@Acekiller wrote:
that's y i hate apple products!
Yes, it is "anti-consumer" insofar as being less flexible than alternatives, it locks end-users into a proprietary and dependent path, one which happens to cost more.
But (when properly designed, implemented, and supported) this approach also has advantages. Apple's stuff offers many little advantages over non-Apple stuff, it's not necessarily the best of the best in every category but it's got a lot of clever things which are all "standardized" to (and controlled by and streamlined for) Apple devices. An app like FaceTime doesn't need to support an astounding array of different processors or screen resolutions, it doesn't need to be bloated with (often buggy) legacy code for compatibility with every other machine on the market since Android OS or the IBM PC launched. If you use the things Apple provides for you the way Apple intends you use them (and you interface with other things that are part Apple's technological eco-system) then Apple actually offers a really good path - "it just works" without any hassle and it's simple and minimalist and it's even stylish. (I buy tech, not fashion, so I rarely buy Apple stuff - but stylish bling and that all-important brand logo matters to enough people that it's emphasized as a major selling point which makes Apple a world leader. Results speak for themselves, there is no substitute for success.)
Apple is not alone in proprietary lock-ins and EEE. Microsoft was once villainized for it. People are starting to realize that Google, Samsung, Intel, NVidia, Ford, Chevy, and countless other companies employ the practice. Whole industries (things like disposable shaver blades or printer ink cartridges) are sustained by this practice, whole sections of law (like the DMCA) are dedicated to defining and protecting this practice.
These eSIMs are still a new(ish) thing, maybe the iWatch is the first (or among the first) consumer devices of the sort. But I expect it won't be too long before they're built into all sorts of low-end and high-end devices, the advantages to the manufacturer/vendor are too tempting to ignore. And again, they do provide a few advantages to the consumer as well - devices can be made smaller, lighter, use less power, and have all they hardware/configuration they need "just work" right out of the box.
