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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

#61

Post by roel_v »

bambax wrote: post #45
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.

It's also very expensive. Basic Nokia phones that don't do much more than calls and SMS and that are very simple to operate and very sturdy, can be found (new) for around EUR 20.

Where do you find them for that money?

Re: John's Phone: a minimalist cell phone

#63

Post by roel_v »

jacquesm wrote: post #50
unwind wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a pen, the phony body includes a "silo" for the pen and a flap that folds out to reveal a pocket that holds the address book. Both pen and address book are included with the phone.

Typically such items get lost pretty quickly, so you'll end up carrying one along. Maybe you're more careful than I am, but when I used PDAs I ended up buying several replacement styluses because I kept dropping them in weird spots and losing them in spite of being careful not to. If it's not attached to the device permanently it tends to get lost over time. I really think that a paper phonebook is cute but impractic…

"Typically such items get lost pretty quickly, so you'll end up carrying one along."

Different strokes for different folks, I guess. I have at least 5 spare styluses somewhere that I bought with various devices because I was afraid I'd lose the original ones, yet never did once in 10+ years of use.

Re: John's Phone: a minimalist cell phone

#64

Post by roel_v »

mseebach wrote: post #60
bambax wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also very expensive. Basic Nokia phones that don't do much more than calls and SMS and that are very simple to operate and very sturdy, can be found (new) for around EUR 20.

SMS-lifestyle or not, I'd take the Nokia (at 2/3 the price or less) for the 10+ years of industrial design that went into it. To be honest, this doesn't seem to be a phone for children or the elderly (neither of which have some sort of cognitive short circuit that keeps them from grasping a simple Nokia while allowing them to embrace the idioms of this particular phone) -- but rather a phone for hipsters who need to…

What I found strange though is to see that it's from an Amsterdam-based company. Maybe it's different Out There In The West but in most of the Netherlands, iPhones aren't a big deal, and we don't have US-style hipsters at all.

Re: John's Phone: a minimalist cell phone

#65

Post by jacquesm »

roel_v wrote: post #61
bambax wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also very expensive. Basic Nokia phones that don't do much more than calls and SMS and that are very simple to operate and very sturdy, can be found (new) for around EUR 20.

Where do you find them for that money?

Here is a nokia for 30:

http://azerty.nl/producten/product_detail/1058/302405/nokia-...

and here a samsung:

http://www.pixmania.nl/nl/nl/3598464/art/samsung/e1080.html?...

for a little less

Re: John's Phone: a minimalist cell phone

#66

Post by dagw »

roel_v wrote: post #61
bambax wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also very expensive. Basic Nokia phones that don't do much more than calls and SMS and that are very simple to operate and very sturdy, can be found (new) for around EUR 20.

Where do you find them for that money?

Pixmania and Amazon.de, for example, have a Samsung E1080 for 25 euros and a nokia 1616 for for 30. However I've seen big box electronic retailers selling off old stock for less than that.

Re: John's Phone: a minimalist cell phone

#67

Post by roel_v »

jacquesm wrote: post #65
roel_v wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where do you find them for that money?

Here is a nokia for 30: http://azerty.nl/producten/product_detail/1058/302405/nokia-... and here a samsung: http://www.pixmania.nl/nl/nl/3598464/art/samsung/e1080.html?... for a little less

Oh wow, didn't realize phones had really gotten that cheap. I did do a quick vergelijk.nl search before posting but I guess they got buried under the bundles that I got.

Re: John's Phone: a minimalist cell phone

#68

Post by ams6110 »

jacquesm wrote: post #65
roel_v wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where do you find them for that money?

Here is a nokia for 30: http://azerty.nl/producten/product_detail/1058/302405/nokia-... and here a samsung: http://www.pixmania.nl/nl/nl/3598464/art/samsung/e1080.html?... for a little less

It's a shame that Nokia doesn't make CDMA versions of simple phones like that for the US market. I'd buy one in an instant. Though I do admit I'll probably finally break down and get an iPhone this year now that they are available from Verizon.

Re: John's Phone: a minimalist cell phone

#69

Post by angdis »

I had thought that maybe the phone was intended for older folks who need clear, easy, familiar buttons on their phones.

But it seems to be more of minimalist hipster gadget. As such it really does need some form display. I don't know anyone under 50 who doesn't SMS.

Re: John's Phone: a minimalist cell phone

#70

Post by jacquesm »

roel_v wrote: post #67
jacquesm wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here is a nokia for 30: http://azerty.nl/producten/product_detail/1058/302405/nokia-... and here a samsung: http://www.pixmania.nl/nl/nl/3598464/art/samsung/e1080.html?... for a little less

Oh wow, didn't realize phones had really gotten that cheap. I did do a quick vergelijk.nl search before posting but I guess they got buried under the bundles that I got.

tweakers pricewatch ftw.
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