“At the end of the day, people don’t need unlimited plans.” That’s what Verizon’s CFO, Fran Shammo, recently said when the topic of whether or not Verizon Wireless would be offering unlimited data plans at some point in the future. It’s a reasonable question, considering Sprint, T-Mobile, and even AT&T, technically, offer some form of an unlimited data plan at this point.

But Verizon’s not going to break stride and go back to the “old days,” it seems. For customers under the Big Red umbrella, unlimited data plans will remain in the past, and the data bucket is here to stay. Sure, it’s been tweaked here and there over the years, and there’s more data to use, but for the people who wish for an unlimited amount to peck away at every month, it doesn’t look like Verizon is the carrier to go with.

Shammo also added that customers that are attracted to unlimited options “tend to be abusive,” which I can honestly completely understand. If you don’t have to worry about how much data you use, why put any thought into how much you’re using? And with as fast as carrier LTE networks are, why connect to a potentially unsafe public Wi-Fi hotspot, which can be bogged down by others connected to it?

I’m not going to get into breaking down each of the unlimited plans being offered by the other carriers, because if you’ve already looked into it, you know how they compare and what might work for you. I’m curious, though: Do you need an unlimited plan?

Verizon’s CFO obviously has plenty of data to look at, and hopefully made the statement knowing how it all works behind-the-scenes, and he’s probably right in the outlook. Most people probably don’t need an unlimited data plan — but is that because they don’t have one, and have had to adjust their usage to match the changes laid at their feet?

I realize that I’ve shifted my own usage over the last few years, ever since unlimited data plans got kicked to the curb, because it settles into the back of your head. “I can only use this much data.” You become consciously aware that you can’t watch as many videos, or stream as much music. And eventually the actions become subconscious, even just muscle memory, as you limit the usage you might have once used without a care in the world.

Would you pay Verizon more per month to get unlimited data?

So let me know: How much data do you use every month, on a regular basis, and how has that impacted what you stream to your device on a regular basis? Are you still on an unlimited data plan? Do you feel like you abuse it if you do? Let me know!