So this was probably my own fault because I had Mac Updates set to automatically download. This wasn’t a problem before I was counting megabytes. This is now the case using Verizon’s monthly broadband access, which comes with a 5GB cap and $0.25/MB over that. I have been doing a lot of development lately and this update, automatically downloaded, pushed me over the cap, which wasn’t difficult at 442MB for the 10.5.7 update. Maybe they could disable this auto update if your on an EVDO connection.
As for the update it can be found here. But looking through the KB it didn’t seem there were many worthy fixes, certainly not $110 worth.
The bigger problem is with this cap that Verizon and Sprint are now putting on their EVDO broadband access. At first it was all you can eat, kind of like text messages when they first came out. Then they started charging per message and then bundle monthly subscriptions. See this slashdot article on the subject and how the 160 byte service transmission was easily turned into a cash cow. Anyway, yea caps suck. But wait you can pay to raise your cap. 5GB is $60/month but as a Verizon rep told me I could go up to 10GB for only $200. Now that just didn’t make a hell of a lot a sense to me. I mean I am from the south but I know when my beans are cooked and when to pull them off the fire. I told her I would consider $120 for 10GB, although that is ridiculous since it wasn’t long ago that they offered unlimited service. I guess I could just get another card, which means another account and another bill and another number. Well that is cheaper than 5GB at $0.25/MB which is $1280. Where is the FCC on this? This should be criminal. Changing plans quietly, vauge language around “unlimited”. Unlimited to anyone means one thing but not to these companies who think they can call it unlimited and put restrictions on them. AT&T charges by the Kb at $0.00048 per Kb. Pricing it this way may look cheap but it actually is just to confuse the user who should know that it is actually $0.50/MB, twice Verizon. Here is another frustrated users response.
Guess I will be a coffee shop coder until my usage gets reset. Mmmmm, iced latte, with soy milk and four shots….or an iced soy quad latte.
Oh, a few side notes on getting into your VZAccess Manager with more options.
option-D
Pass: diagvzw
Also Pass: 000000 seems to be a default.
