I have a tetherable 3g PDA and agree with you generally. There are, however, some exceptions. First, VOIP over these systems is still iffy both in terms of performance and what your carrier will do if you are caught. Second, hotel internet is still significantly cheaper than data roaming. The best data roaming rate I can find now that Wind shut down their offer is about US$5 a meg.

You can get 100 megs to use in many countries from Vodafone, Swisscom, and Cingular for around US$150. That is a steep monthly commitment and 100 megs isn't that much, particularly if Microsoft decides to push out a service patch on you.

Most of Europe does have 3g now. It is either HSDPA or at least UMTs. In many countries, TMobile has a package available on their prepaids called Walk-n-Web which is roughly 1GBP per day for unlimited (subject to a puke test) internet. When I am in the UK, I always buy this instead of hotel internet. I use the SIM in my PDA for e-mail during the day and tether it to my hotel as needed. It is my understanding that Walk-N-Web is now avaiable in Germany, Austria, and is coming to the Netherlands. Anyone with better knowledge, please check in here. Unfortunately, the UAE is still very high. $90 US will get you 100 megs with the state run phone company. If you are an American or a Brit, it is actually a better deal to buy the roaming package from Cingular or Vodafone.

In Europe the carriers have spent 6 fortunes for 3g licenses and people aren't using them significantly. There will be more promos coming soon.

Incidentally, if you buy a new Sony or Dell laptop, both Cingular and one EVDO provider (Verizon?) are offering a PAYG plan for $8 a day if you go with a bundled card with your notebook.

Stu