Smartphone data use comparrison

A couple of months ago I was given an iphone 3 to use since my existing phone was dieing, I was a month or so away from end of contract, and it was cheaper to go onto my g/friends AT&T plan as opposed to staying solo on Verizon.  The price was right.  The phone was free, no contract, and even with the data plan I was paying less because it was a group plan.

This past week we started looking at usage of the phones on her plan in the hopes of finding a way to streamline the bill a bit.  My data package is 2gb for $25 because the 200mb for $15 didn't make sense.  Well I'm hear to tell you that the 200mb plan is looking better for me now that I have a couple of months under my belt but I'm also going to compare my usage with a friend who has an HTC Inspire (freekin' huge), his wife who has an iphone 4, and my girlfriend who has an iphone 4.  I must admit that the graphs showing usage on the AT&T site are pretty and so that is what I will be using as a reference.

First off let's look at my iphone 3 usage:

I came on board at the end of the billing cycle in May which is why there was so little use.  I have wi-fi at home, work, and when i'm at her place.  This is my first smartphone but I have had a phone in the past with some form of internet access on it.

Now let's look at her iphone4 usage:

She has wi-fi access at her place, mine, and her parents.  She does not have wi-fi access at work.  She is also grandfathered in with the unlimited data plan so there's no threat of an overage (yet) in the event that she decides to watch one too many youtube videos on her phone.  She is a long time smartphone user.

Now let's look at my friends HTC Inspire usage:

He too has wi-fi at home and does not have it at work.  He has the 2gb data plan.  The June spike is attributed to traveling out of town and being bored in a hotel.  This is his first smartphone though he has had a phone in the past that had internet access on it.

Finally let's look at his wife's iphone 4 usage:

She too has wi-fi access at home and elsewhere.  Her data plan is 200mb.  The June spike is attributed to user error (forgot to join network while at someones house).  This is her first smartphone and I'm unsure if she's had internet access on her previous phones.

I'm aware that 3 of 4 phones listed are iphones.  An argument that was brought up is that the droid user does not have wi-fi at work which explains the heavier usage.  This is thrown out by one of the iphone 4 users having no wi-fi at work AND an unlimited data plan.

What I see in this data is more how 4 people use their phones instead of what types of phones they are.  I have heard arguments that droid phones use more data which I refuse to believe.  The OS has no affect on data consumption.  It's the applications (dare i say 'apps' for fear of Apple coming after me for using their word?) that are on the phone that initiate the data connection.  To assume otherwise is uninformed about the underlying technology and thus wrong.

I see a husband and wife with smartphones and it can be assumed that they are together more often than not outside of work.  This would imply that they have access to the same wi-fi spots.  If this is correct then one could infer that the usage is a behavioral issue and not a result of the handset.  Feeding into my behavioral theory is that the user who has no wi-fi at work and has an unlimited data plan is actually in the < 200mb range consistently.

All of this came up with my trying to decide what to do about my data usage plan.  I'm currently at 2gb for $25 because i wanted to not feel restrained by my data package.  Because I believe consumption is behavioral, I'm no longer worried about dropping my plan down next month to the lower allotment of 200mb for $15. 

It is my advice to others jumping on the bandwagon to start high and then turn it down after you see some trending.  Some people are heavier users out of habit.  Some are lighter users out of habit.  I apparently am a lighter user and I'm OK with that.