Earlier quoted context omitted.
What do you mean by "calling was almost instant"?
You dial a number. The other party will start ringing.
And not just calling. There was no need for a lengthy handshake after the connection was setup for ISDN modems.
Apple SIM
151–160 of 185 posts
Re: Apple SIM
#152Earlier quoted context omitted.
I believe the above commenter talks about the ease/pricing of Fi as much as the experience. I'm using Fi on my iPhone (and have for a while) - and it works worldwide for $10 / 1Gb. It's actually downright magical compared to other offers (even the Apple SIM powered ones).
The ease with T Mobile is there too. I pay $50/month for my plan, and calls, text, and data effectively works seamlessly in ~160 countries. If I want faster data in some of those countries, I can pay $10 extra. Google Fi is $20/month for voice and text, plus a variable $10/month per GB up to 6GB where it caps out at $80/month. Note that I'm not arguing against you, just wanted to clarify that the t mobile experience…
Also note TMobile supports Apple Watch LTE while Fi doesn’t and probably won’t.
Re: Apple SIM
#153How is this better than simply having... A SIM-card in your phone or tablet? A SIM-card is something you can swap and replace in less than 30 seconds, and 100% decouples your device from your cellular provider. The way things should be. It's hardware so it's portable. It's standardized so it's interoperable and works with all equipment, from all vendors. Why does Apple need to re-invent this? Why would I want to repl…
How is having a sim card better than simply having... free access to any carrier?
A SIM-card is something you need to wait to arrive in snail mail. When going abroad you need to order one ahead of time to get a good price. Switching requires weeks of waiting for new cards to arrive, or going to a store. If you lose your device you need to wait for a replacement.
Why would anyone want to use such an antediluvian method?
Why would I want to use something which 1. needs me to remember/write down weird codes 2. doesn't work internationally without exorbitant fees and workarounds 3. is as old as VGA connectors.
What on earth would compel anyone to make such a stupid trade-off? How stupid would you have to be to think this is a good thing?
PS. Just making a point here, it's not all bad like you're making it out to be, and the dismissive tone muddles the problem. It surprises me that the resistance to new technical solutions to problems is so endorsed here on Hacker News of all places.
Re: Apple SIM
#154I'm surprised Apple has created a proper Fi competitor yet. It would fit so well into their premium brand of "your iPhone works the moment you step off the plane wherever your amazing life takes you". They wouldn't have their UX tied to cell providers, who are some of the most unpleasant entities to interact with. They would probably be able to lean further into their personal security stance, by fully obfuscating th…
> It would fit so well into their premium brand of "your iPhone works the moment you step off the plane wherever your amazing life takes you". If there's anything that would make me buy an iPhone, this is it. I travel a lot between the US and Europe; I'm using Fi at the moment even though I shouldn't actually have access to it. It's mind boggling to me the crazy things we can do with tech today, and not make it all w…
I'm kinda of amazed of the Internet and mobile situation in the US. I was in the Silicon Valley recently. Internet was terrible everywhere I went. Phone plans were incredibly expensive.
While my French phone plan, that I pay $25 a month, gave me unlimited calls and text messages, even in the US, and from France to the US or vice versa. On top of unlimited 4G in my country, I had 25Go of free 3G in the US for my trip. And it was faster than any Wifi I connected to: hotel, work, restaurant...
How is that possible that I was next to Cupertino and Mountain View, yet witnessed this ? This is supposed to be the super tech region of the world, yet it felt nothing like that.
Re: Apple SIM
#155How is this better than simply having... A SIM-card in your phone or tablet? A SIM-card is something you can swap and replace in less than 30 seconds, and 100% decouples your device from your cellular provider. The way things should be. It's hardware so it's portable. It's standardized so it's interoperable and works with all equipment, from all vendors. Why does Apple need to re-invent this? Why would I want to repl…
When you get off the plane in a new country, not having an immediate SIM card at the airport often means the exchange rate will be 10% above, the SIMs sold at the airport will be $10 above their normal price, and the taxi will cheat you by $10 more. Just the feeling of not being cheated is worth a fee. Plus you can check the route that the taxi driver uses, even you can share your location if a fake taxi tries to kidnap you (ever traveled in Mexico?).
Re: Apple SIM
#156How is this better than simply having... A SIM-card in your phone or tablet? A SIM-card is something you can swap and replace in less than 30 seconds, and 100% decouples your device from your cellular provider. The way things should be. It's hardware so it's portable. It's standardized so it's interoperable and works with all equipment, from all vendors. Why does Apple need to re-invent this? Why would I want to repl…
How is having a sim card better than simply having... free access to any carrier? A SIM-card is something you need to wait to arrive in snail mail. When going abroad you need to order one ahead of time to get a good price. Switching requires weeks of waiting for new cards to arrive, or going to a store. If you lose your device you need to wait for a replacement. Why would anyone want to use such an antediluvian metho…
Because it works. Worse is better.
Re: Apple SIM
#157Earlier quoted context omitted.
> It would fit so well into their premium brand of "your iPhone works the moment you step off the plane wherever your amazing life takes you". If there's anything that would make me buy an iPhone, this is it. I travel a lot between the US and Europe; I'm using Fi at the moment even though I shouldn't actually have access to it. It's mind boggling to me the crazy things we can do with tech today, and not make it all w…
"I travel a lot between the US and Europe; I'm using Fi at the moment even though I shouldn't actually have access to it." Would you elaborate ? I am currently traveling in Europe and used the "Orange Holiday Europe" travel SIM which appears to do everything I need it to (tethering, calls to anywhere, etc.) and it "just worked" when I landed. What alternatives to this would be worth looking into ?
I know it sounds like a first world problem but I don't like having to take care of my sim card situation when I travel.
When I fly I have enough on my mind already and I don't want to have to sorry about getting a new sim, changing plans, enabling something, changing numbers, ...
I just want my phone number, data, calls and texts. No fuss. Fi is expensive but gives me peace of mind, I never have to worry about my phone, I know it will work just as well as back home.
Re: Apple SIM
#158How is this better than simply having... A SIM-card in your phone or tablet? A SIM-card is something you can swap and replace in less than 30 seconds, and 100% decouples your device from your cellular provider. The way things should be. It's hardware so it's portable. It's standardized so it's interoperable and works with all equipment, from all vendors. Why does Apple need to re-invent this? Why would I want to repl…
How is having a sim card better than simply having... free access to any carrier? A SIM-card is something you need to wait to arrive in snail mail. When going abroad you need to order one ahead of time to get a good price. Switching requires weeks of waiting for new cards to arrive, or going to a store. If you lose your device you need to wait for a replacement. Why would anyone want to use such an antediluvian metho…
> A SIM-card is something you need to wait to arrive in snail mail. When going abroad you need to order one ahead of time to get a good price. Switching requires weeks of waiting for new cards to arrive, or going to a store. If you lose your device you need to wait for a replacement.
What do you mean? You just pay a small amount of money at any store/cigarette shop and you get a SIM card in 10 seconds.
Re: Apple SIM
#159Earlier quoted context omitted.
> It would fit so well into their premium brand of "your iPhone works the moment you step off the plane wherever your amazing life takes you". If there's anything that would make me buy an iPhone, this is it. I travel a lot between the US and Europe; I'm using Fi at the moment even though I shouldn't actually have access to it. It's mind boggling to me the crazy things we can do with tech today, and not make it all w…
I'm kinda of amazed of the Internet and mobile situation in the US. I was in the Silicon Valley recently. Internet was terrible everywhere I went. Phone plans were incredibly expensive. While my French phone plan, that I pay $25 a month, gave me unlimited calls and text messages, even in the US, and from France to the US or vice versa. On top of unlimited 4G in my country, I had 25Go of free 3G in the US for my trip.…
That’s how awful cell carrier oligopoly is here. Wired internet is even worse, even in Silicon Valley. I have the choice of Comcast 100mbit Internet (used to be ~20mbit a few years ago) for ~$80 USD per month or nothing. Literally my only real high-speed choice is Comcast in every apartment I’ve rented in the Bay Area in the past 6 years. Many friends are in the same situation.
Think about that: ISPs in the US are so firmly entrenched, so highly organized and with such strong lobbies that even in the Bay Area it’s awful.
I want to believe that this will change, but I’ll bwlieve it when I see it. Google tried, and it looks like they’re scaling down their expectations for G Fiber rollouts. Wireless likely can’t work without some quantum leap in the tech, and the infra costs for a buildout are MASSIVE (on the order of tens-hundreds of billions for a nation wide network) plus you need permits for every eyesore tower that every city will individually fight you on. These are just some of the reasons that all the people and all the money in the valley can’t fix US ISPs.
Re: Apple SIM
#160Earlier quoted context omitted.
In the EU roaming charges were abolished last year.
Yes and in turn operators just created new “European” plans.
In France they didn't, what do these "European" plans do? Since you are legally allowed to use any local plan when you are abroad (except if your plan is less than 3,85€/GB indeed, then your operator can decide to give you less data or charge you more within this limit).
I'm just using my regular 10€/40GB plan whenever I am abroad and it works fine.