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The User Experience of Mobile Phone Numbers

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Re: The User Experience of Mobile Phone Numbers

#31

Post by grkvlt »

raverbashing wrote: post #25

Whenever I hear a rant about SIM cards I just mentally think that this person hasn't thought about the problem for 5 seconds longer than needed. "Oh CDMA proves you don't need a SIM card" - the stupidity HURTS Given his difficulty in "buying a SIM card" (which I've done in several countries and it was never as difficult as portrayed) I can see why - SIM cards makes switching telcos EASIER as CDMA phones need the comp…

Also, don't most pre-pay SIMs have an online top-up service, usually made available automatically if you try to use data without having any credit. As well as that, most ATMs have an option for 'top up mobile' here in the UK, and pretty much every corner shop will sell you a top-up voucher. Or, of course, you just try dialing a number without having any credit, and you're forwarded to the automatic top-up line.

The idea that one has to return to the shop you purchased the SIM from is insane, in fact, there are many places where this is impossible, for example the local pound store sells all manner of SIM cards for GBP 1.00 (identification? nope, but here, have a pound coin...) but don't do top ups.

If you want the future, look at software SIM cards or e-SIMs [0] (like the Apple one[1] in the latest iPad) which can be provisioned remotely.[2][3]

[0] http://www.gsma.com/connectedliving/embedded-sim/ [1] http://www.apple.com/uk/ipad/apple-sim/ [2] http://www.gsma.com/rsp/frequently-asked-questions-gsmas-rem... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remote_SIM_provisioning

Re: The User Experience of Mobile Phone Numbers

#32

Post by deadbunny »

runeks wrote: post #6
doctorshady wrote: post #2

That's like saying IP addresses are stupid technology of the past century.

They are. Nodes on the internet should be identified by public key hashes, not IPs. Whoever can respond to a packet with a message, whose signature verifies against the public key that it's destined to, is by definition the recipient. Servers would have relatively static keys, while client keys could be as ephemeral as wanted. So rather than specify an IP address (location) as destination, you specify the recipient,…

I guess you've not thought about routing...

Re: The User Experience of Mobile Phone Numbers

#34

Post by vviktor »

raverbashing wrote: post #25

Whenever I hear a rant about SIM cards I just mentally think that this person hasn't thought about the problem for 5 seconds longer than needed. "Oh CDMA proves you don't need a SIM card" - the stupidity HURTS Given his difficulty in "buying a SIM card" (which I've done in several countries and it was never as difficult as portrayed) I can see why - SIM cards makes switching telcos EASIER as CDMA phones need the comp…

"It was never as difficult as portrayed" - we are talking about UX here. Stating that something is not as difficult is wrong. The UX is bad. When you go to a new country for the first time, you need to search online or ask around how and where to buy sim card. Yes, you can do it in a lot of countries in almost any grocery store. I'm not saying it's easy and it's close to impossible to have something like this implemented world wide. I'm proposing what I think would be ideal solution.

Login/password is the current de-facto standard. Until something better, widely accepted comes along, I don't see why my phone number should be safer than my facebook account or my bank account (it's not username/password, but the security of cards that we use for payment is pretty bad)

Re: The User Experience of Mobile Phone Numbers

#35

Post by vviktor »

Johnny555 wrote: post #14

Now imagine crossing the border, connecting to a new telco and being prompted to choose a data plan (or a phone number). This would be great! I’d purchase new phone number / data plan every time I’d cross the border. Telcos would profit from this and I wouldn’t have to spend time researching the best package (I will be presented with the options right in the popup on my phone) The author has a very optimistic view of…

Maybe I didn't state it right. What I meant wasn't roaming. When connecting to a new telco, when you enter new country, you would be able to choose new phone number and package. Simple as that.

Re: The User Experience of Mobile Phone Numbers

#36

Post by 6nf »

vviktor wrote: post #34
raverbashing wrote: post #25

Whenever I hear a rant about SIM cards I just mentally think that this person hasn't thought about the problem for 5 seconds longer than needed. "Oh CDMA proves you don't need a SIM card" - the stupidity HURTS Given his difficulty in "buying a SIM card" (which I've done in several countries and it was never as difficult as portrayed) I can see why - SIM cards makes switching telcos EASIER as CDMA phones need the comp…

"It was never as difficult as portrayed" - we are talking about UX here. Stating that something is not as difficult is wrong. The UX is bad. When you go to a new country for the first time, you need to search online or ask around how and where to buy sim card. Yes, you can do it in a lot of countries in almost any grocery store. I'm not saying it's easy and it's close to impossible to have something like this impleme…

The most widely used 2nd factor for authentication is a phone number. When I log into my gmail account from a new PC they send me a text to confirm. Same for my bank account. Same for several other services.

The reason they do this is because my phone is safer than a simple user / password.

Re: The User Experience of Mobile Phone Numbers

#37

Post by raverbashing »

grkvlt wrote: post #31
raverbashing wrote: post #25

Whenever I hear a rant about SIM cards I just mentally think that this person hasn't thought about the problem for 5 seconds longer than needed. "Oh CDMA proves you don't need a SIM card" - the stupidity HURTS Given his difficulty in "buying a SIM card" (which I've done in several countries and it was never as difficult as portrayed) I can see why - SIM cards makes switching telcos EASIER as CDMA phones need the comp…

Also, don't most pre-pay SIMs have an online top-up service, usually made available automatically if you try to use data without having any credit. As well as that, most ATMs have an option for 'top up mobile' here in the UK, and pretty much every corner shop will sell you a top-up voucher. Or, of course, you just try dialing a number without having any credit, and you're forwarded to the automatic top-up line. The i…

You're correct on all counts

Re: The User Experience of Mobile Phone Numbers

#38

Post by raverbashing »

vviktor wrote: post #34
raverbashing wrote: post #25

Whenever I hear a rant about SIM cards I just mentally think that this person hasn't thought about the problem for 5 seconds longer than needed. "Oh CDMA proves you don't need a SIM card" - the stupidity HURTS Given his difficulty in "buying a SIM card" (which I've done in several countries and it was never as difficult as portrayed) I can see why - SIM cards makes switching telcos EASIER as CDMA phones need the comp…

"It was never as difficult as portrayed" - we are talking about UX here. Stating that something is not as difficult is wrong. The UX is bad. When you go to a new country for the first time, you need to search online or ask around how and where to buy sim card. Yes, you can do it in a lot of countries in almost any grocery store. I'm not saying it's easy and it's close to impossible to have something like this impleme…

> we are talking about UX here. Stating that something is not as difficult is wrong.

As an UX concept, correct. But UX cannot go against technological limitations, physical reality or security

> When you go to a new country for the first time, you need to search online or ask around how and where to buy sim card

Go walk in the city center maybe? Ask around?

Yes, you usually need to do some research if you want the best price, but that goes for most things . Also a lot of electronics stores can give you the different plans as they have sim cards.

Asking around and doing price research is part of being an adult, sellers won't come together to offer you a price and plan comparison in one page.

You're also assuming that people will want to change their mobile operator when they get to a different country (for a short trip they won't need it, some will need to keep their original phone working)

Now, remote SIM provisioning may be a good option for some devices (not all of them have wifi or are a smartphone), but that's much different from having a user/pwd combination

> Login/password is the current de-facto standard.

Until people start having their cell phones cloned, which already happened and that's why they came up with something better

> Until something better, widely accepted comes along

It's called SIM card, and it is widely accepted, since most carriers went for GSM worldwide https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_mobile_phone_sta...

Re: The User Experience of Mobile Phone Numbers

#39

Post by vviktor »

mig39 wrote: post #10
c22 wrote: post #4

I don't understand the problem, isn't this "solved" by contact lists? I for one am glad I can just call "Ted" instead of having to remember some nonsense like dreamyted887.com I agree phone numbers are stupid to use as authentication, but I don't see how this scheme can save anyone from having to purchase a new sim when they move between autonomous cell regions. Also, why is the Patrick McGoohan quote attributed to I…

The author doesn't realize that Iron Maiden themselves are quoting "The Prisoner" in their song "The Prisoner."

Thanks! Didn't know it was from an actual tv show. I updated the quote reference.
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