[toper-centage]

Honestly some great ideas (better antenna, e-ink display for basic SMSing, quick dial, probably huge battery life), but they can't be serious about the rotary dial.

> Previously, phones with physical keys required a clamshell (flip) form-factor to prevent unintended dialing. Rotary dials are naturally resistant to butt dialing.

You can solve butt dialing with a number of ways, like another hardware switch. This solution seems much more cumbersome, and I can't believe this is not done simply out of novelty.

[JasonFruit]

This particular kind of novelty is kind of appealing to people who want to be conspicuously, obstreperously Luddite, while still carrying a mobile phone. I admit I kind of want one of these novel bits of tech just to show off how Luddite I am.

[Syonyk]

Indeed... I want one too! Pocketable rotary dial phone? Just, $400 can cover a lot of other things.

I consider carrying something like this (I carry an AT&T Flip IV at the moment if I remember the thing) to serve as a reminder to other people that not everyone has, nor wants, smartphone-type capabilities. At the local farmer's market last weekend, a number of various political booths (on all sides of the spectrum) had "Sign our petition!" type signs - as QR codes only. My device doesn't decode QR codes easily, nor will the browser handle a standard website very well. I typically carry a laptop, but they don't print the URLs...

Of course, then there's the problem of being on the fringe and the absurdity of "And therefore follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and a bunch of other big tech platforms!" - I point that one out often enough too.

I'm at a position in my life where there's really no downside to carrying "the weird alternative" and showing people that, yes, I do in fact continue to exist, can have phone calls, SMS text, and basic maps, while not feeding into the horribly human-toxic ecosystem that modern smartphones have become. I mean, I can even use Bluetooth to the car for making phone calls, or play music from my SD card to a Bluetooth speaker! But I don't have email on it, I don't have any social medias, the games are crap and I don't bother with them, etc. It's a minimally functional device that I end up leaving home a lot because I just forget about it - and that, coming from the smartphone world, is a huge improvement.

I get a lot of positive reactions, too - most people simply haven't thought about the fact that the smartphone is really only 10-15 years old for most people. We lived before it. We will live after it. And life is objectively better without one now.

[kwhitefoot]

I know this is off topic and it's not a criticism of your comment but I think it's a shame that Luddite has become so watered down. The real life Luddites put their lives on the line in the fight against industrial weaving. The didn't just avoid using a steam loom while drinking an almond latte.

[hoffspot]

I think there are shades of gray to be recognized between obstreperously "Retro" and obstreperously Luddite. There are still a significant cohort of people alive that grew up in the era where the rotary phone interface was the only phone interface. Using this device in public could be merely a nod and a wink to others in the same cohort and a nice conversation starter rather than a position against the advancement of technology. You will pry my smartphone out of my cold, dead hands but I think it would be fun to have this device around to occasionally sport out in public for the laughs. And in a nod to yourself and the other comment, thank you for teaching me a new word (obstreperously).

[ydlr]

I had to lookup "obstreperously." Thank you for teaching me a new word.

[egypturnash]

I suspect the main point of this whole phone is “having a big rotary dial on a cel phone would be funny”. “Naturally resistant to butt dialing” is a bit of deadpan humor.

[enriquto]

As I see it, the rotary dial is the main feature, the rest are just nice things to have (that you can get elsewhere from many dumb phones).

It's an extremely cool project and I can't wait to get one!

[recuter]

You know you can just get a vintage one for a song, real beauties, heavy enough to clobber a would be assassin.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/182098/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=rotary...

[skupig]

What's wrong with novelty? I agree with the next comment over, the rotary dialer is the best part. This is an interesting and beautiful creative project, not a mass market consumer product.

[throwaway4aday]

From my perspective it's a feature, if I were to switch to a phone like this it would be because I wanted my phone to only do one thing handle important communication. No apps, no internet, no texting, phone calls only. That said, I could see having both a regular smartphone and a phone like this. In that case I would treat this phone as a private line only given out to a small number of people. That would allow me to leave my regular smartphone off or at home if I felt like disconnecting for a while but I would still be reachable by phone call through a distraction free device.

[ajsnigrutin]

> basic SMSing

Aw man, typing an sms on a rotary dial would be fun :D It would take half an hour to respond, but still fun a first few times :)