I’ve had an iPad for a couple of weeks now and I love it. I’m finding new ways each day that it’s insinuating its way into my routines. While it’s an unnecessary device, it’s a seriously enjoyable one and it’s been getting better already thanks to the efforts of talented developers contributing new applications. It’s super enjoyable to lay down on my couch, fire up the Netflix app, and watch a movie. Unfortunately, thanks to AT&T and their monumental bait and switch (removing a 2-month old unlimited data plan), the product’s promise has just taken a sizeable ding.
The unlimited data plan for the iPad was a large factor in my purchase decision and I’m going to keep it for now (AT&T is allowing current users to keep using the plan with no access to tethering), but the death knell has already sounded. The impact of this decision will ripple through to every content service. Any streaming video app developers are now going to have to re-run the numbers on their apps and see if it’s worth developing or maintaining. If I were Netflix, I’d be seriously pissed at AT&T right now.
So here is where I cross the line into idle speculation about what we should all be afraid of – the Apple and AT&T domination of media delivery and the unraveling of net neutrality. It’s no secret that AT&T isn’t a huge fan of net neutrality (and neither is Verizon if you were looking for them to help bail us out of this). They’ve been searching for ways to charge people for the convenience of delivering content on their pipes. Now they have a blunt tool for doing just that. With an unlimited data plan available to any consumer willing to pay $30/month, paying users could stream as much content as they wanted, gated only by the data transmission speeds. That promise is dead after only two months. I’m not surprised at the end result, just the speed of the backtracking.
Imagine the following plausible scenario: the iPad (and iPhone) continues to sell like hotcakes reaching an even more sizable presence in the market. Now imagine that Apple announces a whole host of web-accessible media services for streaming music and video to your iPhones and iPads (and this could happen within the next month or so with iPhone OS 4 about to drop). At that announcement, Apple announces that they’ve worked out a great deal with AT&T where streams from Apple do not impact your monthly data caps. AT&T would of course make this “service” available to companies like Netflix or Skype as well – for a price. The damage will have been done. AT&T will become a toll-booth on the information superhighway, taking money from both content producers and consumers. Welcome to the unraveling of net neutrality!
Far fetched?
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