AT&T Just Pushed This Long Time Apple To His Breaking Point!

[Dorv]

I know it sucks they did it right away, but the reality is given what was set up, the pricing and bandwidth limits were always subject to change. Not having a contract cuts both ways.

Nobody promised you $30 unlimited access forever. What if instead of changing the product, they kept unlimited but raised the price to $60. Would you have felt that was okay? It would have met your criteria that you could turn it on and off whenever you wanted to do so. Yet it would be significantly more expensive.

Subject to change, but change within a month of release is a pretty underhanded thing to do. Certainly within their rights, but a crappy move none-the less.

And frankly, yeah, I'd be very happy with a higher priced unlimited option in the mix. I'm one of those folks that specifically waited for the 3G so that I could have the option to cut an 3G UDP on and off when I travel (as I am well past dealing with shoddy hotel WiFi options). Now, I can't do that.

Like others, I"m not yelling and screaming about this, but I'm just disappointed in the way the whole thing worked out. It was the final nail in the coffin of the AT&T/Apple alliance as far as my cell phone goes. I'm going going to be making the transition to a Android phone sometime this summer. Just don't know which one yet

 

[3goldens]

Wow, Please think before posting

1) Price collusion with lying included will get you sued (at the very least) or thrown in jail.

I never said anything about price collusion, you made that reference, and let throw me in jail for discussing this, I stand by what I said. More people should stand up and give them an earful.

2) The pricing change that AT+T made will hurt iPad and iPhone sales more than anything else could. Apple does not want these changes. What do you think this pricing will do to the 4th gen iPhone that they are announcing this week ?

2 million sold, I doubt seriously if this is going to hurt slew one bit. What will it do for the next gen iPhone, NOTHING, people are lemmings, they'll continue to buy and conintue to get the worst service from ATT. Why, please help me understand this part of it!

3) AT+T could not change the pricing unless the exclusivity agreement (contract) has ended. The contract might have expired normally or AT+T might have exercised an opt out clause.

They changed the pricing because their infrastructure sucks. They have a new iphone on the horizon, which is going to suck them dry unless they start curbing people's usage right away. It's just amazing to me they would have done this 35 days after the introduction of a product sold with two plans people could choose from and change to whenever they wanted, unlimited users change now and they change their service to the down graded service forever.

Note: The only way we will know for sure that exclusivity has ended is when we see the iPad/iPhone on another provider. Apple / AT+T will never announce the end to exclusivity since it will cannibalize current sales.

I doubt this will happen this year.

The one thing Apple can be accused of is not being 100% ethical since the AT+T announcement. They were not lying since they were advertising correctly the AT+T pricing but likewise, they were not going out of their way to let customers know about the upcoming pricing change (website, etc).

AndIi for one thought they had up until last week been one of the more ethical companies out there, not any more!

 

[3goldens]

Duplicate sorry.

And I for one thought they had up until last week been one of the more ethical companies out there, not any more!

 

[Chimera-se]

Well, WWDC is tomorrow, if there will be an announcement it could be tomorrow. For me personally this new plan doesn't change the way i'll use my iPad, it just confirms how I feel about AT&T, plain and simple. I agree with you plutonius, something changed in the apple/AT&T partnership. Hopefully we'll hear get some anwers.

 

[btrav13]

Well, WWDC is tomorrow, if there will be an announcement it could be tomorrow. For me personally this new plan doesn't change the way i'll use my iPad, it just confirms how I feel about AT&T, plain and simple. I agree with you plutonius, something changed in the apple/AT&T partnership. Hopefully we'll hear get some anwers.

I for one want to see exclusivity broken. However, I doubt we'll hear it tomorrow. My conspiracy theory is that ATT upping the ETF will come in conjunction with Apple NOT naming another carrier tomorrow and that will represent the "last bone" Apple tosses ATT ever. We'll hear about another carrier in a few months and everyone who locked in with ATT between June and the new carrier announcement will be stuck due to the much higher ETF. It would stop a lot of bleeding.

Then again, this is a theory only, so I wouldn't put much stock into it

 

[ItsThatKush]

Stay calm. Deep breaths. I could go on about how this is AT&T's doing, not Apple's or how this is really about the iPhone being released next week, but let's keep this simple:

If you enroll in the $30 unlimited data plan tonight, you'll be grandfathered in with no worries.

In the end, it's $1 a day. That's less than a bottle of Poland Spring. Is there anything worth more than a constant internet connection with zero data limits for the same $1 a day?

I don't think so.

Don't be angry. Don't feel deceived. Don't be cheap. It's $1, bro. It's 4 McNuggets on the dollar menu.

BJ

Posted from my iPad 3G/64GB/$829

Agreed 100%. Just grandfather yourself tonight what's the big deal

 

[Chimera-se]

I for one want to see exclusivity broken. However, I doubt we'll hear it tomorrow. My conspiracy theory is that ATT upping the ETF will come in conjunction with Apple NOT naming another carrier tomorrow and that will represent the "last bone" Apple tosses ATT ever. We'll hear about another carrier in a few months and everyone who locked in with ATT between June and the new carrier announcement will be stuck due to the much higher ETF. It would stop a lot of bleeding.

Then again, this is a theory only, so I wouldn't put much stock into it

Yeah, I know maybe just wishful thinking. They've got to break exclusivity at some point though! Actually for my uses, the iphone being locked to AT&T is a bigger deal than the iPad.

 

[btrav13]

Yeah, I know maybe just wishful thinking. They've got to break exclusivity at some point though! Actually for my uses, the iphone being locked to AT&T is a bigger deal than the iPad.

This would be the only thing that would ever put me into a position of even considering an iPhone...it would finally give me a decent reason to consider giving up beloved Android device

 

[Chimera-se]

This would be the only thing that would ever put me into a position of even considering an iPhone...it would finally give me a decent reason to consider giving up beloved Android device

Yeah I've never used an android device, but man it's looking real good! I may test out an EVO for a month to see how I like it. I'm a sucker for screen size

 

[berling2010]

Its called capitalism at its crisis:

As in: we take from you what we can.....

Stop blaiming ATT or Apple! You want a "free market"? Then shut up. The rich always takes it from the poor. And if in crisis: they always try to take even more.

It is amazing to see ppl not getting the consequences of their believes...

How about facing the facts?

 

[Chimera-se]

I'm not even going to attempt to explain political economics to you. A better example of the free market is Android doing their own thing and forcing apple to up their game as well. They announced multi tasking, why? Because the market, the consumer, spoke and android along with others are doing it before apple. And we're the one's who benefit. And hell yes I enjoy a free market.

 

[Billy Boo Bob]

Whenever I can eventually afford an iPad, I'm not going to bother with the 3G version, as the nearest 3G service is 100+ miles away. While I wouldn't mind having the slow as hell Edge service over nothing, I'm not going to pay the premium on the device just to surf at a snails pace. I do wish they would put the GPS unit on a non-3G unit, though. I don't care that it's not assisted by towers and would gladly wait longer for the satellites to lock on.

 

[btrav13]

Its called capitalism at its crisis:

As in: we take from you what we can.....

Stop blaiming ATT or Apple! You want a "free market"? Then shut up. The rich always takes it from the poor. And if in crisis: they always try to take even more.

It is amazing to see ppl not getting the consequences of their believes...

How about facing the facts?

What in the world are you talking about? This makes less than zero sense lol

 

[phpmaven]

Now I know why Android users are so happy with regard to choice of devices and carriers.

Feeling like a big bait & switch was just pulled by a company with bigger market value than Microsoft. Feeling like a chump for supporting Apple for all these years.

Will consider very carefully other options before upgrading my iPhone to whatever comes out next (even though I'm eligible for a full subsidized upgrade; its been 2 years).

Give me a break! There are just as many people on the Verizon/Android forums squealing about problems and service outages. Not to mention the fact that recent surveys show that iPhone users are by far the most satisfied with their phones.

I still don't understand why people can't get it through their thick skulls that this is a better deal for 98% of us.

 

[Aldaris]

I scanned through the iPad keynote with no indication of an offer is up in June...

This is ridiculous, really, for those of you well under the two gig cap, this isn't going to clear the bandwidth, really, it's not.

Beit the iPhone or the iPad, AT&T screwed us all with this move, praise it if youp want, but it doesn't help you... Wait and see.

 

[cmvsm]

Give me a break! There are just as many people on the Verizon/Android forums squealing about problems and service outages. Not to mention the fact that recent surveys show that iPhone users are by far the most satisfied with their phones.

I still don't understand why people can't get it through their thick skulls that this is a better deal for 98% of us.

Maybe, but you've missed the point entirely. The point is that AT&T and Apple made a 'deal' if you will with early adopters, dangling this $30 unlimited deal as the cat's meow when this thing was launched 6 weeks ago. Once all of the early adopters have been scooped up and things have slowed a bit, AT&T pulled the plug and changed the game, thus eliminating the casual unlimited plan. This was the plan all along, and it really stinks as a business move.

Not that I thought it would do any good, but I wrote to that nob Randall Stephenson who was threatening cease and desist orders to those sending more than 2 emails to the idiot.

I may not cancel my iPad subscription, but I do plan on moving my phone and internet service away from AT&T. If its not Florida Power or the oil companies, or now AT&T, there's always some monopolistic organization that just keeps ripping people off and lying while they are doing it. Just chaps my A$$.

 

[Aldaris]

Maybe, but you've missed the point entirely. The point is that AT&T and Apple made a 'deal' if you will with early adopters, dangling this $30 unlimited deal as the cat's meow when this thing was launched 6 weeks ago. Once all of the early adopters have been scooped up and things have slowed a bit, AT&T pulled the plug and changed the game, thus eliminating the casual unlimited plan. This was the plan all along, and it really stinks as a business move.

Not that I thought it would do any good, but I wrote to that nob Randall Stephenson who was threatening cease and desist orders to those sending more than 2 emails to the idiot.

I may not cancel my iPad subscription, but I do plan on moving my phone and internet service away from AT&T. If its not Florida Power or the oil companies, or now AT&T, there's always some monopolistic organization that just keeps ripping people off and lying while they are doing it. Just chaps my A$$.

Amen brother!

 

[boltjames]

Agreed 100%. Just grandfather yourself tonight what's the big deal

Oh, it's the "philosophy" that's bothering people. It's the "ethical argument" that people have to talk about.

Me? I just pay my measly $1 a day and am happy as can be for two reasons:

1. I get all the data I want without a care in the world.

2. The selfish pigs streaming 5GB of data a month and slowing down the network for everyone finally get what's coming to them.

BJ

Posted from my McMansion

 

[ninethirty]

Your argument is ridiculous. There's nothing selfish at all about using that kind of data. The iPhone and iPad are just shy of being actual PC's. I use my iPad almost exclusively at home now, and obviously my phone all day long.

Thankfully, I don't live in the US anymore and don't have to deal with any of this BS, but since the first iPhone launched, Apple and AT&T have been touting the strength of the greatest mobile network in America. AT&T have not reacted properly to the sales numbers and instead have been "selfish" with their profits, and what they've chosen to do with them. Now all of a sudden the network is overloaded, and we're supposed to pay the price? No, that's not how it works. AT&T can adjust accordingly, and keep customers, or they can pull this kind of crap and lose customers.

Introducing a "breakthrough" deal for unlimited data at $30 and then changing the deal for new users a month or so later is a pretty crappy thing to do to customers and potential customers that you supposedly value.

But I do agree with you on one thing though - this kind of crap IS good for all of us, because eventually, Apple is going to say "That's it!" and start selling factory unlocked iPhones on their website so people can take their business wherever they want.

I live in Europe, and I have a factory unlocked 3GS that I bought without a contract in Greece, and a Vodafone SIM only plan here in Holland that I pay €11/month for. I get unlimited (not 2gigs) data, and a decent amount of minutes and SMS messages which I never use anyway.

So enjoy trying to justify that BS that you're forced to put up with. Intelligent folks aren't buying it.

Please, let's not go down the "AT&T is the devil" road.

You want the truth? You want to know something shocking? The loss of the unlimited data plan is the best thing to happen to the iPhone and iPad population since the day the iPhone was introduced.

Ask me why. I dare you.

BJ

Posted from my McMansion



I'm going to bed now, so I'll just tell you why the elimination of the UDP is the best thing for the iPhone/iPad population at large:

The top 5% of the owners are using 90% of the data. It's slowing down the network for everyone else. Earlier tonight, someone posted a screencap of their monthly data usage and he had 5GB of downloaded data. 5GB. That's what you and I would use in a typical year.

Look at what AT&T did:

1. Raised the costs for the selfish over-users of data.

2. Lowered the costs for everyone else.

The complaints about AT&T's network speeds and connectivity are about to become a thing of the past. The jailbreakers and media-streamers are about to get what's coming to them. It's a glorious day.

BJ

 

[Chimera-se]

I think I just got called a selfish pig! You call it media streaming, I call it using the FREAKING INTERNET! Well at least I'll get what's coming to me, right? Wait, no I won't...not until they change it again for all us grandfathered "pigs".

 

[thebez]

Somebody posted In a thread earlier that they had downloaded 100gb.

They are either wrong or lying. AT&T would have cut them off long before that. The "unlimited" plan actually has a 5 gig soft limit - AT&T will let you slide over that a bit, but you will be getting a phone call or a letter in the mail if you hit 6 gigs, and I'm pretty sure that by 10 gigs you would be shut down.

 

[MadeTheSwitch]

Strangely perhaps this may be a reason for Apple not to include Flash on their mobile products. AT&T might have thought it would be too demanding on their bandwith; imagine all those flash ads on websites, along with all the pr0n people would be watching.

Um no. The reason would be that Flash hasn't been ready to run on any mobile device.....yet. Although you make a good point about a carrier not wanting all that extra data traffic.

 

[btrav13]

Give me a break! There are just as many people on the Verizon/Android forums squealing about problems and service outages. Not to mention the fact that recent surveys show that iPhone users are by far the most satisfied with their phones.

I still don't understand why people can't get it through their thick skulls that this is a better deal for 98% of us.

I'd like to see these "recent surveys" you discuss. And if it's satisfaction with hardware, you're probably right. There was a survey last fall in which iPhone users were asked to pick a word to describe ATT, and 52% of them picked "Hate"....how pathetic.

I think the frustration lies in the fact that it's not even been two months now and ATT has already changed their minds. It's one thing to make alterations years down the road, but within less than a fiscal quarter? Wow!

And it MIGHT be a better deal for a LOT of you, but each move like this on ATT's part further buries it on the day that iPad/iPhone owners have CHOICE on which carrier they pick. Guaranteed.

 

[dXTC]

All this talk about data plans is making me seriously consider iPad WiFi + Palm Pixi Plus with 3G Mobile Hotspot. I'd use the savings from the reduced cost of the iPad to "subsidize" the Mobile Hotspot plan for the first couple of months.

 

[Blorzoga]

Confirmed no stop & start

I signed up for unlimited last night and as I (and everyone) expected, when I go to the celular data page on the settings menu, there are three choices: 250 mb, 2 gb or cancel. Once you tap that cancel, it's bye bye unlimited forever. AT&T sucks!