Initially I was quite upset about AT&T axing their unlimited data plans. But after thinking about it all day and then reviewing my own data usage on my iPhone for the past few months, I’m actually a little happy.
At first I was a bit outraged, I’ll admit. My first thought was that this was a move to squeeze more money out of iPhone users with overage charges up the yin-yang, and I was worried about my rising cell phone bill already. I was sure that I was going to be one of those people that would keep hitting the 2GB limit.
I then later found out that this change wouldn’t affect anyone that currently has the $30/month unlimited plan. I thought about it the whole thing a little more and then took a look at my data usage for the past few months. It turns out, I’ve never even hit 1GB in usage, my highest so far is 650MB, which was last month. So I’m actually very pleased with this move, because it’ll let me knock $5/month off my bill once I’m able to change my plan. Sure, I’ll be permanently giving up the unlimited data, but I’m not really going to need it. I use my iPhone a lot, and I still don’t get to half of what my new limit will be.
The next big part of the announcement is tethering. Finally! We’ve been waiting forever for this, and it’s finally here. Well, almost here. Once the new iPhone OS 4.0 ships this summer everyone will be able to get tethering on their iPhones, for $20/month on top of the $25/month 2GB data plan. It’s a little pricey, but since it’s just an added feature you can add and remove it as you need it, so if you’re on the go and want an internet connection on your computer (assuming you can get a good data connection wherever you are), it’s just a $20 add-on, which is cheaper than most hotel internet for more than a day or two. Plus you get tethering for the rest of your billing cycle (so plan those trips at the beginning of your cycle to get the most bang for your buck).