[st_goliath]

This is really confusing brand/product combination. Who is it trying to appeal to?

I'm pretty sure the people who have fond memories of growing up with a C64 or watching ToS are of an entirely different generation than those with fond memories of flip phones and cyber/color-puke ads for transparent plastic gadgets.

> BASIC Beige Edition

There's a missed opportunity for a better ToS joke here: "Beige... the final frontier"

[risyachka]

>> Who is it trying to appeal to?

To me. I want to have access to whatsapp/browser but with constraints of T9 so that I am not tempted to jump from website to website or write a lot.

And I want a phone that does not look like the most lazy thing a company could possibly do with 0 design effort put into it.

[Denkel]

It is not appealing to you, because it specifically blocks the installation of browsers, so 50% of what you just stated as your needs would jot be covered (and cannot be done afterward by yourself, again, they BLOCK the installation of browsers).

[bilekas]

> A flip phone with the apps you need: WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram. Music, podcasts, maps

Honestly, that sounds appealing to me at least. Those are the only communication channels I have, so it suits. Maps if I get lost somewhere. And some spotify. I pretty much have that now, but just with constant privacy breaches and issues I need to stay on top of.

> There's a missed opportunity for a better ToS joke here: "Beige... the final frontier"

I don't think this product will actually ever launch, but if it does, it absolutely MUST have a beige model.

[NoGravitas]

If I were to get one, I would certainly get beige... just bought a nice beige mechanical keyboard. I don't think I would pay $500 for it. $150 to $200 maybe.

I got my youngest child an AOSP flip phone. I'm semi happy with it. You can't install apps on it (so no Signal, but also no Subway Surfers). But on the other hand, it has a web browser, which is a big hole; the web browser is good enough to show postage-stamp-sized YouTube.

The Commodore flip phone would be kind of usable for me as long as it could run Duo Mobile; having Signal is a big plus. Not sure it's a $500 plus. Lacking RCS is a non-trivial minus but not a deal-breaker.

[trollbridge]

I have my doubts about any apps requiring attestation being able to run under Sailfish successfully unless Commodore nouveaux gets directly in contact with vendors like Duo Mobile to ensure such apps work.

[oneeyedpigeon]

> Honestly, that sounds appealing to me at least.

Absolutely, same here—but it has to look good. I know that's subjective, but this thing looks atrocious.

[trollbridge]

They're targeting a younger demographic than us.

[pjmlp]

Yeah, it could be a bit more like Razr, and for the youngsters in the audience.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_Razr_V3

[Gigachad]

It's appealing to the y2k and fruitger aero aesthetic. All the people on the street right now in baggy camo pants with a bag full of tech like mp3 players and digicams would buy this thing up.

[reedlaw]

What do you mean? I'm Gen X but remember all those things. It seems like a reasonable mashup of nostalgia.

[pjmlp]

Same here, I can really see the appeal of such a product.

[vidarh]

I don't know about "fond" memories of a flip phone, but I grew up with a C64, and my first phone was a flip phone, so in terms of age group I don't think it's too far off.

I'm not looking to go back to a flip phone, though. I'd buy one as another fun thing for my display wall if it was cheaper, but it's a bit too expensive for that.

[Gigachad]

For a while now I’ve been considering using a flip phone but I just can’t go without modern messaging apps because no one uses sms anymore. This seems like exactly what I wanted.