> Also [in the earnings call,](http://www.macworld.com/article/146086/2010/02/ipad_att_3gnetwork.html?lsrc=rss_main/article/146029/2010/01/att_network_ipad_iphone.html) Stankey and AT&T Chief Financial Officer Rick Lindner both emphasized that AT&T’s 20,000 Wi-Fi hot spots will help iPad performance, and that iPad users will also rely on private Wi-Fi service in homes and offices. Lindner said the iPad will be used a “substantial amount of time in a Wi-Fi environment” and promised that if that’s not the case, “we’ll adapt to it.”
via [macworld.com](http://www.macworld.com/article/146086/2010/02/ipad_att_3gnetwork.html?lsrc=rss_main)
Really? Because you’ve already proven that you can adapt to changing conditions so well?
You can’t be successful by making assumptions and then reacting when those assumptions prove to be false. You succeed by preparing for the worst possible scenario.
AT&T SHOULD be assuming this: Apple will sell 20 million iPads with 3G this year; all iPad 3G users will use iPad 90% of the time on 3G, not WiFi; every one of those users will be living in the same neighborhood of San Francisco.
And then they should build their network to handle that much traffic anywhere in the U.S.
