Tethering thoughts on ATT and iPhone

Tethering did not become available for just an additional cost. It’s not available at all if you still have the unlimited plan. It is only available if you you opt out of the unlimited plan and dump it for the 2GB plan. This renders tethering virtually useless for all intents and purposes for what anyone would want to use it for. (picture and video upload/downloads, streaming, software updates, video conferencing, MMS, audio streaming, VOIP, etc.) In fact, in a recent candid conversation I had with an ATT rep, the design of the 256MB and 2GB caps and the tethering option were implemented with the express purpose of moving people off the cellular network and onto Wifi saving ATT the need to quickly upgrade their system.

When I first heard about tethering my iPhone’s internet service to my computer my first thought was “Now I can tell Comcast to take a flying leap!” ATT really blew it.

What Google, Apple, Microsoft, HP et al. need to do is to come up with first a nationwide, highspeed data and cell network to bypass old school carriers and ISP’s. Then move the network worldwide and make it device independent. That would spell the death of the old school carriers and service providers. As it is, public access free wifi is becoming more ubiquitous every month. I can easily foresee a time when I just buy an iPod Touch and turn it into an internet phone. At that point, all carriers become obsolete and the ISP’s become your phone company too.

Read More http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/09/tweet-of-the-day-2/#ixzz0zY8TadFr

Thoughts on the iPad Market

Projections involving iPads in 2011 must also take into account that the product will be rev’d as soon as the first of the year. This has a couple of important implications. First is feature set. It’s probably a good bet that the next ver. of iPad will have a front facing camera and facetime integration. That’s probably the most significant upgrade (other than iOS 4.2). Other features will likely include more memory and higher storage capacities. Perhaps less likely in the next rev. but more likely in rev 3 will be faster processor, retina display, motion sensors and features we haven’t yet thought of. Second, as Apple builds the iPad into a product family like the iPod, you’ll most certainly see a price decrease in the current models of from $50-$100 lowering the price of entry to $399 from it’s current $499 entry point. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to eventually see an entry level iPad priced as low as $299 retail within the next 12 to 18 months. At those price points, and the move by most hardware vendors to push into this market, one wonders what the netbook market will look like at that time. My guess is that it will be largely gone as the performance curve for tablets pushes upward.