If I were to buy an iPad, I personally would go with a 3G model just to have the option. Can't say if I would use it though, especially not every month at $25/month. I have not much use for an iPad though, so I never bought one.
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AT&T CEO Reports 500,000 iPads In Use on Carrier's Network
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All I want to know is, does my Unlimited $30/Mo plan (you know, the one they pulled the bait & switch on us with) disappear when I switch to the new iPad in Jan?
If so, goodby AT&T.
If so, goodby AT&T.
. . . So, I'm reading the original Rueter's release . . .
And it says:
About a half a million iPad owners use AT&T Inc's (T.N) network to connect the Apple Inc (AAPL.O) tablet computer to the Internet, according to the telephone company's top executive Randall Stephenson.
. . . to connect . . . to the internet.
This is fishing for sure but thinking this number too low, could he be specifically refering to just internet-browsing? Not using pure data connectivity, app-hosted email, app-content transfered to the iPad, etc?
Maybe he is refering to concurrent users.
And it says:
About a half a million iPad owners use AT&T Inc's (T.N) network to connect the Apple Inc (AAPL.O) tablet computer to the Internet, according to the telephone company's top executive Randall Stephenson.
. . . to connect . . . to the internet.
This is fishing for sure but thinking this number too low, could he be specifically refering to just internet-browsing? Not using pure data connectivity, app-hosted email, app-content transfered to the iPad, etc?
Maybe he is refering to concurrent users.
I would have bought a 3G if they were available on april 3rd, but I had to have mine the first day. 
Excuse you but people who travel often know that wifi *gasp!* isn't available everywhere and these people may not want to carry a laptop because they have oh day....$25,000 worth of heavy camera gear to lug with them and would rather have something thin and light that has a larger screen then the iPhone.
There are also many travelers who want to travel with just a carry on. Clothes and a laptop get cramped. Clothes and an iPad the same size as a magazine roughly go very well together. Yet again, not every place has wifi so 3G is a perfect option.
I fit into both of these categories depending on why I am traveling and the iPad + 3G couldn't be more perfect.
I'm a spendthrift...
I pay for premium cable, "boost" speed internet and VOIP service. I have the maxxed-out NetFlix plan and probably spend $50 - 100 a month on apps and on-demand content.
Yet still - I have no desire to own a 3G-capable iPad and find the idea of paying a monthly fee to access a data network I already pay for via my iPhone totally repugnant.
My iPhone is always on me. If I ever need data on the go, I'll use my iPhone. It's that simple. So long as my iPad can access the webz at home and at the office I'm good to go.
The iPad has been viewed as a 'mobile device' by marketing wonks - but in practice it functions more like a domesticated netbook. Unless 3G subscriptions are incentivized (by piggybacking a $15 monthly fee on top of your iPhone bill, for instance) I don't see iPad 3G subscriptions being anything more than a small slice of the user base.
I pay for premium cable, "boost" speed internet and VOIP service. I have the maxxed-out NetFlix plan and probably spend $50 - 100 a month on apps and on-demand content.
Yet still - I have no desire to own a 3G-capable iPad and find the idea of paying a monthly fee to access a data network I already pay for via my iPhone totally repugnant.
My iPhone is always on me. If I ever need data on the go, I'll use my iPhone. It's that simple. So long as my iPad can access the webz at home and at the office I'm good to go.
The iPad has been viewed as a 'mobile device' by marketing wonks - but in practice it functions more like a domesticated netbook. Unless 3G subscriptions are incentivized (by piggybacking a $15 monthly fee on top of your iPhone bill, for instance) I don't see iPad 3G subscriptions being anything more than a small slice of the user base.
Right here. It's used by me or my wife when either of us is out and about especially when we are not together. She doesn't have a tethering phone and she wouldn't be able to figure it out if she had to. Or I don't have to do the whole "wait while I tether the device to my phone" if we are together. I'm sure this would be at the most inconvenient time too like while I'm navigating traffic.
there's plenty of people with notebooks and 3G USB adapters paying $50/mo so that they can do stuff on the internet (even though they have smartphones).
How is paying a $30/mo dataplan for a tablet really that much different?
P.
Use it all the time....
Have an Iphone 4, have a first gen ipad. Use 'em both all the time. Figured we would. Good buys. Going to double up and get another 4, with or without Verizon, and the 2nd gen Ipad as soon as it shows up.
The wireless fees are chicken feed if you're making a living using the phone and Ipad. You want to get there late, make less money, miss that call, and all that, for a few bucks a week?
Great!
More for us.
Have an Iphone 4, have a first gen ipad. Use 'em both all the time. Figured we would. Good buys. Going to double up and get another 4, with or without Verizon, and the 2nd gen Ipad as soon as it shows up.
The wireless fees are chicken feed if you're making a living using the phone and Ipad. You want to get there late, make less money, miss that call, and all that, for a few bucks a week?
Great!
More for us.
Perhaps the analyst should take into account that the iPad is no longer exclusively on sale in the USA so not all customers buying the 3G are going to sign up to AT&T.
Not every ipad owner has an iphone. And the ipad can do things the iphone can't. And $30 is a lot cheaper than the $50-$60 per month they would otherwise be paying to connect a laptop with an aircard.
Not everyone has a smart phone. I have an iPhone 4 and a 3G iPad, so it's kind of overkill...
I bought the 3G iPad knowing that I didn't want to sign up with 3G service through AT&T (ever since they removed the $30 unlimited option).
For me, the functionality of the GPS alone is worth the extra $130. When I'm going to a new place, I connect to wifi at home, search for directions in the Maps app, and just follow the blue GPS current location indicator dot to my final destination.
If you make sure to zoom in when you're still connected to wifi, the Maps app will cache the areas you looked at so that you can dynamically zoom in and out without an internet connection.
For me, the functionality of the GPS alone is worth the extra $130. When I'm going to a new place, I connect to wifi at home, search for directions in the Maps app, and just follow the blue GPS current location indicator dot to my final destination.
If you make sure to zoom in when you're still connected to wifi, the Maps app will cache the areas you looked at so that you can dynamically zoom in and out without an internet connection.
EvilEvils comment is particularly dumb, when I consider, personally, I was paying:
$65/mo for cable w/internet.
$90/mo for iphone w/unlimited plan.
$40/mo for edge service on notebook
-------
$195/mo
And now I pay:
$30/mo for unlimited iPad 3G w/MiWi
$ 9/mo for netflix
$ 2/mo for unlimited Skype service
------
$41/mo
Since the iphone came with a 24mo contract, the savings over signing another plan is:
$195 x 24 = $4680
$ 41 x 24 = $ 984
-----
Savings: $3696
And now I only have to own two devices, not nine, which means I can spend more per device and enjoy a higher quality experience to boot, and even upgrade em once every major hardware update or so, and not worry about it.
$65/mo for cable w/internet.
$90/mo for iphone w/unlimited plan.
$40/mo for edge service on notebook
-------
$195/mo
And now I pay:
$30/mo for unlimited iPad 3G w/MiWi
$ 9/mo for netflix
$ 2/mo for unlimited Skype service
------
$41/mo
Since the iphone came with a 24mo contract, the savings over signing another plan is:
$195 x 24 = $4680
$ 41 x 24 = $ 984
-----
Savings: $3696
And now I only have to own two devices, not nine, which means I can spend more per device and enjoy a higher quality experience to boot, and even upgrade em once every major hardware update or so, and not worry about it.
The explaination is easy
If you stop and think about it the answer to this is easy. I will bet you a large number of people who purchased the iPad are coming from the iPod Touch. Those of us who have the touch have learned to work in the world of WiFi and really don't feel the need for 3G. In addition there is the AT&T. In my area AT&T does not and will not have 3G anytime soon, and this is true for large areas of the country. So really for large number of people there is no reason or need to have the 3G option.
What I am thinking about is you see the ad's for the Android devices with tethering. With such a smart phone what would I need to have a 3G, so far, AT&T only iPad when I could use an iPad WiFi with a phone with a much larger coverage area. Of course carrying this to it obvious conclusion why not just get an Android tablet that has all this anyway.
By the way what is interesting report is on the last Mac Break weekly (MBW) show from TWiT they had an inside source from the engineering division at Verizon that would work on tweaking the iPhone to work on their system an engineer that works on such things leaked to one of the commentators on MBW that Verizon is not working on anything to do with the iPhone, and if this was happening it would have to go through his department. If this is true, and if there is work on an iPhone for another provider just who could it be? To me T-Mobile still makes a lot of since to me, their corporate parent Deutsche Telekom services the iPhone in Europe.
If you stop and think about it the answer to this is easy. I will bet you a large number of people who purchased the iPad are coming from the iPod Touch. Those of us who have the touch have learned to work in the world of WiFi and really don't feel the need for 3G. In addition there is the AT&T. In my area AT&T does not and will not have 3G anytime soon, and this is true for large areas of the country. So really for large number of people there is no reason or need to have the 3G option.
What I am thinking about is you see the ad's for the Android devices with tethering. With such a smart phone what would I need to have a 3G, so far, AT&T only iPad when I could use an iPad WiFi with a phone with a much larger coverage area. Of course carrying this to it obvious conclusion why not just get an Android tablet that has all this anyway.
By the way what is interesting report is on the last Mac Break weekly (MBW) show from TWiT they had an inside source from the engineering division at Verizon that would work on tweaking the iPhone to work on their system an engineer that works on such things leaked to one of the commentators on MBW that Verizon is not working on anything to do with the iPhone, and if this was happening it would have to go through his department. If this is true, and if there is work on an iPhone for another provider just who could it be? To me T-Mobile still makes a lot of since to me, their corporate parent Deutsche Telekom services the iPhone in Europe.
I'm not so sure. Most people who have the touch are kids whose parents won't pay the iPhone plan. Kids want something they can use to play games on under the desk when they think the teacher isn't looking, not a tablet whose screen can be seen from a mile away. My guess is few iPod touch owners have purchased iPads.
This coming from an iPod touch owner who purchased an iPad.