5 ms·
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 d
by toper-centage 4y ago
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.
- throwaway4aday 4y agoFrom 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.
- enriquto 4y agoAs 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 4y agoYou 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+phone https://www.ebay.com/sch/182098/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=rotary...
- kwhitefoot 4y agoWeight is helpful not only for fighting off assassins. A dial telephone needs to be heavy with good non-slip feet or you have to hold it down while dialling. The UK Trimphone weighed 800 g and people complained that dialling with it was difficult.
- dylan604 4y agoIn no way would these qualify as mobile
- drewzero1 4y agoI have a couple of those around. I had to learn to dial them as a kid when we moved to a house that still had them hard-wired to the wall. Someday I'd like to try to use them as an intercom/hotline between the house and workshop, but I haven't figured out how to power the circuit and (especially) the ring signal. (Grandpa always did his own phone wiring and told me you really didn't want to be touching the terminal when a call came through, something like 100V AC!)
- timonoko 4y agoConnecting two rotary phones (via 40 volt battery) is the easiest thing. They work as-they-are without modifications. When the phone is off-hook, the dialling rotator makes pulses and when the phone is on-hook those pulses cause the bell to ring. But not very loudly, because the real ringing pulses are 80 volts. Source: I am rotary-telephone-era Telecommunication Engineer.
- drewzero1 4y agoThanks for the info! Sounds a lot easier than anything I was imagining. I'll have to dig up a couple of those 4-pin sockets and see if I can source a battery.
- ipdashc 4y agoCompletely overkill for just an intercom, but an analog telephone adapter would let you connect those to a VoIP server (like Asterisk, etc). Could be cool. For just a hotline/intercom setup, I think a telephone line simulator might do the job, but those seem stupidly expensive! EDIT: The other reply seems a lot more knowledgeable, ignore this one
- drewzero1 4y agoThanks! I was looking into a line simulator, but yeah they're expensive! I thought about setting something up with an old PBX from work, but they're too new for pulse dialing. I was trying to figure out if I could build something with old modems but never got anywhere with that.
- JasonFruit 4y agoThis 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.
- kwhitefoot 4y agoI 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.
- dylan604 4y agofirst definition in a dictionary says Luddite is someone opposed to new technology. your definition has been moved to the second definition of the word. so the world has moved past you and you now seem to be a Luddite (of sorts) hanging on to a definition of the word the world has found less useful.
- kwhitefoot 4y agoI still think it's a shame. But, HN needs to add emojis to the upvote so I can say that you made me smile without the effort of actually writing a comment!
- JasonFruit 4y agoI'm more bothered when "Luddite" is used as a slur against people who refuse certain technologies in a principled way. That is, when it's used in a historically-knowledgeable way, but still deployed as an insult.
- ydlr 4y agoI had to lookup "obstreperously." Thank you for teaching me a new word.
- 4y ago
- ajsnigrutin 4y ago> 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 :)
- skupig 4y agoWhat'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.
- egypturnash 4y agoI 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.