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John's Phone: a minimalist cell phone

johnsphones.com

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Re: John's Phone: a minimalist cell phone

#21

Post by rubidium »

jacquesm wrote: post #14

This is a very good idea executed poorly. SMS has become a way of life and you'll be receiving messages that you can not read, also a paper phonebook requires that you carry a pen with you. Play it again, John, this time with a pager sized (text) display and I'll buy one. edit: added the (text), it does have a display but can't display text messages.

Agreed. Anyone who texts shouldn't buy this phone. However, I would say that it's not aimed at SMS'ers and as such is not executed poorly.

Strikes me to have two major markets: (1) people who only want to talk to people via phones (e.g. some of the elderly) and (2) as a fashionable item. The gold one would be a head-turner and topic of conversation.

Some people want to get rid of SMS from their way of life (or never adopted it in the first place), and hark back for simpler times. This phone appeals to that.

Re: John's Phone: a minimalist cell phone

#22

Post by Simon1979 »

I like it, but mostly for the gimmick value. I think to be truly * usable* and simple it absolutely has to have a phonebook / speed dial of some kind.

"If you love it simple" is their tag-line, but I don't really see anything simple about having to reference a piece of paper and then dial a 13 digit number each time I want to call home.

Re: John's Phone: a minimalist cell phone

#23

Post by Tichy »

jacquesm wrote: post #14

This is a very good idea executed poorly. SMS has become a way of life and you'll be receiving messages that you can not read, also a paper phonebook requires that you carry a pen with you. Play it again, John, this time with a pager sized (text) display and I'll buy one. edit: added the (text), it does have a display but can't display text messages.

I would love it if it would print out the SMS on small slips of paper.

Maybe it could have a scanner, too, so that you could write SMS on paper and feed it to the phone.

Re: John's Phone: a minimalist cell phone

#25

Post by fmavituna »

This is perfect for my parents. They don't use address book, they won't read or write SMS (need to click too many buttons) and they need to use glasses to see the buttons. I'm really tempted buy 2 for them. Although it's unnecessarily expensive considering I can buy a really good and light non-brand mobile phone for £5-£10

Re: John's Phone: a minimalist cell phone

#26

Post by jacquesm »

retroguy wrote: post #18
jacquesm wrote: post #14

This is a very good idea executed poorly. SMS has become a way of life and you'll be receiving messages that you can not read, also a paper phonebook requires that you carry a pen with you. Play it again, John, this time with a pager sized (text) display and I'll buy one. edit: added the (text), it does have a display but can't display text messages.

I think this is a good idea and has been executed pretty well, I don't think this is necessarily aimed at the HN crowd, but possibly at the HN crowd's grandparents. I'm sure there are some pretty switched on grand parents out there, but I don't fancy the idea of sending my grandmother an SMS. I'd need to call her and no doubt visit her to explain the whole SMS thing. I have a friend with a parent who is getting on in…

I can see it would have appeal for someone that would not use SMS but since the other side can't see that your mobile phone is not SMS capable you will be having a lot of confusion.

Re: John's Phone: a minimalist cell phone

#27

Post by lmz »

Simon1979 wrote: post #22

I like it, but mostly for the gimmick value. I think to be truly * usable* and simple it absolutely has to have a phonebook / speed dial of some kind. "If you love it simple" is their tag-line, but I don't really see anything simple about having to reference a piece of paper and then dial a 13 digit number each time I want to call home.

It has some sort of speed dial (not very simple to use though I suppose you can always pre-program it for your grandparents). From the quick manual at http://www.johnsphones.com/support/johns-manual/item57 :

"You can allocate 10 speed dial numbers, each under one of the ten digits. You can allocate a telephone number (in this case, 0612345678) to a speed-dial number (in this case 1) by entering: * * 1 * 0612345678#. Subsequently, hold down the ‘1’ button for two seconds to automatically call the telephone number entered. To delete the speed-dial number in the above example, enter * * 1 * #. If you wish to alter a telephone number allocated to a speed-dial number, simply write over it with the new number."

Re: John's Phone: a minimalist cell phone

#28

Post by liedra »

I just sent a link along to my mother, who has been wanting a no-frills big-numbered mobile phone that has a long standby time. I think it's perfect for those, like my mother, who don't use SMS, electronic address books, or any other "fancy" features of modern mobile phones. The numbers being big so that she doesn't need to take her glasses out is also very good. The only down side I can see is the review on engadget that said the switches are a bit finicky. But then again, it's not like it's $400 either :)

Re: John's Phone: a minimalist cell phone

#29

Post by ErrantX »

scrrr wrote: post #6

It's good for old people and aggressive people that frequently like to throw their phones away, because they are cheap. Nobody else will buy it just because its got a "minimalist design". The iPhone has only one button.. seems even more minimalist.

because they are cheap

Cheap? You can pick up a cheap pay-and-go phone here in the UK for about £25 ($50) or less :)

And it handles text messaging.

I'm not sure it is even good for old people - from the engadget review it looks very fiddly.

Re: John's Phone: a minimalist cell phone

#30

Post by martinc »

jacquesm wrote: post #14

This is a very good idea executed poorly. SMS has become a way of life and you'll be receiving messages that you can not read, also a paper phonebook requires that you carry a pen with you. Play it again, John, this time with a pager sized (text) display and I'll buy one. edit: added the (text), it does have a display but can't display text messages.

The display is pager-sized.
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