The iPad sparked a lot of unrealistic expectations. There were talks of revolutionary reading experiences and the saving grace of the publishing industry. AT&T isn’t drinking the kool-aid, which actually gives the company a tiny measure of respect in my eyes. When asked about Apple’s tablet, CEO Randall Stephenson said he sees it as a “Wi-Fi driven product,” which is why AT&T won’t be offering any wireless contracts for the device.

“My expectation is that there’s not going to be a lot of people out there looking for another subscription,” said Stephenson. I couldn’t agree more. The last thing I want to worry about for the iPad is paying another $15 or $25 every month for a service I’ll rarely use. Hell, most early iPad adopters are likely going to be iPhone owners. What good would that contract do for them?

AT&T has enough trouble providing quality service to its iPhone users. Let’s get the company focused on that before we worry too much about tablet contracts, shall we?

Source: Reuters

Photo from fOTOGLIF