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Demystifying ESIM Technology [video]

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Re: Demystifying ESIM Technology [video]

#61
post #3

For who wonders about the waving cat: These are used a lot at hacker conferences to check if the cams are still working (and not frozen). Shenanigans on the network are of course common at these events :) So they are put on the stages while nothing is on. This was a big success and it turned out to be a bit of a mascotte :P They've become a permanent fixture now.

I thought it's a smart way to combat video cutting

Could be also but this is what I was told by the instructor when I volunteered for stream directing at a hacker conference

Re: Demystifying ESIM Technology [video]

#62
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> mmWave is a dying tech. It will suffer the same fate as WiMAX. If this is the trade off (and it shouldn't be), I'll choose the SIM slot every time. I think mmWave has a lot more staying power than WiMAX. WiMAX as deployed was an alternative network to general purpose cell phone networks. As a third alternative to CDMA/GSM and upcoming LTE, it didn't make a lot of sense in the market. mmWave is deployed as augmentat…

Is it a meaningful alternative to Passpoint Wi-Fi in the scenarios you described?

Wi-Fi barely works in a hotel, how is it going to work in a stadium?

Re: Demystifying ESIM Technology [video]

#63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As soon as a critical mass of carriers across the world adopt esim the space will absolutely be used for something else. Apple is forcing the issue, trying to force carriers to adopt it. No other phone company has the leverage that Apple does. They have a lock on the majority of high value customers. A carrier that does not support the latest iPhone will lose customers to one that does. I expect more countries to be…

This assumes that carriers want to go eSIM only. Do they? What’s in it for them? They will lose customers with older phones. iPhones are irrelevant in most of the world. Unless Samsung and Xiaomi decide that they also want to ditch physical SIM, it’s not going anywhere. From the perspective of the rest of the world, eSIM-only phones seem bizarrely crippled. Why would I want a phone that I can’t use in every country?…

Oh, the carriers hate it. Apple is the only company that can bend the carriers to their will. China is their one market they can’t lord over the carriers. How will they lose customers with older phones? The carriers can still offer SIM cards alongside eSIM.

I think you’ll find that iPhones are used all around the world. They are ubiquitous in the US so people tend to scoff at them being held up as a status symbol but they absolutely are in the world at large. If you look at who is using iPhones in the countries you say the iPhone is irrelevant in you’ll see it is the wealthy and the ones that want to emulate them. Those are the customers the carriers want to have. hell those are the customers every company wants. My guess is that Apple is giving carriers a few years to get on it before being left behind by iPhone users.

I wonder if Apple has any other long term plans with esim? Will they have their own MVNO offering? It would fit in with their services expansion goals.

Re: Demystifying ESIM Technology [video]

#65
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah ok, but that's only for temporary use, it's not intended for real permanent usage, right? I'll consider it if I ever travel outside of europe though (roaming inside EU was fixed several years ago luckily).

This might be because most countries nowadays require a photo ID for SIM cards. The Netherlands, UK and US are among the few that don't (yet). https://prepaid-data-sim-card.fandom.com/wiki/Registration_P...

Photo ID? Then how do you get an anonymous burner phone? Order it online somehow?

Re: Demystifying ESIM Technology [video]

#66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah but that is really really expensive :) I can get a local SIM with 50GB data that is available with a 10 euro topup each month. Don't forget the purchasing power in Europe is much lower than in the US (especially southern Europe). For this reason local carriers are a lot cheaper too.

If argue that it's the opposite as there is competition and in civilised European countries there is working regulation etc, not like the US where carriers are able to lobby and cheat to maintain their monopolies - case in point I have unlimited everything (Inc 5g, except MMS) in country and 64G in the rest of Europe for about 30 EUR/mo

What do you mean by except MMS? That's not even data

Re: Demystifying ESIM Technology [video]

#67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If argue that it's the opposite as there is competition and in civilised European countries there is working regulation etc, not like the US where carriers are able to lobby and cheat to maintain their monopolies - case in point I have unlimited everything (Inc 5g, except MMS) in country and 64G in the rest of Europe for about 30 EUR/mo

What do you mean by except MMS? That's not even data

While unlimited calls/SMS/data* is quite a common offering in Europe, MMS is often not included in such bundles and costs extra.

*Genuinely unlimited data - including tethering, no speed limits or soft caps where you get limited to 128kbps or anything like that after using 100GB.

Re: Demystifying ESIM Technology [video]

#68
post #29

Esim is a death for featured phones.

Nothing stops feature-phone vendors like Nokia to implement e-sim on their newer lineup.

Newer lineup is not even close to a good phone because of:

1. Materials - newer phones are not even close in durability to 3310.

2. Logic of menu - old Nokias can be used without looking at display, new phones can update some UI statements after purchasing.

3. Display - colour displays are always less durable and almost always phones with such display has issues with too little font on some critical places. Compare any UI framework of any modern feature phone with a conception of three-line display where a letter/digit is never less than 1/3 of display height. Some versions of Nokias have increased font in typing a phone number case, I mean the numbers become 1/2 of display height which is handy for a low-sight person. Modern UI progress is a batshit compared to Nokia 1280.

Re: Demystifying ESIM Technology [video]

#69
post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What makes you think it's for temporary use? I've been using it for over a year as my only data plan.

Is the price cheap enough to do that? Last time I looked it was much cheaper to go with a local carrier almost anywhere I looked.

Cheap is relative. I pay about $25 for 20GB, which lasts me a month. Yeah, local SIM cards might have cheaper options, but I'm not complaining about $25 a month. I spend more on a single lunch.

Re: Demystifying ESIM Technology [video]

#70
post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What makes you think it's for temporary use? I've been using it for over a year as my only data plan.

The cost. The prices are very high.

I don't consider $25 for 20GB to be "very high". Of course, you can find cheaper. But $25 is less than a lunch in most places.
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