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> phone manufacturers are pushing for esim [...] rather than to free up space in phones for a bigger battery. It is being pushed by the carriers because retai
by mike_d 1y ago
> phone manufacturers are pushing for esim [...] rather than to free up space in phones for a bigger battery.
It is being pushed by the carriers because retail locations are their biggest overhead expense, for what is basically a place to go pick up a SIM card.
- SchemaLoad 1y agoCarriers are the slowest ones in the process though. Apple has had to drag them kicking and screaming on esim. Physical sims can be purchased in every supermarket. I'd guess the retail stores mostly exist for marketing and selling boomers on overpriced long term plans.
- mschuster91 1y ago> I'd guess the retail stores mostly exist for marketing and selling boomers on overpriced long term plans. ... and for customer support where you need someone to physically identify a customer against a government-issued ID.
- BobbyTables2 1y agoAgree. Was never much a fan of eSIMs, but after seeing them in action, I kinda like it. Saved me inconvenient trips and delay. Yes, it’d be nice to just be able to move a sim from one device to the next. In practice, I’ve only done that a few times in the past 20 years, about as often as I switch carriers. So, kinda a wash. Hoping if phone suddenly breaks, can get new eSIM as easily.
- toast0 1y agoYou can't get a new eSim without working network and working carrier provisioning. I recently observed a friend try to get a new eSim for a new phone... no wifi, so he hotspotted from the old phone... carrier kicked the old phone before the new sim was downloaded, so he was stuck until he got somewhere with wifi he could use. Physical sim would have been easy peasy.
- BobbyTables2 1y agoYikes. That is a good point, didn’t think about the phone itself being potentially only source of Internet access.