I've gotten very tired recently of cell phones that try to be everything except a phone. They play mp3s, take pictures, browse the web, and will one day make coffee.

I want a phone that is just a phone, nothing else. You could sell a lot of these simplified phones to senior citizens and technophobes like myself.

It would have a reasonably-sized, durable plastic case with obvious speaker and microphone bits, with a touch-tone keypad in the middle. More advanced models might even have a small screen for phone numbers, speed dial, and caller ID, but these are mostly unneccesary. Some models might even have a small rotary dial for those still living in the past. There would only be one ringtone, produced by a real physical bell and clapper inside.

I know I'm ranting a bit, but someone really needs to tap this market. Some of us don't have the smarts or patience to find out how to check our voicemail, so I don't see why we need it to pay for in the first place.
-- rasberry re-tart, Sep 04 2005

Retro Cell Phone Retro_20Cell_20Phone
A similar idea for aesthetic reasons rather than practical ones [rasberry re-tart, Sep 04 2005]

Some basic phones are being made http://itmatters.co...news_09152003e.html
[fridge duck, Sep 04 2005]

Sort of Baked! http://www.firebox....on=product&pid=1044
You could at least pretend that you're using a rotary phone... [Phobophobe, Sep 07 2005]

There is a market for very basic phones, I remember my dad telling me about something along those lines which he saw in a newspaper. I personally think the more stuff a phone does, the better - so I would never want to get anything like this. I do think though, that the rotary dialling method would be very popular if you could get an attachment for regular mobile phones.
-- fridge duck, Sep 04 2005


I just bought a Nokia 1100--their most basic cell phone. It has some neat features, including a built-in flashlight (which I just used in getting a splinter out of my finger), but no camera. I'm liking it.

It does simple text messages, and has a few ringtones. It can let you compose your own ring-tunes, and some other bizarre stuff, but that can all be ignored. It runs off cards, so you don't even have to pay bills.

I appreciate what you are after. I have often wondered why I have to buy stereo speakers and stereo music, when I never sit down to listen to music.

Rotary dials, though? That would be more complicated, I think. [+]
-- baconbrain, Sep 04 2005


I am very fed up with musical ring tones, especially when people neglectfully leave their phone in the room and the ring tone plays over and over again.
-- Jscotty, Sep 04 2005


Rotary dials made a much nicer sound than bleepy keypads. Maybe have a keypad for the convenience but play the sounds from a rotary dial.
-- wagster, Sep 05 2005


I want a phone that makes coffee.
-- contracts, Sep 07 2005



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