iPhone and GSM

I have read reports before about the issue but it's only after I saw "iPhone, the Movie" I was convinced that the reports were right. The iPhone is just like any other iPod that it's an electronic device destined to be only opened-up by qualified personnel (or any gifted amateurs following iFixit instruction manuals) and not the casual users like you and me. So, forget about replacing your worn-out batteries by yourself, and it also seems that for GSM users there is no simple or obvious way to mount a GSM operator's SIM card. Actually, if you watch the YouTube clip you'll find no obvious container for a SIM card at all except for what is shown in this picture here that I grabbed from the paused clip. Even this is hidden so deep in the guts of the device that I simply wonder whether I am not just day-dreaming.

It appears that Apple's ATT partnering exclusivity means a number of things. Above all, that the iPhone is not a GSM phone (yet), although there are already comedians offering unblocked iPhones for GSM networks (Google the two red keywords together and you'll see what I mean). I'd be careful if I were you. My advice is to wait for Apple to make the deals with "rest of the world" GSM operators before you go waste your precious money on anybody out there promising the skies.

The more innovative solution reports in this respect are about the claim that the iPhone doesn't really need a SIM card! Say WHAT? Well, it seems that the problem is solved with software... in other words, iTunes will contain the necessary "know-how" to reprogram via a connected PC an iPhone's firmware and activate it for a specific network operator. I have mixed feelings about this though. Most of us are used to change SIM cards from one phone to another and play around... in all honesty, I remember doing this myself in the past, but I am struggling to figure out a good reason for doing this, other than test (play with) a given device...

The only 'legitimate' need I can think of is for frequent travellers who spend a lot of time in various places, with no one national geography considered as a "home" (I know scores of guys and gals like this, my eldest son being one of them). These folks need to carry a number of SIM cards with them at all times and need to mount those in their phone every time they cross borders... just to avoid the high roaming expenses. I saw many people doing this while fastening their seatbelts on airplanes preparing for landing. How do you then tackle this problem with soft SIMs, eh???!!! I'm sure they'll find out something... where there is a need there is always an opportunity for profit, innit?

Anyway, if that's true about Apple's approach to activation, that is, software SIMs instead of real cards in a slot, then I am sure they're up to facing some serious acceptance resistance by us late adapters Europeans. They'll need to educate us well before they can see a breakthrough in their sales. In the meantime, the Nokia's of this world are not gonna sit down like lame ducks. It only takes some "similar" and "lookalike" functionality on their new models and there goes the iPhone.You see... the delta between the iPod and the rest of them MP3 players was much bigger then, than, say, an iPhone vis-à-vis a Nokia N95 or the latest 'copycats' from Samsung. I'd be very careful on this issue if I were Apple. The EU are not too keen about monopolistic attitudes on behalf of suppliers. I can't even believe they accepted this ATT/Apple venture in the US of all places.

Well, let's be patient to see how it all turns out eventually... I only have that to say: We still got no way to buy video via iTunes in Europe almost a year later than the US. It's even a mystery to me how Apple managed to convince the Music Labels to sell songs in Europe via iTunes in the first place...