Dear AT&T: I don't like you.

They are a scam to get you to pay more than you should. If you have a full time job, you should not have enough time to talk enough to justify "unlimited" talking. I only pay around 35 bucks for 250 daytime minutes but those daytime hours are when I'm at work and evenings/weekends are free on my carrier. That effectively means that it is unlimited for me.

The same goes for data. If they are charging you more than 30 bucks, you are being taken to the cleaners even if they call it "unlimited". If they charged around 15 bucks for 2-3 GB of data, I think most of you would jump at that right away especially if they offered unlimited WiFi access at hotspots.

I wish the carriers in North America would agree to unlimited roaming at WiFi hotspots they operate for their customers with data plans. I also wish that I could roam at least at a discount on Wifi in other countries like the European carriers have set up.

I know people who's lives are all about staying informed & connected. Also, if you're replacing your landline w/ a smartphone you'd want unlimited minutes, because hat's what landlines offer. If you replace your landline data & phone with smartphone you'd want unlimited data & voice. I feel free tethering is not too far off.

- A

No, Family plans are not a set amount. They are the same price as an individual plan for the first phone, and then $50 PER PHONE for each additional phone and every phone in the family account must be on the same plan. So a family of 4 on the unlimited plan would spend over $200 BEFORE data and SMS features. I can't stand that AT&T is advertising this family plan as being $120/180 while keeping the "assuming 2 phones" part in very small print.

They make it seem like they are reducing the prices but it's just not as cheap as it should be. This is why I canceled my contract and bought a Straight Talk phone with unlimited talk, texts and data for only $45 per month. I work for myself and I spend a large part of my working day on the phone, I'm not always in my office so a cell phone is very necessary. I have a Samsung Finesse Touchscreen which is a very nice phone and I like the fact that Straight Talk runs on Verizon's network nationwide so when I travel I don't have to worry about long distance or roaming. iPhones are nice but are they really worth an extra $55 per month - I don't think so.