Perhaps it isn’t exactly a new term, but I hate that term regardless. A smartphone can do many things without a cellular connection, a cell plan is not an “activation” but a feature upgrade.
You’re not even right. You are genuinely activating the SIM card and anyone around you paraphrasing to “activating a phone” is also correct, because nobody cares what other meaning you personally wish to ascribe to the task.
I thought it was activation before the iPhone existed
Activation fees certainly did.
Perhaps it isn’t exactly a new term, but I hate that term regardless. A smartphone can do many things without a cellular connection, a cell plan is not an “activation” but a feature upgrade.
You’re not even right. You are genuinely activating the SIM card and anyone around you paraphrasing to “activating a phone” is also correct, because nobody cares what other meaning you personally wish to ascribe to the task.