How your ISP's data caps will kill the cloud

“That isn't good news - users should an uproar over the whole thing,” Martin writes. “It means that a large number of people using broadband in the U.S. will be severely limited in what they can do online. They might risk extra charges or even total loss of their broadband access.”

Martin writes, “This comes as Apple is rumored to be on the verge of introducing a more Cloud-based model of computing for millions of clients… Unfortunately, the sad fact is that as we all look to the cloud for more services, the circumstances are starting to get grim. I predict that many more of us will hit the ceiling, preventing us from using the internet as we would like too. And that my friends, is what will ultimately kill the cloud.”

Plan for this

I can’t believe that Apple doesn’t have a plan for this. For a company with the largest crystal balls in the industry, I expect we’ll see something come from left field that sill shatter all preconceived ideas.

I find all this buzz of The Cloud quite ridiculous. Remote-network, Internet connectivity from any given device will never be ubiquitous enough to displace or outperform local processing and storage – particularly in a mobile device.There will always be a need for syncing.

The death of cloud computing?

Why the death of cloud computing? Surely, in the land of free enterprise, this just creates an possibility for other ISP’s?

the problem here is that ISPs have been defining bandwidth. Bandwidth doesn’t work after a fashion that you can express in a monthly cap. Now if they capped it at a certain Mbs… That could make more sense. You can easily download 150 Gb in a day given the Mbs speed I have. If everyone did that on the first of the month it would most likely kill their ill funded infrastructure for the day. So how is their cap useful for anything other than fleecing clients? Unfortunately, like most tech, no one understands this on the consumer/legislative side. Especially something so esoteric as bandwidth which is purchased in Mbs nevertheless relegated by how much data you can download. It’s a farce. The faster the Mbs you buy- the faster you hit their caps and have to pay extra. And this cap is hit by doing perfectly legal Internet activities just as Netflix and iTunes.

In the context of at&t capping it at an amount of downloaded data… It has nothing to do with filling up the “pipe” so to speak down to a customer level… If not I would have to rock a solid data transfer rate 100% of the time. So for instance.. I have a line that gives me 1.54 Mbs of bandwidth. Fr you analogy to work… I would have to constantly maintain a data rTe of 1.54 Mbs…. Not that I transferred 150Gb total. In a 30 day month of usage “filling the pipe” aka 1.54Mbs I’d hit the cap in less than a day. My line means I can only get 1.54Mbs… Capping it at a total data usage is disingenuous in saying it alleviates congestion. They should cap the Mbs if their network is taxed… Or if that was their concern. This is bullshit and let’s them charge more for total data transferred.

Data caps are inevitable, especially given the poor state of our network infrastructure. This is why Macs need to be able to author and play Blu Ray discs. It’s the only medium that will allow transfer of 1080p video without having to deal with the limits the ISPs impose for now and the immediate future.

The cost of services is getting ridiculous

The cost of services is getting ridiculous. I pay $150 a month for 3 iPhones and close to $200 for cable TV, cable phone and cable internet. I want to cheaper solution.

You can bet the farm that Steve Jobs has something planned to deal with the bandwidth issue. Apple isn’t manufacturing all these devices with built-in sync and at the time building out a massive cloud infrastructure only to have it derailed by ISP’s and their old-world business models. The question is “Will Apple work with, or outflank the satellite, telephone and cable companies?”

The one hand

On the one hand, Comcast can’t add video streaming to an iPad App to hold on to HDTV clients and at the time, conversely, charge their Internet clients for excessive bandwidth overages or even threaten to drop them…Or can they?

So instead of expanding their infrastructure, which costs money and reduces the bottom line, the ISP’s will simply restrict access. They might even reduce service and raise prices. What a concept! However if there’s any justice in the universe, Steve Jobs is already figuring out how to do to the ISP’s and what he did to the cell phone companies.

ive been with AT&T cell service for nearly 7 years. An iPhone customer since the 3GS. Always liked AT&T and stuck up for them with Verizon clients nevertheless I’m getting sick of them nickel and diming.I’m grandfathered in the unlimited data yet made the mistake of getting iPad 2 wifi only and and not 3G. Thinking I would only just use around the house, nevertheless this thing is made to be took any and everywhere. No way to get the tethered feature unless I lose my unlimited. Im a 2 percenter as well. I use Sirius during at work 5days a week. So I come close to 5 gigs a month.AT&T. I’m starting to not like your company. In any case don’t love the service.I just hope others don’t follow suit. Bright house etc…

The app store can detect if you are jailbroken

Apps on the app store can detect if you are jailbroken, look it up.means Apple can tell if you are jailbroken.not a stretch to think AT&T can detect a jailbroken iPhone.

Bet they have a list of those that are heavy users of the Unlimited plan, and at that time going through their data to detect why the high use. Which AT&T has the right to determine if a subscriber is abusing the network.just cause you pay them $30 a month, does not mean they can’t take a look at why you use 10GB a month… Lets see, hmmm… Packets for World of Warcraft updates… Windowsupdate, using bittorrent/FTP… Yep, all viable traffic from an iPhone. simple enough to detect. And yes, those are all things i have heard people use that ended up getting them the dreaded message. doesnt matter if you make it look like you are using Mobile Safari, iOS can’t run WoW, or run Windows, or bittorrent.I bet anyone with the high usage on the unlimited plan has had their data for the time being given a quick look to see why. Its not needed to disect and see what you are looking at… just the source it’s coming from, like the ones listed above.Until recently, i ALWAYS jailbroke my iPhone… Only one thing i miss now. It’s not worth the effort to jailbreak for me right now.

AT&T does have unlimited usage, READ your ToS. it’s unlimited usage FROM your iPhone. not THROUGH your iPhone.People that do nothing nevertheless stream Pandora/Netflix/Etc… AT&T leaves alone. people that break the ToS, get looked at a little closer.

Funny, AT&T and Verizon charge the same for Tethering, but you are mad at AT&T only… Switch to Verizon at that time. Only thing that will make you happy is if AT&T PAYS you to use an iPhone…as far as the “They lie, scheme, and suck at even providing the bandwidth in the first place.”you do know AT&T has faster data than Verizon right?…

Even if encrypted, i don’t think that would stop them from seeing the source the data was coming from. Like the Windows update/WoW updates. I have no idea why people do it, however there are those that DO tether and download a WoW update overnight..Go read the ModMyi forums, some that got the message were using tethering to patch Wow/WU.

Once caps become the norm, we will be offered by our isps unlimited options from sites just as Facebook, Netflix, etc. The end of net neutrality. Consumers get screwed either way and the big corporations will own the Internet. The majority of clients will pay to get their Facebook and hulu without even understanding what it all means. They will think they are getting a great deal by avoiding the caps.The end of the Internet, when all is said and done in the hands of the greedy corporations.

lolz. 5gb is little. Three hd tv shows.. 1 movie, what about generL surfing? What if you have a family of internet users?

I’m with you. Many people here don’t realize that a world exists beyond the Internet, and that 5G a day is LOTS.

I mention this because a similar uproar happened over mobile operators having such “limited” data caps on their plans. I waited to get an iPhone with a 6GB promotional package because I was terrified of exceeding the 1GB cap that as a general rule comes with high-end plan. However I found that I’ve rarely even exceeded that amount.