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That sounds like a disaster -- how the hell are they going to lock down GSM? If they want to go for a business model like Amazon's no-subscription 'Whispernet'
by blasdel 17y ago
That sounds like a disaster -- how the hell are they going to lock down GSM?
If they want to go for a business model like Amazon's no-subscription 'Whispernet', wouldn't they get eaten alive by people using/cloning the SIM in other devices?
- jm4 17y agoI don't see how this is a problem exclusive to a GSM carrier. Who says there has to be a SIM card? Couldn't the information be on a chip soldered to a board?
- dan_the_welder 17y agoWell, the GSM standard requires the SIM card for one.
- jm4 17y agoYou're only partially right. The GSM standard requires a SIM, but it doesn't say anywhere that it's required to be a card or that it needs to be removable. The SIM could just as easily be built into the device.
- blasdel 17y agoYet I've never seen a device in which they aren't removable... Even if it was integral to the device, it would still have to follow the standard interface, and potentially be cloned onto a standard removable one.
- mbreese 17y agoThey may not go for the Whispernet model. Perhaps they will give you a SIM card with a very cheap data plan or say 20MB for free per month. Perhaps it will be a prepaid plan. Who knows? Like you said though, I doubt they'll use the same type of model that Amazon uses for data, simply because it will be easier to hack GSM. I'm personally a fan of using GSM though, since that means the same device can then be used just about anywhere. And since we are talking about downloading books, the data requirements should be minimal, so using the AT&T network won't be as big of a downside as it is on the iPhone.