So, I reviewed my data usage for my iPhone 3G. My peak month I used 240MB, and it was the only month above 200MB. More typically, though, I use 50 to 150MB. So, it may make sense for me to drop down to the new $15 plan. I can always go up to the $25/2GB plan and still save $5.
I should mention that I also have an iPad 3G, which I have not yet activated the 3G on. I do plan on doing so, as I've purchased a car mount, and want to be able to use it for GPS. (GPS on my iPhone 3G sucks, and then there's that tiny screen...)
I plan on activating the $30 plan on the iPad before Monday, so that I at least have the option of "unlimited" on the iPad. I can see the iPad sucking up bandwidth quickly if not on WiFi. Right now, though, I use it almost exclusively in my home.
So, at that point I will have the option of "unlimited" on both. Probably just let the iPad plan sit idle after a month, which I understand still qualifies me for unlimited whenever I activate it for another month. I think I'll tend to activate when I go on vacation, etc. probably just a couple of times a year. It's worth the extra $5 to not worry about bandwidth on the few occasions that I activate it.
I also plan on getting the new iPhone, and keeping my iPhone 3G for compatibility testing. (I'm a developer.)
I'm not a big mobile movie-watcher, and certainly not on the iPhone. That's what would tend to spike it. I do listen to streaming music in the car, from time to time. I wouldn't have the iPad in my car, expect on long trips typically. I'm guessing the 240MB was from when I was in the car more, and reading the news at lunch every day when I had an office job.
I think that consumers tend to be overly enticed by "unlimited" options, as well as favoring a high limit that won't incur occasional overage charges. I note that my current 900-minute calling plan is probably way overkill. I went over on texting for a couple of months, and was thinking of going to a higher-priced text plan, but after working it out, it would only have saved me a couple of dollars a month, and now I am back down below 200 texts/month.
Kinda the same deal as with insurance deductibles. Somehow I've managed to be rational with those, with $500/$1000 comp/collision on my car and $3500 on my medical. It's worked out in spades. It almost always works out in your favor to take more financial responsibility yourself. Now, why can't I be more rational about my phone bill?
Would I be making a mistake to drop it down for the iPhone?
For now, I'm going to leave it as it is for a couple of months and see how crazy I get with the new iPhone and if usage surges and then settles-down.
Sorry for all the words, here's the point: speculate on use cases for dramatically higher bandwidth usage in the future. The forward-facing camera is one such use case, if video calling catches-on.
I think there's going to be a surge of applications that are location-aware and run in background. That happens to be the application area I'm concentrating on. But I don't see that using big bandwidth. (But, then, over, say, an 8-hour day...)
Others, besides the lure of the front-facing camera?
I should mention that I also have an iPad 3G, which I have not yet activated the 3G on. I do plan on doing so, as I've purchased a car mount, and want to be able to use it for GPS. (GPS on my iPhone 3G sucks, and then there's that tiny screen...)
I plan on activating the $30 plan on the iPad before Monday, so that I at least have the option of "unlimited" on the iPad. I can see the iPad sucking up bandwidth quickly if not on WiFi. Right now, though, I use it almost exclusively in my home.
So, at that point I will have the option of "unlimited" on both. Probably just let the iPad plan sit idle after a month, which I understand still qualifies me for unlimited whenever I activate it for another month. I think I'll tend to activate when I go on vacation, etc. probably just a couple of times a year. It's worth the extra $5 to not worry about bandwidth on the few occasions that I activate it.
I also plan on getting the new iPhone, and keeping my iPhone 3G for compatibility testing. (I'm a developer.)
I'm not a big mobile movie-watcher, and certainly not on the iPhone. That's what would tend to spike it. I do listen to streaming music in the car, from time to time. I wouldn't have the iPad in my car, expect on long trips typically. I'm guessing the 240MB was from when I was in the car more, and reading the news at lunch every day when I had an office job.
I think that consumers tend to be overly enticed by "unlimited" options, as well as favoring a high limit that won't incur occasional overage charges. I note that my current 900-minute calling plan is probably way overkill. I went over on texting for a couple of months, and was thinking of going to a higher-priced text plan, but after working it out, it would only have saved me a couple of dollars a month, and now I am back down below 200 texts/month.
Kinda the same deal as with insurance deductibles. Somehow I've managed to be rational with those, with $500/$1000 comp/collision on my car and $3500 on my medical. It's worked out in spades. It almost always works out in your favor to take more financial responsibility yourself. Now, why can't I be more rational about my phone bill?
Would I be making a mistake to drop it down for the iPhone?
For now, I'm going to leave it as it is for a couple of months and see how crazy I get with the new iPhone and if usage surges and then settles-down.
Sorry for all the words, here's the point: speculate on use cases for dramatically higher bandwidth usage in the future. The forward-facing camera is one such use case, if video calling catches-on.
I think there's going to be a surge of applications that are location-aware and run in background. That happens to be the application area I'm concentrating on. But I don't see that using big bandwidth. (But, then, over, say, an 8-hour day...)
Others, besides the lure of the front-facing camera?
