111–120 of 531 posts
One of the nice things about the internet is that IP addresses can't be (legally) tied to the person using it. Smartphones are personal devices, and without SIM cards a network connection can be tied to the person using it. This is a fundamental change and we should think hard if we want that to happen.
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Not everywhere, as others in this thread have mentioned. As a frequent traveler I'll be probably holding onto the last physical sim iPhone for many years until everywhere I travel to has it all ironed out.
As a frequent traveler I can’t imagine going back to physical SIMs, now I can carry all my data plans on my phone and don’t have to waste time looking for a place to buy a prepaid plan. There are a ton of websites where you can immediately get esims for almost every country, why bother with physical sims?
I am very worried about this. While I love (and sometimes use) eSIMs, the physical SIM has a huge advantage in that it gives me freedom. It's the revolution that GSM brought: just take your SIM and move it to a different phone. No permission required. Arguably we've become slaves to ecosystems of either Apple or Google at this point, as pretty much nobody uses a phone as "just a phone", you need to have an account wi…
I share your concerns but at the same time I think, why would we even need a SIM? Isn't it simply a device for accessing account on someones system? We don't have SIMs for ADSL or Fiber internet? We don't have SIMs for Reddit ot Twitter? Why would we have SIMs accessing GSM networks? There's no fundamental reason why we simply don't sign in into these networks like signing in to HN. Surely, it adds a layer of anonymi…
A phone service is implicitly device-locked (well, doesn't have to be, but it doesn't make sense to allow multiple devices per number anyway). Just using device credentials could allow anyone to log in with that information and use your subscription or pose as you.
As for ADSL or other forms of internet, there is already a second factor - ISPs generally know from which vicinity you are connecting from, and when you log in with your account information in your modem, they can match what's on your account to your physical "drop" and assert that it is at least within the same neighborhood - again, creating a physical second factor. This is also why your internet service generally needs to be "moved" whenever you change your residence.
A SIM card allows the freedom as the GP mentioned, without requiring someone from the centralized authority to process the request somehow.
There is a huge difference if you think about it for a bit.
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Apologies - I was not aware you can have multiple eSIMs stored. If that's the case it lessens the impact, though switching between phones is still a problem.
Not any more than with regular physical SIMs, if your carrier wants to be shit they can lock a physical SIM to a specific device too.
With eSIM, not only are they in control of switching eSIMs between devices but it also gives them a clean slate to introduce the aforementioned network-level restriction under excuses such as security (though again since they're in control of switching eSIMs they can just block it there or be annoying in other ways - some carriers already charge for reissuing eSIMs despite it being a completely automated process).
Could we use that space for an SD card?
Should? Maybe not. One goal of removing SIM and headphone jack is to reduce opportunities for water intrusion.
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I think this battle is long over and done with, but the Ethernet jack is not that big. A Thinkpad T470s/T480s has it and it is plenty thin. There are even some laptops with a collapsible RJ-45 port which allows it to be even thinner. A USB port is also not that thick yet it has been dropped on many recent laptops, although a Thinkpad X1 Carbon shows it is possible to have USB, HDMI etc on a 2lb / 1kg machine.
The T480 is 30% thicker than the new Macbook pros. I just got the 14" macbook pro and personally I think it's already a bit beefy.
Lenovo also sells the T480s, those are not substantially thicker (1.6 cm high) and beefier and come with a built-in ethernet (!) port.
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Progress for the sake of progress... SIM cards have plenty of advantages, all of which relate to control of your hardware. With a physical SIM card you retain control of the number and can swap it easily. As other comments have shown, with an eSIM, you rely on the provider to provision it for you. I hated having to call the provider when I was with Sprint and Verizon Wireless in the US, when I wanted to change the ph…
This is stupid, your carrier could IMEI lock physical SIMs if they want. eSIMs change nothing, the control you speak of is just a delusion.
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As a frequent traveler I can’t imagine going back to physical SIMs, now I can carry all my data plans on my phone and don’t have to waste time looking for a place to buy a prepaid plan. There are a ton of websites where you can immediately get esims for almost every country, why bother with physical sims?
Thanks. I never knew, plus I haven't troubled in 2 years :). What is a good recommendation?
I’ve probably used their sims in 30+ countries at this point, they’re even available in more exotic places like St Barthelemy or Moldova.
People are saying this is bad because you won't be able to swap phones without relying on the carrier to provision a new eSIM for you. I have the same gut reaction, but with my current physical SIM, I have to install the carrier's app, and there are many phones which don't work with my carrier, despite being unlocked phones and unlocked SIMs. And let's not forget that locking phones and SIMs has been common practice…
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Not any more than with regular physical SIMs, if your carrier wants to be shit they can lock a physical SIM to a specific device too.
True - my point was that the carrier can't prevent you from physically switching SIMs and locking them at the network-level to an IMEI would cause backlash as it would break long-established conventions. With eSIM, not only are they in control of switching eSIMs between devices but it also gives them a clean slate to introduce the aforementioned network-level restriction under excuses such as security (though again s…