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I actually agree with you, but Tile is a better example, I think. Because needing to also get a working SIM card is a pretty substantial “oh, you’ll also need…

I actually agree with you, but Tile is a better example, I think. Because needing to also get a working SIM card is a pretty substantial “oh, you’ll also need…”

tokamak-teapot 5y ago
Is it hard to buy a SIM card in much of the world? I can walk into one or about ten shops within 5km of here and buy one instantly. I think the price is ‘free’ but you pay something like EUR 10 to have credit on it. If you want to be anonymous, you can wear a hood and a mask and pay with cash.
- kelnos 5y ago
  In the US, it's very unusual to buy a SIM card outside of purchasing a phone and phone plan. And while we do have prepaid options, they're much less commonly used than in other countries. At a quick glance, the cheapest T-Mobile plan is $60/mo, or $45/mo if you're adding a second line to an existing plan. You can also get a SIM card intended for IoT usage, but this is probably not something your average non-technical person would know how to do. I also expect that most Americans are unfamiliar with buying a SIM card in a way that is not direct from a mobile carrier.
  - Taniwha 5y ago
    prior to international roaming bundles becoming reasonable my first task when arriving in the US was always to buy a SIM card. Unlike almost anywhere else the US (well SFO at least) did not have the usual line of SIM sellers at the exit from immigration
  - selectodude 5y ago
    T-Mobile will give you unlimited talk and text + 2.5GB of data for $15/mo. https://prepaid.t-mobile.com/plan-detail/t-mobile-connect https://prepaid.t-mobile.com/plan-detail/t-mobile-connect
  - samatman 5y ago
    > In the US, it's very unusual to buy a SIM card outside of In your circles. There are entire industries which rely on 'burners', wisely or not, for various logistics tasks involved in deriving tax free income from controlled substances. Buying a SIM card with cash is as easy as wanting to and doing some searching, or just driving around and looking for dollar stores: the phone provider you want is in the same parking lot.
  - jackson1442 5y ago
    I could drive to walmart (most large stores, really) and buy 20 sims from various prepaid providers. Most people may not do this, but it is certainly a viable option for such a device.
adolph 5y ago
> get a working SIM card is a pretty substantial Best Seller in Cell Phone SIM Cards SpeedTalk Mobile $5 Prepaid GSM Sim Card for GPS Tracking Pet Senior Kid Child Car Smart Watch Devices Locators 30-Day Wireless Service 3 4 out of 5 stars 8,954 $5.00 Today 2 PM - 6 PM
- jtbayly 5y ago
  I would have thought I had to go to a phone store. Thx. Interesting.
  - adolph 5y ago
    A totally anonymous phone card would be a bit tougher. My guess is that the proliferation of iot devices like CPAPs using mobile data plan means that one could be stolen or dumpster-found without someone knowing the chip needs to be deactivated.
    - oneplane 5y ago
      > A totally anonymous phone card would be a bit tougher Depends on where you buy them. The internet is big and you can have stuff delivered anywhere, including somewhere that doesn't have your name or address.
      - jtbayly 5y ago
        But hard to pay without your name, right?
        adolph 5y ago
        I think a common form of theft is for someone to be defrauded by an order sent to a third party, as if it were a gift and for the package to be picked up from the third party similar to porch pirate activities. I saw a short documentary about this performed at an semi-industrial scale where the pickup was done by a car service person as a side-gig.

I actually agree with you, but Tile is a better example, I think. Because needing to also get a working SIM card is a pretty substantial “oh, you’ll also need…”

tokamak-teapot 5y ago

Is it hard to buy a SIM card in much of the world? I can walk into one or about ten shops within 5km of here and buy one instantly. I think the price is ‘free’ but you pay something like EUR 10 to have credit on it. If you want to be anonymous, you can wear a hood and a mask and pay with cash.

kelnos 5y ago
In the US, it's very unusual to buy a SIM card outside of purchasing a phone and phone plan. And while we do have prepaid options, they're much less commonly used than in other countries. At a quick glance, the cheapest T-Mobile plan is $60/mo, or $45/mo if you're adding a second line to an existing plan. You can also get a SIM card intended for IoT usage, but this is probably not something your average non-technical person would know how to do. I also expect that most Americans are unfamiliar with buying a SIM card in a way that is not direct from a mobile carrier.
- Taniwha 5y ago
  prior to international roaming bundles becoming reasonable my first task when arriving in the US was always to buy a SIM card. Unlike almost anywhere else the US (well SFO at least) did not have the usual line of SIM sellers at the exit from immigration
- selectodude 5y ago
  T-Mobile will give you unlimited talk and text + 2.5GB of data for $15/mo. https://prepaid.t-mobile.com/plan-detail/t-mobile-connect https://prepaid.t-mobile.com/plan-detail/t-mobile-connect
- samatman 5y ago
  > In the US, it's very unusual to buy a SIM card outside of In your circles. There are entire industries which rely on 'burners', wisely or not, for various logistics tasks involved in deriving tax free income from controlled substances. Buying a SIM card with cash is as easy as wanting to and doing some searching, or just driving around and looking for dollar stores: the phone provider you want is in the same parking lot.
- jackson1442 5y ago
  I could drive to walmart (most large stores, really) and buy 20 sims from various prepaid providers. Most people may not do this, but it is certainly a viable option for such a device.

adolph 5y ago

> get a working SIM card is a pretty substantial Best Seller in Cell Phone SIM Cards SpeedTalk Mobile $5 Prepaid GSM Sim Card for GPS Tracking Pet Senior Kid Child Car Smart Watch Devices Locators 30-Day Wireless Service 3 4 out of 5 stars 8,954 $5.00 Today 2 PM - 6 PM

jtbayly 5y ago
I would have thought I had to go to a phone store. Thx. Interesting.
- adolph 5y ago
  A totally anonymous phone card would be a bit tougher. My guess is that the proliferation of iot devices like CPAPs using mobile data plan means that one could be stolen or dumpster-found without someone knowing the chip needs to be deactivated.
  - oneplane 5y ago
    > A totally anonymous phone card would be a bit tougher Depends on where you buy them. The internet is big and you can have stuff delivered anywhere, including somewhere that doesn't have your name or address.
    - jtbayly 5y ago
      But hard to pay without your name, right?
      - adolph 5y ago
        I think a common form of theft is for someone to be defrauded by an order sent to a third party, as if it were a gift and for the package to be picked up from the third party similar to porch pirate activities. I saw a short documentary about this performed at an semi-industrial scale where the pickup was done by a car service person as a side-gig.