iPhone and iPad data usage: still the dial-up era of mobile internet

The iPhone and iPad 3G might not make actual chirpy dial-up noises when accessing (although there’s probably an app for that) but it doesn’t obscure the fact that relatively speaking, this is in fact still the dial up era for mobile internet. Not so much in actual speed measurements, although the EDGE network came close, but more in terms of it still being so early in the game that getting your iPhone or iPad (or any competing device on any carrier) is not yet an always-on proposition. For proof, try taking your iPad into the subway, where you’re unlikely to get get a 3G signal. Try getting on the internet with your iPhone while on an airplane, which is just now becoming a sometimes proposition, and typically an absurdly expensive one. Even when it comes to the usual suspects, being able to get an access code and log onto the wifi at a coffee shop isn’t always a given within the time it takes to finish your coffee.

Unfortunately, AT&T’s attempt to limit internet usage on the iPhone and iPad is a major step backwards in an industry that’s still just finding itself. Publicly available wifi is still almost nowhere you want it to be (despite bizarre claims from users who say they can find it “anywhere” but when pressed admit they’re only talking about home and Starbucks), lack of carrier innovation over the years means that we’re still stuck with 3G as the cellular default (no, Sprint fans, we don’t believe that the “4G” network you’re using is actually 4G, and neither should you), and even when the real 4G network does launch, we can only hope that it’s adequate to meet our ever evolving data needs (and we can only hope that the feds abolish overpriced capped data plans by that time, so we can actually use our newfound 4G networks properly).

As evidence that data usage never really has left the dark ages, consider that home internet speeds have largely been capped over the past couple of years, with most consumers mistakenly thinking their computer is just getting old instead. We’ve maxed out the cable and DSL networks, and FIOS is still not available to the vast, vast majority of the population. Similar lack of innovation (some would say lack of caring) on the mobile internet side has left us using a non-existent outdoor wifi grid, an outdated 3G network, and now caps on how much we can use that little network.

AT&T’s latest move evokes memories of 1998 when Apple introduced the iMac which was full of innovations but attempted to get away with taking a step backwards with regards to the internet by only offering a 33.6 dial-up modem at a time when 56k dial-up modems were commonplace. Come to think of it, Apple didn’t get away with it, as backlash forced the company to upgrade the specs to a 56k modem before it shipped after all. And whether AT&T gets away with these overpriced, overrestrictive data caps and thusly retards the evolution of mobile device usage will depend on how big of sheep mobile users feel like acting (the cheerful white flag emerging from one too many people who should know better suggests that this battle is lost for now), years down the road we’ll be looking back at AT&T’s limiting of its 3G network with as much quaintness as we now look back on discussion of the dial-up modems of yore.

When it comes to the football game of mobile data, we’re clearly still playing in the first quarter – some would argue we’re still participating in warm-ups.