The case for the 3G-capable iPad | via Macworld
I agree, wholeheartedly. In fact, I agree so much that buying the WiFi-only iPad wasn’t a consideration for me, even though it means that I’ll have to wait a couple more weeks before I can get an iPad in my hands.
Why? the answer is simple, there are occasions when WiFi is not an option and where web connectivity is essential. Case in point, we spent the better part of our summer traveling cross-country where WiFi access was almost never available but where access to the web was nearly always essential for getting more information, having the kids update our cross-country blog, or for my daughter to submit summer homework due for an AP class. I also, on occasion, needed to be able to connect to my office. For all of this I used my iPhone and/or a broadband card. (The blog was done entirely on the iPhone, with the kids typing updates in Notes, which were then edited, copied, and pasted and had photos added using WordPress mobile.) Easier still to have 3G broadband built into my device.
And this is where Apple’s deal with AT&T really pays off: When you say you want the option to use 3G on your iPad, all you’re paying for that option is $130. There’s no two-year commitment to pay $50 a month. Instead, when you suddenly find yourself somewhere with no Wi-Fi service, you can open up your iPad’s settings app and buy 250MB of data for $15, or an unlimited amount for $30.
Snell’s point here is spot on and, for me, is the one thing that sealed the deal. The fact that I did not have to sign up for a cellular phone-like contract that tied me into x years of 3G service makes the 3G iPad an obvious choice. It’s there when I need it, but I don’t need to worry about it when I don’t need it. And Apple has quite intelligently added an important feature to the mix:
You can even tell the iPad to cancel the service when the month is over, so you don’t get stuck unwittingly paying for iPad data you’re not using.
Very key indeed.
There’s also one other item I’m curious about, which is something I don’t think we’ll know until the iPad ships. Since this, unlike the iPhone, is a service where you’re paying for the actual bandwidth you use, is it possible that the iPad will allow tethering? Could the iPad become a wireless MiFi-like device for any WiFi capable device in the vicinity. This seems like an obvious, even likely possibility to me, and it’s one which makes the iPad 3G all the more appealing.