Umm.. all I said was that AT&T was offering unlimited plans when they could manage unlimited plans. Mobile data usage has skyrocketed in a rather short period of time. On top of all this, because it's cellular data there are other limits on their ability to provide more bandwidth per user per tower.

The only issue in all this is with cellular data, there are practical limits to the amount of data to be flowing at any time to all the customers on a particular tower. You have to try to curb usage as well as charge for fair usage.

You do realize the load has drastically changed since they offered Unlimited data, right? I don't agree with AT&T's choice to throttle down to only 10% of available bandwidth, but realistically they sold those unlimited plans at a time when it was more feasible than now. I think AT&T is being more restrictive than needed with their data plans, but unlimited data caps doesn't equal unlimited speed on the connection.

I agree that there are places that are overbudgeted, or some programs I don't agree with. For those, it's all well and good to want to see change. The difference is, I feel we have a moral obligation to pay for a number of public services backed by our tax dollars. Personally, it's better to pay for everything than for nothing. I wouldn't expect everyone to feel the same, which is why I only state people are responsible for their choice whether to pay.

To be fair.. two similarly bad choices are still better than one.

Sure, you can go to another country. But, you are in the USA. Regardless of your opinion on it, you're responsible for paying (or not) your taxes.

People will always do stupid things. Some, more than others. I think leaving it up the customer is a good choice, because it doesn't prevent immediate usage. Yes, you need to take responsibility and get the battery replaced. But, you can continue to function in the short term. Ultimately, if the battery is sending a trouble signal it can be interpreted at any step in the chain. The battery manufacturer could put a kill switch in. The hardware manufacturer using the battery could put a kill switch in. The software vendor can put in code to shutdown when the trouble state is detected.

It sounds to me like they've been trying to do just that. This sounds like it's meant to be a stop-gap solution.

Perfect doesn't mean best choice available. There are plenty of unaccomodating issues with the planet.

I used my office as an extreme. One that I knew the bounds of. Sure, I support thousands of people as well at work. Lots of them user iPads or android tablets. I don't have numbers for them. But, a lot of the ones I actually talk to... prefer it over their computer. It's people like you that actually make it worse. You intentionally recommend people buy inferior products, worsening their opinion of the form factor as a whole. Also, making fun of people tends to piss people off regardless of whether you're right or not. Tablets aren't for everyone, not everyone needs one. Tablets also don't need to be purchased every year. So yes, sales should decline with market saturation. It should, however, stabilize at a level that covers a normal upgrade cycle.

I explain it as what people want and need aren't always the same. People want the big UI change. They want to see the new thing that'll make life easier. And then they'll get frustrated and want it back the way it was.

Because your anecdotal evidence shows how everyone experience is. Out of an office of 11 employees, 8 have tablets. 7 of us use them regularly. The 8th person is waiting for the next Nexus tablet as his old one's usb port isn't working correctly and won't reliably charge. Personally I think we might be an above average sample, but I somehow think you might be a below average sample.

... You're not likely to run into bandwidth issues OR issues with a download cap, in regards to local network storage.

Or, according to /. earlier today. The people approving the patents are actually doing whatever the fuck else they want, instead of their job, and getting paid for it.

Storage capacity is where streaming comes in handy. Not just online streaming, but NAS and the like.