Why would customers be preferring the Verizon iPad? The (factory unlocked) GSM iPad can be used in nearly every country, and domestically AT&T has faster 3G service if I recall correctly. Although Verizon has better voice and better coverage, I can't see people in metropolitan areas actually being better off with the CDMA iPad. Since the iPad data payment can't be tied to a pre-existing AT&T or Verizon cell phone plan, I just don't see much advantage to getting a Verizon iPad unless you live in an area without AT&T service. Thoughts?
Well, I can get 22% off a Verizon plan, that sort of thing might matter. Although, I don't want a 3G iPad, so....no matter to me.
One point I would like to make is that for normal surfing the speed difference really doesn't matter much. My ViPhone is about as fast for average webpages as my 30x faster home internet. Math: I regularly get 33Mbps or more at home (got 37 just now), testing with speedtest.net, still haven't broken 1Mbps on V 3G in various places around town.
But I digress...it hardly matters because webpages are simple text. You all can measure your di...er...downloads all you want, but loading a couple text files takes almost no throughput. Video streaming and action gaming are different, of course, but those are not the most common uses of a smartphone or iPad.
I could measure the difference in speed to load a page, say this page of this forum, and it would be obviously faster at home. But it's still only seconds, maybe fractions of seconds. I read fast, but not so fast that 2 seconds or so can change my life. For most people, this is the reality that makes it not matter.* No, I'm not going to choose 3G for Netflix vs my home internet. But then, 90" screen is better for TV than 3.5", anyway.
The only usage of my iPhone so far where I've truly noticed the slower speed is app downloading. Which is not a major part of my life. If it's massive-upgrade-day for my apps, I'll wait til I'm on wifi at home to download them.
* Also, crap DNS speed really throws many people for surfing, anyway. The internet's dirty little secret. I wonder how many millions don't realize they could be faster by typing a couple digits into setup.