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iPad Priced Aggressively. Plus a Keyboard!
Apple will ship the iPad in about 60 days in three models with Wi-Fi and worldwide support starting at $499; 30 days after that, the first models that add 3G for the U.S. market will ship starting at $629. By summer, iPads with support from non-U.S. carriers will be available, with prices not yet set.
The iPad with Wi-Fi only will appear in three models with 16, 32, and 64 GB of RAM, priced at $499, $599, and $699. The lowest-priced model hits a magic consumer price point well known in the electronics world: If it's less than $500, it moves from a luxury to a sort of early-adopter impulse buy.
The 3G cellular versions will all be unlocked models, which means that you are not locked to a specific carrier, and it's easy to swap out a carrier module—a micro SIM card in this case—from T-Mobile in the U.S. or hundreds of carriers worldwide that use the dominant GSM cellular standard.
In the U.S., Apple apparently got AT&T in a headlock because of poor network performance, and the carrier will allow month-at-a-time, no-contract access for the iPad with two plans, either of which can be activated from the iPad.
The $15-per-month plan includes 250 MB of data each month. That's not a lot for heavy users, so I'm calling it the "your momma" plan, as in "your momma ain't going to use that much data." This is the perfect plan for Internet browsers who are not heavy video purchasers and are generally using the network on a Wi-Fi network. (There are no limits to Wi-Fi usage.)
AT&T will also offer an unlimited plan for $30 per month. Laptop plans from carriers are $60 to $80 per month with 5 GB per month usage limits. Only smartphones are ever priced with data plans at $30 per month, and then often with limits from carriers.
Both plans includes unlimited access at any of AT&T's 20,000-plus U.S. hotspots. More than half of AT&T's hotspots are already free, being in McDonald's, and another 8,000 are free-for-two-hours-with-purchase Starbucks outlets. Still, you get free Wi-Fi in airports, and a seamless, no-click login to AT&T's Wi-Fi locations.
Finally, Apple will offer a dock with a hardware keyboard attached. This may overcome lingering objections, and make the iPad a reasonable device for business travelers. (Price of the dock wasn't yet noted.)
The iPad with Wi-Fi only will appear in three models with 16, 32, and 64 GB of RAM, priced at $499, $599, and $699. The lowest-priced model hits a magic consumer price point well known in the electronics world: If it's less than $500, it moves from a luxury to a sort of early-adopter impulse buy.
The 3G cellular versions will all be unlocked models, which means that you are not locked to a specific carrier, and it's easy to swap out a carrier module—a micro SIM card in this case—from T-Mobile in the U.S. or hundreds of carriers worldwide that use the dominant GSM cellular standard.
In the U.S., Apple apparently got AT&T in a headlock because of poor network performance, and the carrier will allow month-at-a-time, no-contract access for the iPad with two plans, either of which can be activated from the iPad.
The $15-per-month plan includes 250 MB of data each month. That's not a lot for heavy users, so I'm calling it the "your momma" plan, as in "your momma ain't going to use that much data." This is the perfect plan for Internet browsers who are not heavy video purchasers and are generally using the network on a Wi-Fi network. (There are no limits to Wi-Fi usage.)
AT&T will also offer an unlimited plan for $30 per month. Laptop plans from carriers are $60 to $80 per month with 5 GB per month usage limits. Only smartphones are ever priced with data plans at $30 per month, and then often with limits from carriers.
Both plans includes unlimited access at any of AT&T's 20,000-plus U.S. hotspots. More than half of AT&T's hotspots are already free, being in McDonald's, and another 8,000 are free-for-two-hours-with-purchase Starbucks outlets. Still, you get free Wi-Fi in airports, and a seamless, no-click login to AT&T's Wi-Fi locations.
Finally, Apple will offer a dock with a hardware keyboard attached. This may overcome lingering objections, and make the iPad a reasonable device for business travelers. (Price of the dock wasn't yet noted.)
