Since I got the iPad Mini with LTE, I start to 'get' all of the gripes people have with cellular data costing a lot and giving relatively little. It wasn't a big issue on my iPhone 4S, because having only 3g and a small screen helps self regulate more, but to use an iPad without an internet connection just feels like you're only getting 70% or so of what the device is about. But it just seems like the powers at be are intent to charge as much as they can and offer as little as they can and to keep that arrangement for as long as they can. I understand that part of this must simply be technical, where hundreds of millions of devices have suddenly emerged to all want to use data all the time and simply building, maintaining and operating the infrastructure to support them all could not be an easy task, but for now, it's hard to feel how it's really getting any 'better' too, is the point.
With Home internet, I had 56k back in 1998 or so, we finally got 'broadband' in 2001 to the tune of ~3mbps cable, since then every year or two has seen an improvement in that speed to today where 50/10 cable is available for $70/mo, which to me, is completely 'acceptable', also, with fiber lines emerging, it seems like it won't be long before home broadband becomes tenfold faster and only marginally more expensive(if at all). With cellular data, it's harder to see that same sort of progression happening and if it is, it is happening more slowly with this air of 'it might never happen'.
So, will it happen? if so, what needs to happen first? has cellular data been improving in the past 6 years, if so at what rate? Is there anywhere internationally we can look to see where it might end up or other models that are more advanced than where we are today?(Such as how 1gbps internet is available in Japan and Korea and has been for a while, while it is only barely starting to show up in the states today)
In my perfect world(for now) 3g data would be completely free with a cap, a per-month fee would be required to either raise the cap or remove it entirely, 4g and LTE would cost by the month but feature a soft cap at least double what they are today with throttling enacted over the limit(or optional additional charge to raise the cap again). Something like that at least. I mean, really my perfect world would just be unlimited LTE data for $30/month or less (with phone rates being substantially cheaper, or at least more flexible, as well) But unlimited data seems like it's had its swan song.
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