizon. I just want the option to buy it from Apple and use it with wi-fi (at home, my office, or tethered...).

 

[Moof1904]

Please, oh, please don't finally create a kick-ass tablet computer and then couple its sale to a %$@#%$@#% data contract that I have to sign up for.

 

[Small White Car]

Because water and electric are different things. If you had to pay one company for upstairs water and one for downstairs water it would be weird.

When I'm at home I pay Cox cable for the internet I get on my laptop. If I put that down and pick up my iPhone I'm now paying AT&T for my internet.

So I'm actually used to exactly that!

EDIT: (It should be noted that, despite my arguments, I'd never buy one of these things. Laptop + iPhone is good enough for me. I can't imagine a situation where I'd use a tablet. Ever.)

 

[SilentPanda]

When I'm at home I pay Cox cable for the internet I get on my laptop. If I put that down and pick up my iPhone I'm now paying AT&T for my internet.

So I'm actually used to exactly that!

You should get a wireless router. I actually consider my data plan my "away from home" internet which is fine by me. When I am at home and use my iPhone it's on my wireless.

 

[MacJoe]

An iPhone is one thing, but I draw the line at a notebook/netbook/tablet tied to a wireless phone provider. I use my notebooks on my terms, no one else's. I really want Apple to do a netbook becuase my 17" MBP gets cumbersome at times, but going with a wireless provider isn't the way to go.

 

[dicklacara]

Why do we need this? If people really need a portable device to do more than the iPhone they can get a 13" Apple notebook... A smaller 10" device just doesn't fit into the lineup. The only way I can see this succeeding is if the price is below $450... Apple said that a price like that won't happen...

MultiTouch!

Also, handwritten input with and without stylus.

 

[Small White Car]

You should get a wireless router.

I have one, but who can remember to turn wifi on the phone off and on all the time?

I usually just forget to switch the phone over from 3G when I get home.

 

[MikeIckes]

I don't understand all of this tablet talk. Or, more accurately, I think Apple already has a tablet device - the iPod touch. Why not just release an iPod touch w/ wireless capabilities via ATT, Verizon or another company and be done with it. That way, the APP store is still part of the game, iPhone customers won't feel the need to carry 2 cell contracts, and Apple can compete in this market. Yeah, it might take away some potential iPhone customers, because it is essentially an iPhone w/o voice, but I think it will actually increase that customer base as users who carry this device and their regular cell phone will see the benefits of combining those devices and do so when their contracts expire. Thoughts?