Still, if you consider the insane prices we used to pay for minutes and text messages, and then the sudden fall-off of those prices once tcp/ip content on cellphones became exponentially more popular, and first one then another telco stopped charging per-text rates or per-minute useage rates on all plans, you can see that the telcos are as sensitive to their competitors as they are to their users' usage patterns. There was a time when cellular data was not meted out. Eventually, cellular bandwidth restrictions and data surcharges will become a thing of the past and unlimited data will join unlimited talk and text--it's merely a matter of the backbone infrastructure catching up with use/demand and the advent of the next profit center for the telcos (who knows what that will be, and please don't say tablets, not many want to carry a 10" tablet in their pocket, on their back, or cradled in their arm in a leather cozy like some fragile 2-day old infant). The only way to enforce fair data rates/plans is to vote with your feet and dollars.
This is all correct. But the capacity making that a reality is a few years or more down the road. So people complaining about pricing are kind of ignoring the current realities. Prices are not going down; we may realize increased value - tethering, multiple devices, even unlimited data to replace your home ISP - but prices will only go up because the cable companies own most of the pipes and they will continue to take their $50 for access to offset people who ditch their ISP.
As for the 10" tablet being too large to carry around, I'm not sure I agree. Yeah, I did once see a guy walking around with his IPad tucked into the back of his jeans, and I thought he looked like a tool. But I believe the IPad is a 9.7" screen, and the specs on all of these are smaller than a legal pad or even a portfolio that business people have carried around for years without issue. If you want something to put in your pocket, get a smartphone.
