
The dumbphone strikes back - ukdm
http://www.extremetech.com/computing/116257-the-dumbphone-strikes-back
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tytso
Personally, what I'm starting to converge on is a smartphone plus a Macbook
Air / Ultrabook / Chromebook, with the smartphone providing the tethering
capability, and where I'm always carrying the smartphone, and carrying the
light weight MBA / Ultrabook / Chromebook air with me 80% of the time. What I
need out of the lightweight notebook is a keyboard, larger screen, fast
browser (which one of the tablets or smartphones provide today) and minimal
off-line capabilities (i.e., off-line GMail, Google Docs, and eBook reading).
Anything else is a bonus. Today I'm doing this with a MBA, but I can easily
see a next-gen Ultrabook or Chromebook meeting my needs.

Ultimately, the problem with a tablet is that its weight / capability just
isn't favorable enough. Anything I can do with a tablet, I can do with a
smartphone (although perhaps with a bit more scrolling), and a tablet's
browser rendering speed and lack of keyboard makes it reach for a lightweight
notebook every single time (and the MBA / Ultrabook / Chromebook isn't that
much heavier than a tablet).

~~~
naner
I think this is actually a hint towards the future of computing. I imagine
that your smartphone will be your sole computer and then everywhere else
(home, work, library, friend's house, etc) there will be something like dumb
terminals that will associate with your phone to give you access to a bigger
screen and keyboard and even extend the processing, memory, and graphics
capabilities of your phone.

~~~
rapind
I would agree that the client's will get thinner (dumb terminals like chrome
books), however I still think your own portable dumb terminal will be far more
popular than a community / shared dumb terminal.

I use a MPB, but I'm envious of the MBAs and will no doubt eventually spring
for one. I have absolutely no interest in a shared dumb terminal with a
different feeling inputs / outputs (keyboard, mice / touch, screen).

Maybe if we're all using touch screens eventually, but I'm not convinced the
keyboard will go away anytime soon, and I prefer my own setup. If anything
laptops have become a very personal item, sometimes even a fashion statement
(not my thing but it's there).

~~~
naner
I was assuming we'd still have laptops and every other form factor we have
now, just that you'd need your smartphone in your pocket to actually use your
laptop. It is the hub, it has all your files, it is automatically backed up
over the net, etc. Same thing with tablets. You could interface with an e-ink
display for reading and an iPad-like device for entertainment and consumption.
Your smartphone would store your save games and character data for various
video game consoles, etc.

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shawnee_
Dumbphones are underrated. Last year, when deciding whether or not to jump on
the smartphone bandwagon, I did extensive research and ultimately came to the
conclusion that it was just not worth it. Yet. If or when telecomms ever stop
trying to handcuff customers with contracts, it might be.

Because, ultimately, it's never been about the _phone_ ; it's all about the
_contract_ that Verizon / TMobile / AT&T wants to handcuff us to.

Net neutrality "lite" means that the telecoms have extreme incentives to keep
us chained to contracts for as long as possible, no matter what advances in
technology might make voice and data usage cheaper / bandwidth more efficient,
or whatever.

Anyway, I ended up keeping my contractless dumb phone for voice only, and got
an Android tablet for anything that would have otherwise persuaded me to want
a smart phone. Unfortunately, I ended up needing to buy a data plan for it,
which means I'm handcuffed to a contract anyway. But at least the tablet is
optimized for "reading" which is what I'd want to do most of, had I a smart
phone.

I guess that's where Verizon wins, spending my hard-earned money on lobbying
for laws that decrease my power of choice, as a consumer.

~~~
barrkel
I think that's a false dichotomy. I've never had a contract for any of my
smart phones; pre-pay, all the way. For all my data usage out and about, 8 GBP
(O2 web) is more than sufficient. But my phone is usually on wifi, around the
house or on location at work. It almost completely displaces tablet usage;
it's a rare task that makes it worthwhile holding a heavy iPad compared with
my Galaxy Nexus.

~~~
technoslut
>it's a rare task that makes it worthwhile holding a heavy iPad compared with
my Galaxy Nexus.

I think this may end up being the future for most. That is many will couple a
cheap smartphone or dumbphone with a tablet that offers PAYG (pay as you go)
web access. It is simply too expensive to have monthly two data fees to pay
for or a possible $9.99/month to add an extra device for shared data usage.

~~~
barrkel
I think it's the opposite; have a phone with cheap PAYG data, and a wifi-only
tablet. It's simply too inconvenient to lug around a tablet, so you seldom
need mobile data access on it.

~~~
technoslut
Fair enough, but I almost always carried a large screen with me whether it was
in the form of a laptop or tablet. If the situation required tethering I would
be losing significant battery life on my main communications device.

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nicpottier
The thing is that Android smartphones are getting really cheap. In Kenya, the
Huawei Ideos is about $80 and is getting huge traction because of it. It's a
bit more here in Rwanda but not much. The ZTE Blade is also pretty affordable.

I would bet we'll start seeing $50 Android phones (unlocked prices here of
course) within the next year or two.

~~~
mrsebastian
Is Android designed for such cheap phones, tho'? Is there a minimum hardware
spec that's capable of keeping the phone responsive?

I just wonder if there's much difference between Android and Symbian once you
get down to the $50 point. It's not like you're going to have any amazing
hardware features at that point, so it more comes down to software, and how
well that software is tailored for the device.

~~~
kijin
Well, if a $25 Raspberrry Pi can run Linux and play HD videos, there's no
reason a $50 phone shouldn't be able to run Android at a reasonable speed.

~~~
stdbrouw
Sure, if you don't care about zero battery life and a phone the size of a
brick.

~~~
kijin
Raspberry Pi is smaller than many of today's smartphones, and there's plenty
of room to put an antenna, battery, and camera in there.

~~~
stdbrouw
... and a screen :-)

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SandB0x
The big advantage is battery life.

I now carry around a £5 dumbphone in my bag for when my smartphone inevitably
dies on a night out (and yes, I do have a second charger at work). When I use
the dumbphone as my main device, the battery lasts around two weeks.

~~~
sliverstorm
Also small size, durability, light weight, and cool-running.

Additionally, they are replaceable- my dumbphone (which I left smartphones
for) was $20 without a contract. If I get pushed into a pool or drop it off a
cliff, I won't be especially put out.

~~~
pedrolll
After my smartphone was stolen, I switched back to a dumbphone and realized it
was exactly what I needed, for the reasons mentioned above. I don't think I'll
buy a smartphone ever again.

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dfox
This is pretty interesting sentence: "Series 40 even supports tethering".
Before this wave of smartphones for everybody started by iPhone, ability to
use cell phone as an modem was so standard that nobody even cared to make up
fancy marketing names ("tethering", seriously?) for that.

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johncoltrane
A few weeks ago some bloggers posted photos of the phone they had in 2007,
when the iPhone was introduced. The message seemed to be something like "look
at the kind of shit we used before Apple reinvented the mobile".

I have no idea what model it is, but I've paid 9 € for my current Nokia in
2005 as part of a contract prolongation. Its original battery lasts one week
and a half and I can't count how many times it fell to the ground. It works
just as well as it did 7 years ago.

I don't know if "The dumbphone strikes back". Hell, I didn't even noticed it
was ever defeated.

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bwarp
My dumbphone is a 3 year old nokia s40 device. I wouldn't trade it for a
smartphone - there is just no point. Battery life is good - at least 2 weeks
on the original battery. It still works when i drop it which i do regularly.
I've got an ssh client. I've got offline gmail if i want. I've made 6000 hours
of calls and sent 45000 text messages. To replace it costs about 60GBP. The
best thing is I'm posting from it now using Opera mini. Why would you need
anything more?

~~~
TylerE
If it can run opera mini and ssh it ain't a dumbphone.

~~~
bwarp
It's definitely not a smartphone - so what is it?

Actual phone: <http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_6303_classic-2658.php>

~~~
TylerE
A feature phone.

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jasomill
It's only "all about the contract" if you sign one. I, for one, am perfectly
happy to pay $649 for an iPod, a GPS, a portable video game console, a PDA,
and a phone, but wouldn't pay a $5 premium for what passes for "unlimited
high-speed data service" in the US unless it includes Wi-Fi tethering.

Similarly, the ability to "browse the Web" on a low-resolution screen with a
"ten-key" keyboard is, to me at least, worse than useless, but too many so-
called "dumb phones" are truly dumb: the last one I had accepted Bluetooth
contacts, iff phone numbers had no punctuation, and the one before that
blocked "international calls" to all numbers of the form "+1 nnn-nnn-nnnn"
from the US, and reliably _powered off_ when connected to a charger overnight
(support actually claimed this to be a "feature designed to extend battery
life").

The phone book issues, at least, weren't anything that 10 minutes with Python
couldn't fix, but still, it's annoying that "dumb phone" vendors still, in
2011, saw software as an afterthought.

Apple should really consider making a $150 contract-free, high-quality, 4GB
"iPod smart dumb phone" with iCloud and Siri but no user-installed apps, for
people with iPads who really just want an iPod and a decent phone.

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zdw
If you want a form factor other than candybar, or candybar with slideout
keyboard, you don't have many smartphone choices - the only one I'm aware of
is this blackberry, but I'm sure there are others:
<http://us.blackberry.com/smartphones/blackberrystyle/>

I know a lot of people who, out of preference for the form factor, overall
size, or protection for the keyboard/display, only buy flip phones.

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michaelmior
I've never had a smart phone. My 5 year old dumb phone has kept me reasonably
happy. I'm typically either in the office at a computer, or at home with a
computer nearby. My phone does have a simple WAP browser that I can use to
check email in a pinch.

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orbitingpluto
One of the best things about dumbphone data usage is that it is a lot easier
to control.

On Android an inconsiderate app can decide that it really needs to update
250MB of resources. There goes your data plan for that month...

I regret switching to a standard data plan as it was 'unlimited'. With the
good old trusty dumbphone, a Nokia N95, I was able to connect by BT and then
tunnel with SSH to VNC and RDP to my hearts content by laptop or Nokia tablet.
An odd quirk was that the SSH data usage never even showed up on my plan.

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joshuahedlund
The article only really talks about demand for dumbphones by way of their
relatively low prices, but there's a huge demographic factor as well. I've
heard so many people from pre-cellular generations say they "just want a phone
that makes phone calls" over the last few years that I'm not at all surprised
to see articles like this. With the coming demographic shifts in the United
States, I expect a very _healthy_ market for dumbphones for a long time.

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whatajoke
If only Nokia hadn't buried N900 and N9, more people would have experienced
what a true mini laptop feels like.

~~~
daliusd
I own N950 - I wouldn't die if I hadn't it. I use it up to full power, I love
it, but I can replace any part* in it with something else either by delegating
that to dumbphone or laptop.

* - problem with Nokia Maps for car navigation while from other side I love to be lost a little bit.

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rubashov
What is the smallest, thinnest dumbphone on the market? I want a very, very
small phone for voice and SMS and that's it.

