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Seriously people, how in the world do you all deal with paying all data?

H

hcho3

macrumors 68030
Original poster
May 13, 2010
2,783
0
I just don't understand how in the world people are okay with paying for data per their devices.

Here is an example....

Typical iPhone 4 user pays 25-30 dollars a month for data. They probably have home internet. So, they also pay that separately. Oh, and they want air card, so they pay that separately. If you have family with multiple iphones, you pay 30 dollars per line on data.

You got iPad 3G? Oh, another 25 dollars. No tethering unless you jailbreak.

This is absolutely crazy.

How in the world are you all people okay with paying all of this? I don't care if you are on VZ, AT&T or Sprint. These companies are so greedy and they are charging just w/e they want. With tiered pricing, most of people will be start paying even more.
 
I understand that these money needs to be paid to build network, but things are way out of hands.
 
If you are cheap you can always pay for only the iPhone data plan and use that for your internet access exclusively.
 
I am not being cheap. I am just talking about this industry in general. I am not trying to be picky nor I am trying to be cheap. I can afford to pay cellphone bills. What I cannot deal with is the overall system. You want to have data for your phone? Pay. You want to have data for laptop? Pay. You wan to have data for house? Pay.

Most companies offer bundles for their phone+House+internet. I was just saying these phone companies should do the same. I have no problem with tiered pricing, but this overall system is just too stupid. I currently have iPhone 4 data plan + iSpot 4G for my laptop. I did not want to jailbreak my iPhone 4 because I just had to exchange it for heating issues.
 
We're in the age that the receipt of Internet data is necessary to be even somewhat informed. People NEED Internet and it costs a lot of money maintain servers and towers to deliver that data, not to mention, WIRELESSLY too.
 
Thing is we keep paying for these rates... so they don't go down. As long as people keep paying they keep racking in the profits.

Think Canada is better with all the carriers that have the iPhone? Not even close... they all charge a ton for voice and data plans that don't even compare to what US customers have.

...but we still keep paying these outrageous prices so they don't go down
 
Um, I pay data for my phone and home only. The home network for everyone in the family and the iPhone for when I'm out. Just because it's available on all these other devises doesn't mean I'm gonna buy into all of them and get data plans for all them, I get what I can afford. And I see tiered pricing as a good thing, just the tiers Are a little off, but my wife for instance doesn't use much data, so if I put her iPhone on contract and had to pay for a data plan it would only be $15 instead of the $30 it was before. What they need to do is have the data shareable like minutes, so if I get 2gb that can be shared across all my lines, and something like this is only possible if data is tiered. I believed tiered pricing is going to get better, not worse like some other people belive.
 
Bandolier said:
We're in the age that the receipt of Internet data is necessary to be even somewhat informed. People NEED Internet and it costs a lot of money maintain servers and towers to deliver that data, not to mention, WIRELESSLY too.
Click to expand...

However, no one needs internet service to their laptop, cellphone and home.
 
NathanMuir said:
However, no one needs internet service to their laptop, cellphone and home.
Click to expand...

You don't need a car. You could bike or use the bus. You don't need a house, you can live without a roof. But guess what, it's incredibly convenient to have these things.
 
Bandolier said:
Speak for yourself. I need Internet.
Click to expand...

Depends on how you define 'need'.

'Need' as in water, air, shelter, food, etc...

Or

'Need' as in 'I like things that make my life more comfortable and convenient.'

Hint: They aren't the same thing. ;)
 
Bandolier said:
You don't need a car. You could bike or use the bus. You don't need a house, you can live without a roof. But guess what, it's incredibly convenient to have these things.
Click to expand...

I think what he means is you don't need it on your phone AND your laptop AND your home AND your iPad, you only really need one and having elsewhere is more of a luxury than a necessity.
 
Yes, it's costly. And quite frankly, monthly fees are a drag.

I've always been a fan of pay-as-you-go fees. Think of it this way.

Where I'm currently stationed, the 3G service providers charge $10 per 1GB of data. Thats not terrible. A $5 phone card gets you about 30 minutes of talk time. If I bought my data and call time as such (if it were viable), I'd be spending less than $50 a month, heck even less than $30 on good months. I'd happily pay $500 - $700 for the iPhone if I could use this kind of service, and god would I love this.

But it's not happening, and we're stuck with outrageously priced plans. This is life...
 
Fernandez21 said:
I think what he means is you don't need it on your phone AND your laptop AND your home AND your iPad, you only really need one and having elsewhere is more of a luxury than a necessity.
Click to expand...

Correct. Sometimes I forget to check reality at the door when I enter the iPhone forum.
 
hcho3 said:
I am not being cheap. I am just talking about this industry in general. I am not trying to be picky nor I am trying to be cheap. I can afford to pay cellphone bills. What I cannot deal with is the overall system. You want to have data for your phone? Pay. You want to have data for laptop? Pay. You wan to have data for house? Pay.

Most companies offer bundles for their phone+House+internet. I was just saying these phone companies should do the same. I have no problem with tiered pricing, but this overall system is just too stupid. I currently have iPhone 4 data plan + iSpot 4G for my laptop. I did not want to jailbreak my iPhone 4 because I just had to exchange it for heating issues.
Click to expand...

I'm not calling you cheap. I said IF. :p And AT&T does offer bundles with its wireless services, if you live in a qualified area. :D
 
I pay $20/mo for my home internet. I then pay $30/mo for my iPad unlimited and $50/mo for the 2 GB data plans on my and my wife's iPhones. That does seem like a lot of money but I get to run the $80/mo in data fees through my business as a business expense so honestly it isn't that much.

Besides we don't have a cable television bill and our only other entertainment expense is the $10 we pay to Netflix each month.
 
With new things, you have to take a look at old things I figure if you need to phase them out. My family is doing away with our land line, and seriously considering doing away with our home internet.
 
SVT Amateur said:
I pay $20/mo for my home internet. I then pay $30/mo for my iPad unlimited and $50/mo for the 2 GB data plans on my and my wife's iPhones. That does seem like a lot of money but I get to run the $80/mo in data fees through my business as a business expense so honestly it isn't that much.

Besides we don't have a cable television bill and our only other entertainment expense is the $10 we pay to Netflix each month.
Click to expand...

After seeing how much friends spend on these services, I very much emphasize a minimalist lifestyle.

So, my friend has internet, TV, phone, Xbox Live, Netflix, MobileMe, 5+ magazine subscriptions, and random monthly fees here and there. He spends over $500 a month on these services; not kidding. It's ridiculous, especially since (a) he doesn't even use the Xbox, (b) he DVR's HBO and Showtime shows, (c) has never watched a whole Netflix movie all the way through (falls asleep, busy lifestyle), (d) has a whole stack of unread magazines. It's the American lifestyle.

The point is: have only what you need, and use only what you require on a consistent basis.

Another point; I spent $50 a month on TV service for when NFL season came around the corner. I don't understand why. I have favorite shows on channels I haven't payed for, so I end up buying them on iTunes. Why? I mean jesus, friends always have football Sunday parties, so why would I pay for a service so that I could sit home alone and watch the game? Faulty logic.
 
hcho3 said:
I understand that these money needs to be paid to build network, but things are way out of hands.
Click to expand...

I disagree, if anything AT&T has made their data prices more reasonable. You sort of ignored that you could pay 15 and 15 for each device, which would be total of 30 if you don't use tons of data each month. Or buy a Wi-Fi iPad(thats the route I went) You can pay 60 bucks for all unlimited, but thats not for everyone, and only if you're grandfathered in
 
I think too that over time, as needs change, you have to remember to reevaluate what you're using. I didn't buy the 3G iPad, I bought the wifi one, because I don't need access for that particular device away from home for the most part. Similarly, I'm watching my data usage with the new iPhone for a few months, and then I'll evaluate whether or not I can get away without the unlimited data, thus reducing my total outlay. (I've never gone over 200 MB, but that was with the original iPhone and EDGE.)

But, as needs change, we're reevaluating other stuff too, combining two accounts into one family account, because we don't need all those minutes. Heck, we don't really need a landline at this point either. Instead, we're now texting all the time--200 messages each may not be enough anymore. So what we save in one area is offset in others.

To me, this is just part of life, but then again, I remember when TV was free... :D
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_0_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8A306 Safari/6531.22.7)

Capitalism is like democracy.

"Many forms of Government have been tried and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time." -Winston Churhill

I can't say I love the way telecoms do business, but such is life. Got a better way? Start your own company and make it happen. You could hire me as your "Idea-maker at large"

I work cheap too. $100K/year (+ 4 weeks vacation and benefits) That goes up to $500K if I have to leave East Texas though...
 
TruckdriverSean said:

I can't say I love the way telecoms do business, but such is life. Got a better way? Start your own company and make it happen./QUOTE]

Stupid suggestion, its simply not do able. What the telecoms have makes it almost impossible for any big company to enter in field. To suggest an individual could is crazy. Thats why we should regulate them(as we do)
Click to expand...
 
hcho3 said:
I just don't understand how in the world people are okay with paying for data per their devices.

Here is an example....

Typical iPhone 4 user pays 25-30 dollars a month for data. They probably have home internet. So, they also pay that separately. Oh, and they want air card, so they pay that separately. If you have family with multiple iphones, you pay 30 dollars per line on data.

You got iPad 3G? Oh, another 25 dollars. No tethering unless you jailbreak.

This is absolutely crazy.

How in the world are you all people okay with paying all of this? I don't care if you are on VZ, AT&T or Sprint. These companies are so greedy and they are charging just w/e they want. With tiered pricing, most of people will be start paying even more.
Click to expand...

$30 data plan + MIWI total a month
 
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