Google has been a company that attacks many realms of the technological world and is pretty successful at it.  Apparently, in the world of mobile devices Apple and Microsoft aren’t too happy about the number of Android smartphones that are activated everyday, a fact that is leader of mobile OSes out to dry.

So, what happens?  More patent suits for Google!

At first it seemed like Google was backed into a corner with them shelling out $15 per device activated to Microsoft and Apple trying to halt various iterations of Google devices from being released.  Latest talk is that Google is now fighting with words of their own…

What is a market without competition?  It is the reason AT&T had to split up in the first place (although they have reacquired all of the companies that they broke into).  Are the other two software tyrants opposed of a 3rd runner?

With the rise of the popularity of Apple’s 1st and 2nd generation iPad devices, the market wanted to see more affordable devices for a different type of consumer.  One that wasn’t an Apple fan-boy.

Let the Android tablets roll!

Not only are Android tablets affordable, they are also just as powerful than their Apple counterparts.  One major pro that and Android based tablet has over Apple is that it is not limited to one hardware manufacturer.  Today, I looked at several tablets online by Archos for under $250!  That is half the price of an iPad2, which doesn’t have a native HDMI port or USB port or a massive internal hdd.  Terrible huh?

The winning factor of Android tablets is that they are just a versatile as an iPad; yet, they appeal to a different demographic that doesn’t want to have those constraints that other manufacturers force down consumers throats.  Some consumers argue that Android doesn’t care about the tablet market due to the lack of tablet specific apps, well my argument is that if a regular Android  app will run just fine on the larger screen dimensions, then why change it?  Apple can be met in every spec in the tablet market, this is exactly why their share has significantly dropped since the beginning of the year.  However, we are yet to see an Android based tablet with a truly remarkable screen that completely blows away the iPad.

Although, I do use an iPad during the day, I am admittedly an anti-Apple person, if the manufacturers of Android tablets beefed up their screen resolutions I wouldn’t be as hesisitant to purchase a Wi-Fi tablet over a laptop.  Yet, that is another argument for another day.

Archos 7″ Android tablet for $279, others also available on TigerDirect

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6744607&CatId=6957

With more streaming and file downloads encompassing the internet, capping a users bandwidth per month seems to be the only way to go, correct?  Wrong.

For the average consumer, checking email, logging on to Facebook and playing an online game might be the most data that they use.  Honestly speaking, that could be less than 1GB of data transfers for the  month(remember this is an AVERAGE consumer).  However, with the advent of all media becoming digital and services such as Netflix and Hulu Plus that are causing some users to reach their data caps according to their ISP.  Let’s look at the bigger picture, if I am a cable company and I have 100 customers:

• 15 customers log on once a day to check email
• 35 customers upload various files during work hours, otherwise their connection is un-used
• 50 customers stream HD movies via Netflix

You can see that I have purposefully split it 50/50, in reality this is far from the case!  Most people I know, use their connection for casual surfing and most people are not power users.  So why should internet caps be put in place when the majority of the populous is not using a lot of data when only a minority are.  I find myself to be a power user, I have a high-speed wireless network in my home where I stream movies and television shows by the dozen on a day to day basis. 

Question:  Is this what the usual person does?

No.

Being an IT Specialist, I am well versed in technology.  So, I decided to substitute my data usage(Netflix/Hulu) for cable and other means.  Does that mean I should be capped when the vast majority of people that are subscribed to my ISP rarely use their connection for anything else but email?  No.

Bottom line: Internet bandwidth caps are hot air, there are honestly enough users that do not use their connection for streaming and intense uploading that it balances out those that do.