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iPad 2 Launch Details: Data Plans for Verizon and AT&T, Online Ordering, Stand in Lin

ATT and Verizon kill streaming, promote Blu-Ray ;-)

Just wanted to note for all those who keep saying plastic physical media is dead (see any Blu-Ray thread), that pricing per gigabyte is likely to show up at a home network near you as well. A DVD quality movie is about 7 to 8 Gigabytes; a Blu-Ray quality movie is about 40 Gigabytes. As a prior poster pointed out, even Netflix will use up your 2GB in a few hours of streaming. iTunes video rentals to your iPad? Same deal.

It is A LOT cheaper to buy DVDs and Blu-Ray discs under these data rate pricing schemes than to "rent" them per play.

So unless and until we get realistic streaming rates (and for now, at least, home internet is still "unlimited" but I think not for much longer), physical media has higher quality and is cheaper.
 
Well even my basic Comcast home connection has a bandwidth limit. The key to those limits is that they are high enough to stop abuse, but not low enough to interfere with normal usage.
 
Astro7x said:
Here's a fun fact...

Netflix uses about 145MB of bandwidth per half hour to stream on the iPad 3G (Source). So you'll be lucky if you can get 7 hours of streaming content on a 3G iPad under the 2GB plan. For $25 + $8 for Netflix, you are paying $33 to stream maybe 4 to 5 movies to your device. Of course the price goes down with more use, but that's beside the point.

You could rent or even BUY the same media from the iTunes store for MUCH cheaper.

These pricing plans are ridiculous if you plan on doing any sort of streaming. I can't even imagine how much it would cost to stream an entire baseball game with MLB At Bat.
Click to expand...

Presenting this same data another way...

At 145 MB per half-hour, a typical streaming movie requires 0.5 GB... and, at $25/2GB, that's a cost of $6.25/movie.

I can catch a double-feature at the local theater for $7.50 (if I get there before 5 PM).

What these dinosaurs are doing is trying to squeeze every nickel they can from your sweaty palm. Hopefully everyone will just buy the "Wi-Fi Only" iPad. Then, over time, networks will wake up to the revenue they are losing and will lower their prices... but, like Gaddafi, ATT and VZ will not give up easily.
 
Full of Win said:
They (AT&T and Verizon) are both ripping off people with these data cost.

Why Apple did not add a World GSM/CDMA chip to the iPad 2 is beyond me, it would have been a true win for us consumers in the US, Canada and other CDMA regions.

The iPad is data hungry device. Realistically, a single two hour during off peak hours will take ~600 MB of data and ~400 MB on peak hours. Add to this basic web stuff, like checking email, the occasional YouTube video, streaming radio (iHeart, Pandora, ect...) and you are looking at 6 - 10 GB per month when not on Wi-Fi. Steve Jobs was right when he introduced the original iPad 3G last year; the unlimited plan they were offering (for 41 days) was an outstanding deal.
Click to expand...
Most Americans simply don't care about a "World Chip". Only about 21% of Americans even own a passport (ref) and many estimates of how many actually use them gets near 10%. So why add to production costs for a feature few people will ever use. And if traveling, you can avoid overseas charges as a traveler by just sticking to Wi-Fi anyway(I do this as an airline pilot). It's a device designed for the 90 percent, which is smart business.
 
notabadname said:
Most Americans simply don't care about a "World Chip". Only about 21% of Americans even own a passport (ref) and many estimates of how many actually use them gets near 10%. So why add to production costs for a feature few people will ever use. And if traveling, you can avoid overseas charges as a traveler by just sticking to Wi-Fi anyway(I do this as an airline pilot). It's a device designed for the 90 percent, which is smart business.
Click to expand...

The difference is that it would allow you to switch between AT&T and Verizon each month depending on who offered the better deal consistent with your planned usage that month. It would force the two companies to compete on price and plan flexibility, since you wouldn't be locked into one carrier due to your choice of carrier at iPad purchase time.
 
/rant on

Again, ridiculous data charges from carriers. How long is this idiocy going to last? Who in their right mind would spend the money for a non-WiFi iPad and get a 250mb plan? That's like 25 minutes of web browsing. That plan is nothing short of entrapment to steal away your wallet on overages.

ALL of these plans are ridiculous. If it isn't the data allowance it's the price that goes a long with something somewhat reasonable. 5GB... okay... SOMEWHAT reasonable.. but $50/month?! And there's an $80/month plan too that isn't even unlimited. :eek:

I can see wanting to have a radio built into your iPad for situations where you're away from WiFi but not for the price tag that goes a long with it. I'll continue to "tether" data from my phone against my UNLIMITED plan and not pay a dime more. Another reason I stick with Nexus on mobile plans because it's the only phone carriers don't have their grimy grips on forcing you to pay additional fees for data you're already paying for.

/rant off
 
TroyBoy30 said:
Because I can't add tethering to my unlimited plan and I dontwant to have 2 devices to charge. I would rather have my iPad be self sufficient
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You are going to have your phone with your anyway and most likely have to charge it no matter what. Point less to waste the money.

After posting this earlier Gizmodo.com even posted a article that noted doing the exact same thing. If you are already paying for internet why just pay more for it. Here is the link to what they say!

http://gizmodo.com/#!5779004/want-a-3g-ipad-2-and-own-an-iphone-heres-how-you-save-130
 
Man9z0r said:
You are going to have your phone with your anyway and most likely have to charge it no matter what. Point less to waste the money.

After posting this earlier Gizmodo.com even posted a article that noted doing the exact same thing. If you are already paying for internet why just pay more for it. Here is the link to what they say!

http://gizmodo.com/#!5779004/want-a-3g-ipad-2-and-own-an-iphone-heres-how-you-save-130
Click to expand...

Gizmodo is stupid.

You can use an iPad 2 for 7 hours, using 3G the whole time. Good luck doing that tethered to an iPhone that lasts a couple hours before the battery dies.
 
notabadname said:
Most Americans simply don't care about a "World Chip". Only about 21% of Americans even own a passport (ref) and many estimates of how many actually use them gets near 10%. So why add to production costs for a feature few people will ever use. And if traveling, you can avoid overseas charges as a traveler by just sticking to Wi-Fi anyway(I do this as an airline pilot). It's a device designed for the 90 percent, which is smart business.
Click to expand...

bingo
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148a Safari/6533.18.5)

What is the limit of ipad2's per customer?? Anyone know??
 
cmaier said:
Gizmodo is stupid.

You can use an iPad 2 for 7 hours, using 3G the whole time. Good luck doing that tethered to an iPhone that lasts a couple hours before the battery dies.
Click to expand...

Do you really need 3g access for 2-7 hours? Also that place you would be that you need that much 3g access doesn't have wifi or a power plug?

I mean you can just throw away your money that is fine. The cell phone companies would love for you to spend almost 50bucks a month between your ipad and cell phone just on 3g connection. Have fun with that! :D
 
Man9z0r said:
Do you really need 3g access for 2-7 hours? Also that place you would be that you need that much 3g access doesn't have wifi or a power plug?
Click to expand...

Yes. All the time. When I'm in a client's office working, for example.

I mean you can just throw away your money that is fine. The cell phone companies would love for you to spend almost 50bucks a month between your ipad and cell phone just on 3g connection. Have fun with that! :D
Click to expand...

It's not "throwing away my money." It's far more cost effective than the alternative.
 
ladeer said:
My 15,00 sqf house only costs me $527,000. It would cost me $3 million dollars for the same house in hong kong. ergo, hong kong is a R I P O F F A R E A
Click to expand...

What about the suburbs? Is there any cheap housing in the HK metro area that has a reasonable commute time to jobs downtown?

Otherwise, how do low income people survive? Not everyone can have an executive job.
 
cmaier said:
Yes. All the time. When I'm in a client's office working, for example.
Click to expand...

I guess that can make since. Although all the clients I go to have a wifi signal you just have to ask to have access. Also if your client meets are that long that totally makes since but I am sure on a normal charge a cell phone could tether your iPad for a long enough time.

It's not "throwing away my money." It's far more cost effective than the alternative.
Click to expand...

If you do have the money to just do that it does make everything a lot easier. For the average joe that could use the extra 130 bucks when buying and 20 bucks a month this is a great option. :D
 
spetzco said:
In Hong Kong, I have unlimited data on my iPad for $6.50 /mo. (yes...I said six dollars and fifty cents). Funny how the USA has become 'ripoff nation'... (ps. my iPhone costs me approximately $50/mo for unlimited data, and 2500 minutes, good for international calls. In the US, I was paying about $120/mo for an inferior plan. R I P O F F N A T I O N
Click to expand...

Wow that's cheaper than a bowl of fried rice. I think I'll move to Hong Kong just for that.
I guess price goes with demand. As soon as a few rich idiots are willing to pay the higher rate in the beginning, the price will go up, and the rest of us would be forced to pay it too if we want to have it.
What have you guys done in H.K. to bring the price down?
 
Astro7x said:
Here's a fun fact...

Netflix uses about 145MB of bandwidth per half hour to stream on the iPad 3G (Source). So you'll be lucky if you can get 7 hours of streaming content on a 3G iPad under the 2GB plan. For $25 + $8 for Netflix, you are paying $33 to stream maybe 4 to 5 movies to your device. Of course the price goes down with more use, but that's beside the point.

You could rent or even BUY the same media from the iTunes store for MUCH cheaper.

These pricing plans are ridiculous if you plan on doing any sort of streaming. I can't even imagine how much it would cost to stream an entire baseball game with MLB At Bat.
Click to expand...

Yeah not really ready for people to be streaming netflix all day over 3g.

I suggest getting wifi.
 
Bootstrap Bill said:
Clearwire has unlimited 4G for $45 per month. The only problem is they aren't everywhere yet. You also have to get one of their portable wireless routers (about $5 per month rental).
Click to expand...

I'd rather see plan options like this:
$5 for 400mb/month
$10 for 1Gb/month
$15 for 2Gb/month
$20 for 4Gb/month
$30 for unlimited per month

And an option to save 10%-15% if you prepay for a year. I'm talking plans for iphones. The prices listed for ipads are a little higher because they are not linked to a phone contract. Still the tier options I suggest should be available for the ipad but slightly more expensive that I suggest. Perhaps starting at $10 or $15 for the lowest option.

The $5 option would be enough for me. Right now the cheapest option only gets me 200mb and the next tier is a massive jump in data I do not need.
 
Yet another reason I nor anyone I know will not be getting an iPad 2

I love my iPad 1 but the 2gb cap is a complete game-changer for me as I use it on the road often and have needed the 3G quite often. I almost always use the cap with several days to go and am forced to just go offline for the rest.

To say this enrages me is an understatement as I always thought years ago that caps would be put in to stop "abusers" and now AT&T and others have brainwashed so many into thinking average users using the product a good bit are suddenly abusing their products. Zero video usage by me yet I come across the cap often. Pathetic

I am sure the iPad 2 will sell great but until either company ups their data caps significantly or ditches it completely, I am out of buying their product
 
Man9z0r said:
Do you really need 3g access for 2-7 hours?
Click to expand...

Many days in a year, yes I do. For many I know in real estate, construction, etc...yes, they do.

Many business people using an iPad could need 3g for that many hours a day. I travel across the country and 50% of the businesses I visit do not have Wifi. Real Estate friend says up to 60% of her houses have no Wifi available. So, Wifi is not everywhere for everyone
 
twoodcc said:
i guess i'm going to try and get a verizon one
Click to expand...

Be aware that Verizon will charge you an activation fee of $35. If you plan on getting 3G service for only a month and then cancel, you will be charged again when you sign up to use it again. Someone said they will let you suspend the account, but i don't know for how long. Here is a thread discussing that:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1110803/

Verizon is a total ripoff!!
 
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