So I’ve been curious about what the catch would be to AT&T’s supposedly unlimited 3G plan for the iPad. No-contract, no hassle, straightforward pricing, these are all phrases I don’t associate with AT&T. Pain, suffering, and waste…those are AT&T phrases.
Well, now that I have my 3G iPad, the truth behind their tricksy ways is becoming clear. You can’t download app updates over 20mb in size, and several apps turn off their basic functionality in the presence of 3G. Interestingly, not every app has trashed themselves in AT&T’s favor. While ABC and The Guardian are content to suck AT&T’s dick at the expense of the users that actually pay them money, Netflix stood up for their customers and supports watching over 3G. I’m curious why some apps are doing this, and some aren’t. The guardian’s ipad app claims it doesn’t support 3G out of consideration for the “user experience”, which seems like a total crock since you can just go to the regular website and download the same friggin pictures…not to mention, it’s a single static picture a day, how much bandwidth would you really have saved AT&T if I was too stupid to use a web-browser instead of an app?
I’m the kind of guy who takes such hurdles as a challenge, a challenge to find the most costly (to AT&T’s 3G network) app I can leave running all day. Congratulation to the ‘genius’ at AT&T who thought to cut costs by cutting service, you will have cost your employer more than if you just hadn’t shown up to work at all.