The trickle of new iPad information continues with these details of the contract-free 3G data plan. It looks about as painless as it could possibly be: you don't even have to deal with AT&T.
Once you have your iPad with 3G, you can sign up from within the iPad settings: fill out your credit card details, pick your plan and you're off. If you choose the limited, 250GB-per-month plan, you'll get handy warnings as you approach your data cap: You'll get three alerts at 20 percent, 10 percent, and zero. With each alert, you can choose to add more data or wait and do it later.
And that's it. No speaking to call-center staff, no waiting on line in AT&T stores and better yet, no having to beg a customer service representative to change your plan. You can swap, stop and start whenever you like.
This is a very nice way to deal with cellular data, and I hope it crosses the Atlantic intact with the launch of the iPad in Europe. What well probably see, though (at least in Spain, where the telcos are still old dinosaurs), is some annoying and confusing contract-based lock-in.
Once you have your iPad with 3G, you can sign up from within the iPad settings: fill out your credit card details, pick your plan and you're off. If you choose the limited, 250GB-per-month plan, you'll get handy warnings as you approach your data cap: You'll get three alerts at 20 percent, 10 percent, and zero. With each alert, you can choose to add more data or wait and do it later.
And that's it. No speaking to call-center staff, no waiting on line in AT&T stores and better yet, no having to beg a customer service representative to change your plan. You can swap, stop and start whenever you like.
This is a very nice way to deal with cellular data, and I hope it crosses the Atlantic intact with the launch of the iPad in Europe. What well probably see, though (at least in Spain, where the telcos are still old dinosaurs), is some annoying and confusing contract-based lock-in.
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