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That's totally weird to me. I don't want to say it from a position of superiority or anything, just different mobile culture, but in here, changing SIM cards i

That's totally weird to me. I don't want to say it from a position of superiority or anything, just different mobile culture, but in here, changing SIM cards is normal. It's what you do when you buy a new phone, because - as I said below - you get a SIM card separately, even when you buy it right with the operator with the contract. But I guess it's a different culture

jacalata 12y ago
I'd be willing to bet that most people wherever you're from also can't change their own SIM and have the store employees do it (which is how it worked when I bought a SIM card in both London and Seattle in the last two months).
malyk 12y ago
Different cultures for sure. I've had 5 mobile phones...some candybar in the early 00's, a flip phone in the mid 00's, and iphone 3g, 4s, and now 6. I've never even /seen/ a sim card in person. It's a piece of tech that I shouldn't have to every even know exists. I just want my phone to work. I shouldn't have to play around with a microscopic piece of plastic and metal for that to happen.
- maximumoverload 12y ago
  Hm. Interesting. If you want to buy a new phone and keep your number.... what do you do? Well I guess you can just ask in the store to move it to the new one, that's true. It's just... strange.
  - rblatz 12y ago
    You don't ask, they hand you a phone and it just works.
    - untog 12y ago
      Unless you want to buy an unlocked phone, etc. etc.
      - pessimizer 12y ago
        Why would you want to do that? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brave_New_World https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brave_New_World
      - nknighthb 12y ago
        Give the provider the phone's public key fingerprint. You're letting yourself be constrained by the very brokenness people are saying should be fixed.
    - maximumoverload 12y ago
      Well in that case you have to have it tied with your name, so it will only work for contracts; and only about half of the people here are on contracts.
      - Keats 12y ago
        Works for pay as you go as well
- untog 12y ago
  It's a piece of tech that I shouldn't have to every even know exists. I just want my phone to work. I see it the opposite way. Every phone should have a part in it that is removable and replaceable and ensures that you can do whatever you want with your device. I was staggered when I found out that some US CDMA devices are literally unusable without the permission of the company you originally had service with.
  - sanderjd 12y ago
    Having a replaceable part is not the only way to ensure you can do whatever you want with your device! It is possible to ensure that with a universal SIM purely through software. That this isn't the current situation doesn't mean it isn't possible. I don't have to replace a tiny little piece of plastic in my computer to install Linux instead of Windows or to connect to wifi using Comcast instead of Qwest.
userbinator 12y ago
Southeast Asia? That's one area where there appears to be little, if any, technophobia around SIM cards; and in some of them, on average each person has more than one mobile phone. Multi-SIM devices are also extremely common there.

jacalata 12y ago

I'd be willing to bet that most people wherever you're from also can't change their own SIM and have the store employees do it (which is how it worked when I bought a SIM card in both London and Seattle in the last two months).

malyk 12y ago

Different cultures for sure. I've had 5 mobile phones...some candybar in the early 00's, a flip phone in the mid 00's, and iphone 3g, 4s, and now 6. I've never even /seen/ a sim card in person. It's a piece of tech that I shouldn't have to every even know exists. I just want my phone to work. I shouldn't have to play around with a microscopic piece of plastic and metal for that to happen.

maximumoverload 12y ago
Hm. Interesting. If you want to buy a new phone and keep your number.... what do you do? Well I guess you can just ask in the store to move it to the new one, that's true. It's just... strange.
- rblatz 12y ago
  You don't ask, they hand you a phone and it just works.
  - untog 12y ago
    Unless you want to buy an unlocked phone, etc. etc.
    - pessimizer 12y ago
      Why would you want to do that? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brave_New_World https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brave_New_World
    - nknighthb 12y ago
      Give the provider the phone's public key fingerprint. You're letting yourself be constrained by the very brokenness people are saying should be fixed.
  - maximumoverload 12y ago
    Well in that case you have to have it tied with your name, so it will only work for contracts; and only about half of the people here are on contracts.
    - Keats 12y ago
      Works for pay as you go as well
untog 12y ago
It's a piece of tech that I shouldn't have to every even know exists. I just want my phone to work. I see it the opposite way. Every phone should have a part in it that is removable and replaceable and ensures that you can do whatever you want with your device. I was staggered when I found out that some US CDMA devices are literally unusable without the permission of the company you originally had service with.
- sanderjd 12y ago
  Having a replaceable part is not the only way to ensure you can do whatever you want with your device! It is possible to ensure that with a universal SIM purely through software. That this isn't the current situation doesn't mean it isn't possible. I don't have to replace a tiny little piece of plastic in my computer to install Linux instead of Windows or to connect to wifi using Comcast instead of Qwest.

userbinator 12y ago

Southeast Asia? That's one area where there appears to be little, if any, technophobia around SIM cards; and in some of them, on average each person has more than one mobile phone. Multi-SIM devices are also extremely common there.