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- Hacker News
- I'd go this direction as long as it had a real keyboard... Maybe it's time for the blackberry to reemerge.by dpcan
- More than the Blackberry... I'd say, the N900 form factor, complete with camera lens lid.by sombragris
- by hoppyhoppy2
- Here you go:by andrewstuart
- Waiting for delivery of my Unihertz Titan 2 Elite. Hopefully it’s good overall, but I’m just excited to have a physical keyboard again.
A bonus is that it has some features for interacting with modern interfaces, like touch sensitive scrolling by swiping along the keyboard.
by sudokatsu - 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.by SwellJoe
- Look at the Keyphone ($399), Minimal Phone ($399), Zinwa Q25 ($420), Unnecto Snap ($69), and HIT K1 ($349), all via Jose Briones's dumbphone finder.
The other way to go is with an ultra-small laptop (typically 12--13"), a tablet with integrated keyboard, or a (usually DIY) cyberdeck.
by dredmorbius - The Samsung android flips are great but all this patent pending tech is just configurations on a non basic build of google.
Like the idea, commodore never had me in its nostalgia, too young, idea is cute, t9 keyboard is workable but I disagree that it’s viable. I want to be wrong of course but
Samsung and apple using their fold flip and discipline fixes the other side. People do not want to detox. Going back to a flip won’t fix it.
Same as the glp1 drugs, people knew food was bad, didn’t stop eating. Started body shame movement. Now that movement seems to have gone silent, glp1s fixed obesity seemingly overnight.
So the question is, what is the future glp1 equilivant for digital detox, a simpler phone or a phone that makes it more complicated to get digital services isn’t it.
Then there’s the argument for price, photo quality and all. No one is going to take photos and edit on a desktop in photoshop or Lightroom. Same as for using two phones and transferring esims, their WhatsApp number, etc
by rootsudo - So "Commodore" as in that YouTuber who bought Commodore although initially he was just asking for the right to make a new C64 case (and the company owning Commodore suggested he could maybe buy the whole thing, instead of just asking for the rights to produce a case)?
Why not: at least it looks like Commodore is in the hand of people who appreciate the brand.
- Commodore died in the 80-90s, this is the husk of a dead horse being beaten by some YouTuber.by nubinetwork
- I would use that phone if I had the ability to customise it to my needs. I don’t want meta apps nor Spotify preinstalled, but I would take the ability to install signal.by aspect0545
- I'm interested in the form factor and excited about the inclusion of a headphone jack but SailfishOS is the real selling point for me.
I'll buy this if there is a way to remove the app restrictions they have. Ideally, I should be able to flash the default SailfishOS
by tcrenshaw - Their FAQ says there's no way to disable the restrictions, but they also say you can sideload APKs.by Retr0id
- That’s the whole selling point of this phone, though. If they had made it easy to sideload Twitter, they might as well not make a phone.by Jolter
- 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.
by Humorist2290 - I'd be the first to admit this alternative is less than ideal since it adds yet another device, but you could carry a battery powered MiFi router (even power it off to conserve it) to supply a mobile connection, and then a feature phone for calls. Plus of course whatever you'd want to use to go online.
I used a TP-Link M7650 when I was cut off from fiber for a while and it worked great for me.
by nehal3m - The phone may not be dumb (we'll see) but the idea for new Commodore to release one is. Sorry to be so blunt.by msephton
- I bought one of their C64 repros, it was exactly what I want, I was searching ebay for original Apple ][e at the time anyway.
Why? It's going to be my kids first computer.
Computers today are so absolutely hostile as they are simply attention-sucking sale-terminals. They spend all their time popping up unwanted notifications which are just advertising.
And the interface of modern devices is actually horrible for learning. Some stuff may be intuitive, but the biggest issue is that every slight movement, accidental tap or gesture is linked to something so for kids it's too easy to do something that exits the current program or bring up some sidebar. It's impossible even for me to connect "what did I just do?" with the sudden change in context. It makes it really hard to connect cause and effect. And don't even get me started on how dangerous apps like YouTube are for kids. The recommendation algo seems to surface click-farm scam content in no time. Or weird dopamine traps.
So my kids will start with a device that isn't constantly trying to sell things, they will learn to understand simple systems which has deterministic behavior.
by gtowey - 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.
by radicalbyte - They're betting that the target demographic will pay a premium for the form factor, not so much the tech specs.by kmoser
- 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 the wrong price at the wrong time.
by SwellJoe - >I have no idea who the customer is for this product.
Everyone who despises Google, Apple and all of the social media companies and wants absolutely no part of them. I'm going to buy one, along with several other people I know. The only thing that has prevented me from going full flip-phone so far is the lack of support for maps and QR scanning (which is unfortunately required if you want to park in some places or engage in certain activities).
As far as the cost goes, I shelled out $500 for an Android/Google phone that I don't like. That being the case, why would shelling out the same amount of money for a phone that isn't tied to one of the toxic tech companies be prohibitive?
Back in the day, I wasn't a fan of Commodore and didn't even own one! I was an Atari 8-bit guy. Hopefully they will cash in and release a similar phone stripped-down phone next year!
- Me. I like the idea behind the product very much. I feel like my AI-saturated brain needs something like this very much at the moment.by thaanpaa
- 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.
by layer8 - 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 the device. Nothing more, nothing less.
In other words, is for a very specific group of people trying to digitally detox, who like a retro hardware aesthetic, that has nothing to do with C64 enthusiasts.
by crazygringo - I can see a niche (or two) for this.
My wife hates every smartphone that is currently in the market. They are all too huge for her. She has an iphone SE which was the best compromise at the time, although she still finds it big. She doesn't want to get a new one, because there is nothing on the market of that size. She doesn't use most the smart features. She only uses it for chat with family and friends and getting email notifications (and reading them, but never replying on the phone). She also uses it as a camera. And calls, including video calls. This might be a solution, although for some reason they say "no email app". I'm hoping you can add one later.
And then as a child's phone to keep them off social media, while also having a chat app to actually communicate with them.
Even for me, it's been some years too that I've been thinking that I don't really need a smartphone. I mostly need a device that I can use to make calls and that I can use as a hotspot for connecting other devices such as a laptop when I need to.
The keyboard will definitely not be an issue. I'm old enough to remember teens using those kind of keyboards typing blindly in astonishing speeds, even without T9.
Lack of 5G might be an issue.
The price is steep. I'm not sure if that is going to be a problem.
by gapan - Then the old Sony Ericssons would be her best option I think.
They were the ultimate in to small for my fingers, couldn't stand it.
Still the best form factor has the iPhone 4 in my opinion. And here comes the revelation: the iPhone 17 have grown again and the base models all start at 6.3"
The pro max is now 6.9" - the iPad mini is 8.3"
What a massive burden to carry around and still the iPhone aren't good enough for reading long time - a book for example - like the iPad Mini is.
I guess that many "content creators" edit their TikTok stuff when they are on the move and that the iPhone tries to more and more fit for that market.
Also larger device sizes allow for larger batteries - good for local AI and again video editing and consuming as well.
I Own a iPhone 16 and couldn't handle the pro/max option. Too bulky - and the camera lens has sharp edges combined with a slippy surface.
So size is one thing, form another.
The max options are crazy large especially if you consider a case for protection.
Two things
- Regarding the price: the reality with all these alternative phones (e.g. the clicks communicator) is that you are going to have to pay a premium to make them worthwhile for the manufacturers. Scale (and the spyware economy) are what allow the larger companies to produce cheaper "better" phones, so comparing a phone like this with them on price isn't super productive. If you want something different than what the masses consume you are gonna have to pay for it.
The only ones that I've seen beat this dynamic to an extent are the unihertz phones.
- Ok, so you raise the price so the manufacturers will make it. This creates a bigger problem: users won't buy it now.
No one designs a product to get manufacturers, all they need is to make a profit.
by burnte - Wonder why pine can't do this? Not dissing on commodore. With hallucinated apps, the gap is going to be really small with play storeby sourcegrift