Tbh I can't think of a single reason where data would be a matter of life or death.(Well maybe I could if I rly tried) But it wasn't that long ago that nobody had smartphones and AFAIK deaths haven't gone down due to the amount of smartphones in ppls hands.
I wish we lived in a world where there was no throttle and no caps at all. But I remember back when having a regular phone and every month you don't know what the bill is because of all the stupid overages. I DO NOT ever want to go back to that.
As long as these plans are detailed you should know what your data usage is and stay within those parameters. If you sign up for a 2GB T-Mo plan and use 4GB a month you should be aware of the throttle.
Obviously the big problem here is Straight Talk where the limit is invisible and not disclosed to you.
Anyway, Thx for the podcast suggestion. Even though these ppl seem to be iPhone users its an interesting listen.