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Ask HN: Why do we have different simcard sizes?

1 points by Madre ↗ HN
One thing that baffles me is why do we have different sim card sizes. Phones keep getting bigger and bigger by the day but phone manufacturers think it is wise to reduce simcard sizes. Is this by design or dont they just want me to remove my sim and put it in another phone model?

2 comments

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superasn
Same reason why we have different USB ports (normal, micro, mini, etc). Designs keep evolving.

Also, I think the weight of phone is very important so anything to shave even a few micrograms off it could be one of the reasons (Read: Why Steve jobs tossed the first iPad in an aquarium [1])

Lastly, i think it is also because of what you said, especially with the new closed walled phones where the device manufacturer (read Apple) would like to seal you into a contract with the phone company and phone.

[1] https://my.news.yahoo.com/steve-jobs-dropped-first-ipod-1521...

MichaelCrawford
It's known as "The Cable Conspiracy".

By making all our connectors different, we have to keep buying stuff. Consider that I can't take my SIM card out of my phone then put it in a different phone. That means I have to buy a new SIM card, if I want a new phone. That means sales of SIM cards.

Consider that we have both Firewire and USB, and that USB has four different kinds of connectors. It moves product!