Opinion: Do We Need Unlimited Data for the iPhone 5?

[Guest]

I have Verizon and a 2GB / month data plan. They just turned 4G LTE on less than 2 weeks ago, so its too soon to tell. So far, the service is spotty and off/on constantly as they work out the initial kinks. Let's hope it is just that. So, one of the main reasons I want quick internet is to scan barcodes and read product reviews right there on the sales floor. So far, that hasn't worked out b/c the signals inside of the building suck, and the outside is still shaky. Oh well... its still the absolute most reliable connection/service for doing the important thing, talking, so I can't complain just yet.

Motorola Droid Bionic

 

[absumo]

I don't think we absolutely need unlimited data plans. What we need are reasonable data plans. The current limits for the price are not good for anyone but the carriers. Sprint still has unlimited plans, but getting 4g is not possible for a large number of people. They are still in the middle of a WiMax vs LTE that seems to not be growing.

Carriers did all these surveys on average use, but didn't they do them before they rolled out 4G? They talk about how fast their 4G networks are, but can't realize how fast you can use 2g on a 4G network. What about apps like Netflix? How much data is used by Netflix so that you can watch a single movie? How fast will that put you over 2g a month?

The other carriers are also very deceitful with their "unlimited" plans. Which, most of which are grandfathered plans that they changed. The ones that they rate limit after you go over 2gb. While you "can" still get more data without extra charge, it'll take a lot longer to get it at what they rate limit you too.

 

[absumo]

[citation][nom]happyballz[/nom]This guy's articles get weirder and weirder everytime. It's not a "perception" not everyone uses just 800MB, and by the time you pay 4 times for your "tierd 200MB" plan you could have actually afford the damn unlimited plan if it existed now. If you watch at least 2-3 semi-long videos in HQ you will easily go over the 4GB cap in a month. Not everyone lives in your world and thinks and acts like you, so maybe the best option here is to HAVE OPTIONS and let everyone choose what they want. But any way you slice it, our choice of wireless carriers is very limited an their data optinos are grossly overpriced. For as many subsidies American telcos get they should have built 7G network covering all of earth at a cheap price by now.[/citation]

I have never understood how it's lawful for them to charge you for things that come with your phone or are free to apply. Yet, they do. Data is data. Having multiple ways to use it does not change that. And, they charge you extra monthly fees just to have the option to use it for things like tethering and hotspot. While I can see where they could lose money with these things and unlimited plans, there is no reason we can't have "reasonable" plans instead of all the crap they charge people for.

 

[dickcheney]

Who would pay 100$/month for a damned phone? Seriously?

Are they out of their fucking minds? You can get a Hyundai for that price.

 

[onehitxzibit]

I think the correct question should be "Do we need the iPhone 5?"

 

[JOSHSKORN]

It's the same question as "Do we need unlimited online time for home ISP connections?" Of course we do. I remember back in the day I had AOL and I could sign on for 20 hours/month and I quickly went over that cap. It was great when they offered their unlimited plan. Well, that's when AOL was still good.

There's not much of a point of having a "smart phone" when you're capped. I was in the hospital for 2 days and I nearly maxed out my data transfer. Then again, I had nothing else to do. I could imagine how much data transfer is involved with serious power/business users.

 

[rohitbaran]

[citation][nom]jacobdrj[/nom]Virgin Mobile's 35 dollar pre-paid unlimited data plan is looking better and better (with unlimited texting and 300-400 minutes talk time)... As does Boost Mobile's 55 dollar pre-paid completely unlimited plan for Android (and that price goes down every 6 months by 5 dollars) and Blackberry. Why do people keep sticking with contracts? It makes no sense to me at all. The competition is there, people are just not opening their eyes to the available options.I will never get a contract plan: They are a complete waste of money.[/citation]
Same here

 

[Cormag]

This article is full of holes. You are basically bashing Sprint and telling them they need to stop their unlimited plan and offer tiered data programs or they cannot compete. Did you even bother to actually check Sprint's plans? They have a direct plan to compete with their competitors garbage tiered plans...$69 a month for 450 minutes and UNLIMITED Data. The $99 plan is just unlimited anything.

I love Tom's, but I wholly disagree with your opinions in this article and I honestly think you should not even have posted it.

 

[NuclearShadow]

[citation][nom]Cormag[/nom]This article is full of holes. You are basically bashing Sprint and telling them they need to stop their unlimited plan and offer tiered data programs or they cannot compete. Did you even bother to actually check Sprint's plans? They have a direct plan to compete with their competitors garbage tiered plans...$69 a month for 450 minutes and UNLIMITED Data. The $99 plan is just unlimited anything.I love Tom's, but I wholly disagree with your opinions in this article and I honestly think you should not even have posted it.[/citation]

Wolfgang is without a doubt the least liked one here. Go ahead and check his previous articles he clearly even attempts to "nerd rage" the readers once in a while too. Honestly I wish they would just fire him.

 

[lilotimz]

[citation][nom]wiyosaya[/nom]T-mobil claims unlimited, but there is also a "gotcha." Go over the limit for your plan - 5GB or 10GB, and they slow your connection speed. I am not sure by how much, but that is their advertised "gotcha."Anyone out there with T-mobil experience care to comment on this?[/citation]

It varies from person to person.

Some people continue to get 4g/3g speeds with nothing really changing while others get sent to 400-700kb/s and a lot getting down to 40-70kbs (dial up speed).

 

[back_by_demand]

I always thought the Americans were getting shafted but it wasn't till I read this article and some of the comments just how far the carriers are up to the nuts in some of your butts.

There is a network in the UK called "3" which has the Samsung Galaxy S 2
NO upfront cost, a free phone
2000 any network minutes
5000 minutes same network
5000 texts
Unlimited data
£35 ($54.40)

I am surprised that the cellphone using masses of the USA haven't risen up, had a revolution, put the CEOs of the carriers against a wall and shot them

 

[darkgauntlett]

[citation][nom]Cormag[/nom]This article is full of holes. You are basically bashing Sprint and telling them they need to stop their unlimited plan and offer tiered data programs or they cannot compete. Did you even bother to actually check Sprint's plans? They have a direct plan to compete with their competitors garbage tiered plans...$69 a month for 450 minutes and UNLIMITED Data. The $99 plan is just unlimited anything.I love Tom's, but I wholly disagree with your opinions in this article and I honestly think you should not even have posted it.[/citation]

I thought this article was objective. Questioning the need for unlimited but saying that the option should not go away for the sake of the consumer. He mentions concern about Sprint being able to handle the over popular device and being forced into tiered data due to network constraints.

 

[jacobdrj]

The market at work. If the sheep are willing to buy it, the corps will continue to sell it...

If people would simply not buy into these horrible contracts to begin with, we would be getting better service from the companies...

 

[DSpider]

I strongly believe that current data limits are too low and the cost is too high – high enough to suggest that we will be seeing yet another digital divide scenario.

You mean price, not cost. You don't know the cost of the service, only they do.

Also, there's a difference between need and want. While you don't need more than 1 GB per month you may want to not have to worry about traffic, you may want that sense of freedom and peace of mind that you'll pay more "if".

[citation][nom]nebun[/nom]what we need is Plans that start at $1per 1gb....it would be so much easier....look at redbox movie rental...it just works...and makes a lot of sense[/citation]
No-owh. Watching three 720p movies of cats on Youtube is not the same as using Google, Wikipedia, checking RSS feeds and email PUT TOGETHER. It's like buying fruits from someone who uses a ruler. You get grapes, bananas (longer fruits), strawberries, water melons, and you pay by the centimetre.

 

[vaughn2k]

"Opinion: Do We Need Unlimited Data for the iPhone 5?"
No.
Next question please?

 

[xerroz]

We don't need unlimited data. I have unlimited data on my Droid and the most I use in a month is around 1.5 GB and I have 4G which is just as fast as the internet I have at home (15 mbps).
I bought my phone a couple of months before Verizon discontinued their unlimited data plan so I was grandfathered, I have unlimited but even if I didnt I could still do 2G and so could anyone else. I've never been in a scenario where it was urgent to see a youtube video, if Im using my phone its mostly to browse the internet or check twitters which doesn't use that much data as watching videos would.

What we DON'T need is those stupid $60 unlimited talk and text plans. I dont even use 25% of my minutes but still I gotta pay like $40 for that crap. Thats the real ripoff. And don't get me started of how unlimited text plans have to be so fuckign expensive, $20-30 for that seriously? For texts?

If these companies weren't so damn fucking greedy they'd give better options to their costumers. Like said, the ability to choose how many minutes and you pay based on that, like if you want 100 minutes but unlimited texts, or 1000 minutes but only 500 texts , etc and you'd pay according to that. With a system like that a customer like me would be paying around $70 instead of $103 like most average customers on a single plan do. But no, they gotta be greedy and get every cent out of you

 

[eddieroolz]

I think we need it. There's always the people like us enthusiasts that will eat up any bandwidth given to us. And if carriers are constantly upgrading their infrastructure, as they claim, and it doesn't cost much to offer more bandwidth to users, then why are carriers not giving us reasonable unlimited plans?

I think it has to do with the fact that many people perceive mobile internet as something new and expensive, so carriers exploit this sentiment in overcharging for everything a phone offers.