AT&T Screwing the iPhone and more!

Once again I have not written anything in a while because there just hasn’t been all that much new that has really interested me.  There is a new Plan from T-Mobile that will allow truly unlimited data (as in not throttling you after X GB) but you cannot Tether with this plan.  I will talk more about this when I get more info about it. 

What I really want to talk about Today is the fact that AT&T once again feels like they can just do whatever they want and customers will just simply take it.  Sadly they are right, people probably WILL take it, but I want to tell you why you  may want to reconsider just taking it.

Remember how Verizon had switched their plans to a Share Everything plan where the only choice was the Share everything plan (if you were new)?  Then remember how AT&T came out with their Mobile Share plans but they were all like “This is only for those who want it”?   Remember how these plans could save you a couple of bucks (literally in most cases just $10 to $20) if you were a family and had a bunch of phones but if you were an individual it was going to cost you quite a bit more? 

For individuals, the AT&T route was nicer because they were able to continue with their normal plans and not have anything change. 

Now, remember how a few months ago Apple unveiled the new iPad and talked about iOS 6?  One of the cool new features was going to be FACETIME over Mobile networks.  Up till now if you wanted to use the application you had to be connected to a Wi-Fi network.  The idea of being able to use Facetime anywhere is certainly a pleasing one, especially now that it’s pretty much a for sure thing that the new iPhone will have 4GLTE. 

So now AT&T has decided that they don’t want you to use Facetime over their network unless you switch to a Mobile Share plan.  So in a way they are doing the same thing as Verizon.  While Verizon says “If you want a new phone without paying full price, you’ll have to switch” AT&T is saying “You’ll have to switch if you want facetime over our network”.

I also MUST point out that Verizon has been very quiet about this, so we don’t know exactly what their plan is. 

So you may think “Who cares, they are both doing the same thing!” but that’s where I have a real problem.  They are not.  I find what AT&T is doing a lot more dangerous.  They are saying that Facetime over their network would consume too much data and therefore only those that are paying quite a bit extra for data should be able to use it. 

So right now it’s Facetime,  what will it be tomorrow?  Skype? You Tube?  Netflix? Pandora?  This direction is Very scary when you start thinking about all the things they could decide to charge more for.