Garden Variety Flip Phone for people who just talk on their phones

I saw a headline the other day saying something like "Is it time to stop referring to our phones as 'smart'?" I didn't read the article, but I reacted by thinking "Wouldn't it be more appropriate to stop calling them 'phones'?"

A coworker made this point a while back, I think in 2012, telling me the iphone and such were not phones any more, but tiny computers that can make phone calls sometimes.

In fact, it takes more time and effort to place a call on a smart phone than on an old cell phone. Not that much more that I would like to have a phone for calls and one for apps, but it's getting there. I can see why someone who uses a cell phone mostly to make calls wouldn't like the modern Android/iphone norms.

Quote: Nareed

Not that much more that I would like to have a phone for calls and one for apps, but it's getting there.

The cellular companies are getting better her, by allowing you to register a tablet for $10 a month. But I would like them to get to the point where you pay for data, and they don't get to tell you which device you are using it on. You just sign in for the data.

Talking and data usage are fundamentally different, and for most old people we need a 7" screen to comfortably type in anything or to view something. It would be nice if you could pay for data, regardless of the device.

In the case of unlimited data, there should be a way to prohibit operating two devices at the same time so that someone is not running a household on one data stream.

Quote: Pacomartin

The cellular companies are getting better her, by allowing you to register a tablet for $10 a month. But I would like them to get to the point where you pay for data, and they don't get to tell you which device you are using it on. You just sign in for the data.

Some cell companies here sell a USB dongle that serves as a cell modem for data only. You can connect it to any device that will take it (usually a laptop, though I suppose with an adapter it might work on tablets or phones).

But many modern phones can serve as a hot spot and share their cell internet connection. So you just need a good data plan.

Quote:

Talking and data usage are fundamentally different, and for most old people we need a 7" screen to comfortably type in anything or to view something.

I can't type anything for long on a touch keyboard, regardless of size.

Quote: Nareed

I can't type anything for long on a touch keyboard, regardless of size.

"Your flat keyboard is evil" is the motto of this company.


Of course, this chair company has been trying to convince us that our chairs are evil for years.

Quote: Pacomartin

"Your flat keyboard is evil" is the motto of this company.

I had a curved Microsoft keyboard for a while. It kind of works, but it was neither faster nor more comfortable than a regular $10 keyboard.

At home, I've kept an HP keyboard that came with an XP PC I bought ages ago. It's big, it has a wrist-rest, and a volume knob. It's on its 4th PC by now.

Flashback 1993: Remember when Apple was the butt of Doonesbury jokes instead of the most valuable company in the world?