[TorKlingberg]

I work in the industry. I somewhat agree with you, SIM cards are a hassle, and I hope they will go away at least partially.

As for why you still need them, I see some reasons:

1. The alternative may be worse. At least with SIM cards you can switch operator when you want (if the phone is not carrier locked, bleh), or use a local prepaid SIM when abroad.

2. Inertia. Removing the physical SIM would require getting operators and phone manufacturers to coordinate.

3. The IM card is what securely identifies the owner of a phone number, and makes sure they are not two phones with the same number. With a software SIM, if it is done wrong, you risk getting malware that steals your phone number.

Personally, I think we will eventually see SIM-free data only connections without a phone number. You really should be able to buy an LTE tablet, get online and just pay for some data. Apples has been trying a bit with the Apple SIM, but it is US only, and only works with a few operators.

[Razengan]

It says Apple SIM works in over 100 countries:

http://www.apple.com/ipad/apple-sim/