Appleinfo: Re: [apple-iphone] That Coveted Unlimited Data Plan Might Be Costing You Money [Saving Money]

vendredi 16 mars 2012

Re: [apple-iphone] That Coveted Unlimited Data Plan Might Be Costing You Money [Saving Money]

On Mar 16, 2012, at 8:00 AM, Brent wrote:

> http://lifehacker.com/5893896/that-coveted-unlimited-data-plan-might-be-costing-you-money
>
> Sent to you by Brent via Google Reader: That Coveted Unlimited Data
> Plan Might Be Costing You Money [Saving Money] via Lifehacker by
> Whitson Gordon on 3/16/12
> Everyone has been looking for ways to keep their unlimited data plan
> ever since carriers started getting rid of them, but a new study by
> Consumer Reports shows that nearly half of those people could save $10
> by switching to a metered plan. More »

I read a similar article at Gizmodo the day before. So Whitson reads Casey. Casey had some doubt about the wisdom of changing to a minimal plan. He called his doubt future-proofing. That is the exact argument that I had with myself when they made the change, and the one that I review every month, because I stayed with the grandfathered "unlimited plan".

http://gizmodo.com/5893743/do-you-really-need-an-unlimited-data-plan-spoiler-no

With the new streaming services, cloud back-ups, and social networking (which I use the bare minimum of, but some of my real friends use a ton of) keep driving up the amount of data I use.

I used to travel for work, and sometimes watched movies on my iPhone. My meager data usage at that time was between 1.7 and just under 3 GB. Right in the sweet spot for throttling, but before they began throttling. So I opted to keep the plan. Right now I don't travel for work and my usage is between 80 and 300 MB. The problem is I know that a single day of driving using the iPhone for directions can rack up 200 MB just to put the maps behind the location indicator. I'm looking for a job where I travel again.

If there were a reasonable "pay for what you use" or a roll-over plan for data, I would drop to a lower plan in a heart beat, but there isn't. But the pricing structure is currently "pay us to much each month or change a ridiculously huge overage usage charge" plan. Commonly known as price gouging or "hose the customer, since we have them locked in".

If there is ever a class action suit about the monopolistic actions by AT&T, then I may one day be vindicated for staying with the "unlimited plan", and will be able to say AT&T got what they deserved. The denial of the "merger" with T-Mobile gives me a sliver of hope in this regard.

the other Brent