From today's LA Times:

"In a move intended to curb heavy users of its cell network, AT&T Inc. is phasing out its unlimited data plans for mobile phone subscribers — a move likely to be adopted by other major mobile carriers.

"The fee structure that goes into effect for new subscribers on Monday — the same day Apple Inc. is expected to unveil its new iPhone — will cap use of e-mail, Web browsing, social-network posting and streaming video under two pay plans."

The effect of this crackdown is of course to limit freedom of choice. To choose, you have to try out, and the more you have to pay to try out alternatives, the more incentive you have to stay with one provider, one distro, etc.

For example, let's say you are interested in trying out Linux. Many people recommend that you try out various versions of Linux and see which version you prefer. But if your ISP might penalize you from downloading several distros, you will have a tendency to try fewer and stay with mainstream choices.

By the way, I don't think it is a coincidence that this is happening at the same time Apple is releasing a new iPhone.

Note that when the iPad was released, newspapers immediately increased their subscription fees.

It appears that Apple is encouraging its allies to increase prices and force users to choose between which companies they want to belong to. The higher prices are, after all, the fewer choices customers can afford to make. This has the effect of driving customers away from less known alternatives and into the waiting tentacles of companies such as -- Apple and ATT.

The overall effect is to chill out and control the Internet, to drive customers in herds to more mainstream companies.

Easy, it's a free market. Switch operators. I'm sure someone will give you a better deal for that iPhone.

Oh, wait...

[Citation needed]

Where did subscription prices go up when the iPad went for sale? I'm still getting my Times, and no price difference there, buddy.

No, what's different is that the iPad versions are more expensive. You might first think "what the hell? they don't pay for print, ink or shipping, it should be cheaper". Then you calculate in the cost of interactive designs and features, researching new technologies, and creating new workflows, and creating an iPad version of the magazine starts to get more expensive. Throw in that publishers are wary of pricing their content too low, and you get a higher price than a print subscription.

The exact same thing happened with the Amazon-delivered Kindle version of most magazine and newspaper subscriptions, with the difference that the Kindle didn't require multimedia features embedded into newspapers. Don't forget that suddenly newspapers have to take on a whole new job. They used to keep you reading with witty headlines and insightful, thoughtful comments about [whatever]. Now they have to compete with the brainless YouTube videos.

Please stop your "OMG Apple wants to control the world" drama topic. You're trolling, again. Apple has nothing to do with the subscription fees, really. Again, look at the prices for Kindle when it originally came out. They were halved multiple times since then.

Also, how the feck do you go from AT&T killing the unlimited plan to downloading Linux to Apple controlling the internet? Go back to the mental institute mate.

AT&T raised the price because they want more money. It's that simple. Hopefully some of that money will be used to create a better network.

The pricing on eBooks did slightly raise, but the disputes with some publishers and Amazon's Kindle probably sparked that months before the Apple iPad.

The electronic periodicals though - Wired, Wall Street Journal, USA Today and the others are just too damn high to begin with.

But this is a move on AT&T's part. Ma Bell is always out for more money. Oh... and if you have unlimited plan now, you can keep it even if you upgrade. But if you want to tether (not applicable to the iPad, only iPhone) then you have to pay more and switch to the new two-tiered, limited plans.

Just wait until Skype hits people for 3G calls in 2011 and other deals that are being worked out - Conde Nast, Hulu, O'Reilly press (rumored), MTV (rumored), Joost (rumored) and some others all come out with their increases for periodical and/or subscription based stuff changes next year or so.

It's all about making people richer.

Am not sure in the US but we certainly have a problem with unlimited data plans as they bring in channel stickiness [still in 2.5G] and tend to screw up capacity planning on the Radio access network. Remember telcos have to meet certain SLOs set by the regulator and capacity/coverage planning play a major role in that. Revisiting these phases would add a substantial cost onto the network.

So telcos would prefer to control the TCO
a) by offering fixed usage models and
b) pricing very high on the exceeding bytes to offset users from the network.
c) Not allowing Packet calls during Peak periods

They read TechCrunch at the mental hospital, and

" TechCrunch reports that the New York Times is raising its rates for electronic delivery. The “E-Edition” of the paper is going from $14.99 to $19.99 per month, and the Kindle version is going from $13.99 to $19.99 per month for new subscriptions and starting in 6 months for existing subscriptions. Presumably, the iPad edition will be at the same $19.99 monthly rate.

PaidContent points out that this is still less than half the cost of having the print edition delivered ($46 per month), but it’s still a hefty bump for people used to the older pricing."

Hopefully, it's all lies.

BTW: Apparently it's not all lies. The current price for the NY Times e-edition subscription is $19.99 a month, just as TechCrunch says. Source: NYTimes.

Another BTW: According to PaidContent.org, the day the subscription price increase went into effect was April 2. The first day the iPad went on sale was April 3, according to press reports.

It's gonna get to the point where getting truly open and usable internet service will require government provision. And governments tend to throttle the other commodity involved: information.

Dont steal. The Government doesn't like competition.

Maybe this is a bit off- off-topic, but I subscribe to the New Yorker and Atlantic Monthly on my Kindle, and the total for both subscriptions is about $5 a month or even less. Well worth it, I think. Even though the New Yorker is much nicer as a physical presence, the Kindle copies don't pile up endlessly in your living room.