If you’re a carrier scrambling for ways to make up dwindling voice and texting profits, Apple’s iPhone 4S is not just a product, but a dreamy pin-up, a new report on smartphone data usage finds. What’s more, Siri — the iPhone 4S’s hallmark feature — is a down-right wet dream.
Mobile monitoring firm Arieso released a report today finding Apple’s latest smartphone sucks data at twice the rate of the previous iPhone 4 and three times that of the iPhone 3G. Although there are other factors involved, Siri does frequently hit the network – something to weigh when you want to use the voice assistant to learn if it will rain.
Arieso’s technology chief tells Bloomberg Siri’s problem is it is so darn easy to use. Noting “voice is the ultimate human interface,” Michael Flanagan said Siri’s simple interface lowers barriers to its usage, hiking data demands. Gone are the needs to type, point or even move a finger, all potentially preventing subscribers from using data. Such a slippery slope should make carriers virtually quiver with joy.
While it is appealing to smack around Siri as the reason for the iPhone 4S being such a data porker, others feel the true cause is closer than we would like to admit. Indeed, the Arieso study of more than 1 million subscribers found 1 percent of mobile users are responsible for half of the data demand. Yes, ‘Occupy’ fans, we are the 99 percent.
But before you go protesting in front of Apple or pull out your ‘Down with Datacaps‘ signs, experts say we have met the enemy – and it is Youtube, Netflix and those humongous (but gorgeous) family photos you’ve been zipping through cyberspace. The iPhone 4S is the perfect delivery device for the media junkie, down to the 8-megapixel HD-ready cameras and instant Twitter connection. Get ready for the newest tech cop-out: my iPhone made me do it.
However, there are some steps that can be taken to improve the situation. First, step away from the cell signal. Wi-Fi connections are everywhere. If you can’t latch onto your home’s wireless connection, there is the corner cafe, the local bookstore, the airport — even your neighbor. The next part of any data diet should be offloading your video and media. Perhaps you don’t need to spend three hours viewing the latest Youtube works of an obscure Austrian filmaker or emailing that oh-so comical autotune of Newt Gingrich?
But most importantly, say experts, is to become aware of your data usage and make decisions on how you can stay out of the data pigpen.
