“Like a bug that lies dormant and waiting in a remote corner of the body, the Apple MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) virus periodically re-emerges to enflame our dreams,” Jean-Louis Gassée writes for Monday Note.
“Apple has no business getting into the MVNO fray,” Gassée writes. “Still, the virus is alive and never far from the surface. Last week, Business Insider contracted the rash and quickly contaminated others on the Web with this rumor… Apple almost never comments on rumors but, this time, and with uncharacteristic speed (24 hours, in the middle of touchy carrier negotiations?), the company unequivocally denied any MVNO plans.”
“Well… This gave me an idea for a better fantasy, one that fulfills Wired’s injunction, but without getting into the messy carrier business,” Gassée writes. “A carrier-independent iPhone, with a soft SIM and Apple-endorsed financing is still a fantasy… but it’s more believable than Apple getting into the MVNO business.”
Much more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Hopefully, the Apple SIM does indeed lie at the heart of Apple’s future iPhone and iPad plans.
One part of the “transparent” financing that he’s not getting is that many of us want it obfuscated.
For example, those like me who have to buy the iPhone out of their own pocket, but who’s monthly bill is a business expense. I’d rather defer as much of the cost of the iPhone to my monthly billing through a higher rate plan.
The subsidized contract rate plans have been allowing me to get a new iPhone each launch day without having to pay the full price of the iPhone.
That said, I love the idea of the virtual SIM and being able to activate at will in foreign countries.
If Apple works like Windows we will by windows for allot less money, also will be market for a new and stable company to replace Apple.