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The Commodore Callback 8020 smart flip phone

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Re: The Commodore Callback 8020 smart flip phone

#71

Post by SwellJoe »

crazygringo wrote: post #68
SwellJoe wrote: post #67

I have no idea who the customer is for this product. I bought a C64U. I bought a MEGA65. I bought the T-shirt. I own nearly every original Commodore 8-bit. If anybody is the target market for Commodore products, I am the target market, and I am no more nostalgic about or interested in flip phones than I am about fax machines. It's just like the good old days: Commodore execs shipping absurdly misguided products for t…

I think it's quite obvious that the target market has almost zero overlap with interest in the Commodore products from the 80s. There's nothing wrong with a new company (new as of last year I think?) that owns the Commodore branding, and put out the C64U, to try putting out a new product for a different market. The glowing Commodore icon just gives it a suitably vintage/retro feel that is aligned with the values of t…

I guess. But, I have a hard time believing that market is large enough, or wealthy enough, to support the custom manufacture of a luxury dumb phone.

I've been wrong about products before. But, I've been right more often. I'm confident this product will be a flop. I'll be surprised if it breaks even. Shocked if it makes a profit. And, unsurprised if it proves to be the undoing of the new Commodore before it really ever even gets off the starting block.

Re: The Commodore Callback 8020 smart flip phone

#72

Post by layer8 »

SwellJoe wrote: post #67

I have no idea who the customer is for this product. I bought a C64U. I bought a MEGA65. I bought the T-shirt. I own nearly every original Commodore 8-bit. If anybody is the target market for Commodore products, I am the target market, and I am no more nostalgic about or interested in flip phones than I am about fax machines. It's just like the good old days: Commodore execs shipping absurdly misguided products for t…

People who bought a Commodore typewriter in the 1950s probably weren’t particularly interested in the C64 in the 1980s either.

It would be more interesting to talk about the actual merits of the product.

Re: The Commodore Callback 8020 smart flip phone

#73

Post by eloisant »

kmoser wrote: post #61
radicalbyte wrote: post #2

It has the same core spec as a $120 (delivered) Samsung phone and will cost between $500-$600 (delivered). The C64U is an amazing achievement but it seems too early to go for the smart phone. Hopefully there is a niche and their business plan is viable for a small number of sales.

They're betting that the target demographic will pay a premium for the form factor, not so much the tech specs.

They are completely ignoring the market of parents who want a non-Smartphone for their kids. And I'm pretty sure this market is going to grow, much more than adults who want to limit themselves.

Re: The Commodore Callback 8020 smart flip phone

#74

Post by Humorist2290 »

So I had a feature phone -- the Nokia 8110 4g. What sold me was that I could use it as a 4g hotspot and connect a smartphone to it, or not and be offline. The idea of "going online" is something I miss, in that it's not normal to be always attached to the internet. The connections I want to foster don't need to be mediated by an ISP, or a Telco, or a social media crime syndicate, or whatever else.

The "flip" part of this phone is cute, but the point Commodore makes about using it to punctuate the experience of using the device is significant to me. The Nokia also has a little sliding cover (which I always preferred over the flips as a matter of taste) and indeed the tactile interaction adds something. If it's still always connected to the internet though, it's just a gimmick.

Sadly my cell provider at the time gave me a SIM which just wouldn't work with it, and nowadays it seems like they aren't even available to buy anymore. I'd be interested in this, but not at a 600$ price level. I want a phone which (a) is a phone and (b) is a 5g wifi hotspot on demand and (c) nothing else. After years of casual searching, I have concluded that such a product is either too niche or too countercultural to be allowed.

Re: The Commodore Callback 8020 smart flip phone

#75

Post by SwellJoe »

layer8 wrote: post #72
SwellJoe wrote: post #67

I have no idea who the customer is for this product. I bought a C64U. I bought a MEGA65. I bought the T-shirt. I own nearly every original Commodore 8-bit. If anybody is the target market for Commodore products, I am the target market, and I am no more nostalgic about or interested in flip phones than I am about fax machines. It's just like the good old days: Commodore execs shipping absurdly misguided products for t…

People who bought a Commodore typewriter in the 1950s probably weren’t particularly interested in the C64 in the 1980s either. It would be more interesting to talk about the actual merits of the product.

There aren't any merits to talk about. A flip phone is still a nostalgia play. If someone is nostalgic about flip phones, they're nostalgic about a Nokia, Commodore was long gone by the era of flip phones. And, you can still buy flip phones from a variety of manufacturers, including Nokia, for under $100. A dumb phone, including from reputable manufacturers, is extremely easy and cheap to come by, if that's what you want. A dumb phone is a commodity with many suppliers.

This product at this price is entirely about leveraging the Commodore brand, and it's leveraging the brand in an incoherent direction. If I thought they were making astronomical margins on a low upfront cost, I would think, "OK, fine, do your little experiment, though I don't like you degrading the brand for no good reason." But, I don't think they're going to make astronomical margins and I don't think the upfront cost is low. I think they're spending a lot of money on a product that will be a flop.

Re: The Commodore Callback 8020 smart flip phone

#76

Post by SwellJoe »

eloisant wrote: post #73
kmoser wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're betting that the target demographic will pay a premium for the form factor, not so much the tech specs.

They are completely ignoring the market of parents who want a non-Smartphone for their kids. And I'm pretty sure this market is going to grow, much more than adults who want to limit themselves.

Those parents can choose from the many dumb phones already on the market that cost under $100. Why on earth would someone who isn't specifically nostalgic about Commodore products spend $500 for this specific dumb phone?

https://www.independent.co.uk/extras/indybest/gadgets-tech/b...

Re: The Commodore Callback 8020 smart flip phone

#77

Post by SwellJoe »

PrimeOS32 wrote: post #47

This is a pocket Linux terminal with loads of untapped potential out of the box. Combining voice navigation with an ssh linked home AI server may make this a true privacy-first successor to the prying smartphone for the AI era. And there is the audio quality, with a battery that lasts a week. The Bluetooth tethering has a standby feature so any non-cellular wifi device you carry is effectively always connected as wel…

WTF are you talking about? This is not at all fit for that purpose.

Re: The Commodore Callback 8020 smart flip phone

#78

Post by SwellJoe »

dpcan wrote: post #32

I'd go this direction as long as it had a real keyboard... Maybe it's time for the blackberry to reemerge.

If I were going to be nostalgic about a phone, it'd be the Sidekick II (Danger Hiptop outside the US). That was a banger. Physical keyboard, very comfortable form factor for double thumb typing. A modern take on that would be my ideal phone. The first Android Google Dev Phone 1 was also a great device, sharing lineage with the Sidekick.

Re: The Commodore Callback 8020 smart flip phone

#80

Post by SwellJoe »

itomato wrote: post #58
specproc wrote: post #36

I'm not sure about these new dumb phones. Just not having social media in the first place has worked alright for me. I hate my phone, and my relationship with it, but sometimes you just need to use one. My preferred strategy is having a normal phone, minimal apps, and just keeping it switched off most of the time, particularly round the house. Thing is, I've got a worse problem with my laptop and desk. Between HN, li…

It’s not even a dumb phone. It’s a WhatsApp flip phone.

Having WhatsApp but no email is the weirdest part about this thing (and there are many weird choices here). This is the most "built specifically for one person" product I've ever seen. I've never used WhatsApp. Never known anyone who suggested we talk via WhatsApp. I know it's popular, but, it's not more popular than email. And, it's certainly more distracting than email, if you're trying to build a device free of things that distract and demand immediate attention.
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