xpxp2002

So tired of this. The mini-SIM has been the same for over 10 years, then Apple comes along and decides they need to screw with and fragment another industry technology that was simple and uniform for over a decade. So they get ETSI and GSMA to agree to the micro-SIM that is now in the iPhone 4 and 4S. Now it’s not bad enough that switching between a handful of devices and every other GSM phone ever made since 1990 requires an annoying adapter.

So what does Apple want to do now? Lobby to create another different size so there will be even more fragmentation and frustration every time you want to switch phones, then try to make that size only compatible with their SIM tray-style design (which they probably hold a patent on). The whole point of the SIM was to separate the subscriber from the device and make changing devices easier for the subscriber. When you need multiple adapters and the SIM is so small that you can’t even hold it without touching the contacts it’s time to stop. There was nothing wrong with the size of the mini-SIM we had been using for over a decade. Instead, another industry gave in (and is about to give in again with this compromise) to Apple’s idiotic need to control and “differentiate” everything they’re involved in, solely for the inconvenience of the rest of the world.

When I say procedure I don’t mean the coordination through the carriers or anything, I mean the actual technical process by which the device will update its software without having to lose any of the user data. The problem the rumors say is that the WP7 to WP8 upgrade Microsoft wants/wanted to do involves backing up all user data, wiping the device, upgrading the OS, then restoring all apps and data. And that last step seems to be where the issue was. Now I’m not sure why that is, since all apps use the isolated storage, which sandboxes them into their own virtual storage environment. That backup and restore should be easy, especially the restore part since the same conceptual technology is present in the new Windows 8 “Reset Your PC” functionality.

Paul’s been saying this for months, but you know he has been wrong before. I follow the guy’s writings and watch the podcasts on TWiT and GFQ when I have time, but this is one case where I think he’s going to be wrong again.

The reason is that I don’t think Microsoft even knows if it will offer an upgrade yet because I don’t think they’ve worked out the procedure yet. From what others have been saying about what’s going on internally it sounds like they are trying to get an upgrade working, but they aren’t going to promise it until they know it works. Either that, or they have gotten it working and they’re simply staying tight-lipped about it until the official unveiling of WP8 in June to “build up suspense.” You know, suspense, like Microsoft has tried to do with Windows 7 and 8 under Sinofsky to no success because he thinks he can be like Jobs and generate enthusiasm by telling customers nothing about a future product. Unfortunately with Microsoft, it just leaves consumers confused and IT professionals irritated.

Yes. I was down to one background agent and it still happened all the time. Eventually I got tired of giving up useful functionality for a “workaround” that didn’t even really work, so I’m still putting up with it. AT&T needs to stop being lazy with this whole “we only want to release major batches of updates over a longer cycle” BS and just release them as they come out like all the other carriers around the world do.