Imagine a world where you pay your carrier for a single shared data plan that covers all the devices you use, whether they’ve got a physical SIM card, are tethered with a cable, or wirelessly connect to a mobile hotspot. Your home’s water bill works like this: no matter which faucet you turn on, you only pay what your meter reads. Not only would you no longer have to worry about which device is able to use or share a data plan, but you could also switch from device to device should one run out of battery, or extend your connectivity to a friend if you’re willing to foot the bill — pour them a glass of water while you’re at it.

The iPad on LTE is the fastest Internet connection that I have available to me, but I could not use it to watch a video at Starbucks today because doing so would have killed my data plan. The carriers need to fix this somehow.