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The Light Phone

thelightphone.com

71–80 of 291 posts

Re: The Light Phone

#71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why force that choice on me?

Possibly that's the point of such a phone. Because if it was up to one's choice then I believe one doesn't need any special phone for lesser usage of (smart)phones or use it the way one wants. No?

Possibly. Could simply be sloppy interaction design. There’s a lot of room to project intention on ‘minimal’.

Re: The Light Phone

#72
post #65

chonk, e-ink displays are I think a hard sell compared to snappy responsive regular phone displays

Agreed. Sadly the latency on eInk is still way too high. Smooth animations, scrolling and transitions are a large part of what makes touch screen based smart phones so easy to use and compelling. There are, perhaps, alternatives to the design patterns used for touch screens, but the light phone does not really do much in this area.

Re: The Light Phone

#73

Feels like a solution looking for a problem to me. Not only are phones trending away from being "phones" (rather portable internet terminals) but I'd wager the largest portion of smartphone use is content consumption, rather than content creation/collaboration. Both of which would suggest this device is a long, long way from product-market fit.

"a solution looking for a problem" my fave descriptive phrase :-)

Re: The Light Phone

#74
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't do anything for my watch though, and can you make calls on those? I thought they were data only?

A little google voice magic, or any number of other SIP providers and apps will have you making calls to POTS numbers over just a data connection very easily.

No. I and 98% of the world just want to make calls, not start a project.

There's a reason Linux is not ruling the desktop, and that there is it.

Re: The Light Phone

#75
post #69

You can do exactly that kind of things with your regular smartphone by not installing tons of apps that disturb you all the time. As far as I know the user is pretty much in control of what apps they choose to add.

No. Most android phones come with a ton of ininstallable apps that take up a huge amount of room

Re: The Light Phone

#76

Feels like a solution looking for a problem to me. Not only are phones trending away from being "phones" (rather portable internet terminals) but I'd wager the largest portion of smartphone use is content consumption, rather than content creation/collaboration. Both of which would suggest this device is a long, long way from product-market fit.

I can see this phone being a great fit for certain markets, such as senior citizens who like to talk on the phone, but who get baffled by the complexity of modern smartphones.

Re: The Light Phone

#77
post #47
post #24

Why not just get the bottom of the line unlocked Android phone from Walmart for $39?[1] Delete the Google crap, install F_Droid and some basic apps. That's basically what I have, on a Caterpillar Tractor ruggedized phone. No "social" anything. Base email, Fennic browser, ZANavi maps, Mozilla location info provider. Someone could compete with these guys by buying low-end phones in bulk and reconfiguring them that way.…

You're confusing "people who want to get rich" with "people who want useful products". "People who want to get rich" are a significant subset of the HN population, and they are downvoting you because they remember Dropbox. You'll recall that Dropbox was met by "people who want useful products" saying "oh, I can do 90% of that with rsync". Your solution is probably excellent for someone who knows what they are doing,…

I get the mindset, but this is round 2 for the "light phone", round 1 having flopped.

I could see a low-end product which shares the phone number of the bigger phone. Something carriers could offer as a promotional item and a backup. "What do you do when your iPhone is in the shop for a broken screen?"

The amazing thing is that you can get 4 processors, a screen, 8GB, and a camera for $49.

Re: The Light Phone

#78

Feels like a solution looking for a problem to me. Not only are phones trending away from being "phones" (rather portable internet terminals) but I'd wager the largest portion of smartphone use is content consumption, rather than content creation/collaboration. Both of which would suggest this device is a long, long way from product-market fit.

I think it's in the zeitgeist a bit now. Some people (I'm certainly one) are looking to unhook from their phones - get away from convenience and immediacy and... the internet in general (typing this from Emacs, so it seems more forgivable!).

I know at least 5 people - a large percentage of my close network ;) - who would be interested in this device. I'm sure there's a big enough market for it if the execution is right. Though I'm personally waiting for Librem for the security/privacy aspects.

Re: The Light Phone

#80

I think an Apple Watch with cellular accomplishes a lot of what light phone does. Leave your phone behind and just keep all the social apps off the watch (they’re not really usable anyway). You can still accomplish a lot of what you need from a phone, and pair some AirPods and you have music, podcasts, easy hands free calling

Apple Watch + AirPods is more than the price of a new Apple phone.
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