[jdludlow]

I still use a dumb phone. The front screen doesn't work, and I just added a piece of duct tape to keep the battery cover on. One of the biggest reasons that I haven't switched is that when I'm walking across campus at work 95% of the people have their face buried in a screen. There is zero eye contact.

A desperate plea to phone manufacturers, even though I realize I'm in the extreme minority. I would snap-purchase a dumb phone that had the following feature list and a $200 price tag:

1. Crystal clear voice quality.

2. There is no 2.

I don't want a camera. I don't want a voice recorder. I don't want an mp3 player. I don't want a web browser. I don't want a flashlight. I don't want text messaging or email. This might sound insane, but I actually just want a phone.

[fixxer]

No camera?! But how do you get arrested for taping a cop?!

Serious note: I have the dumbest phone possible with a camera for purpose of emergency documentation. Think car accidents, property damage, lost kid, etc.

[fidz]

Buy a pocket camera. Those are really cheap right now, with far better image quality, including taking a photo in a very low light environment. Those things are also very fast to get started. Press power button, aim, shoot. (instead of turn on the phone, tap the camera button, aim, pinch to zoom, then tap camera button)

[wmboy]

I thought the purpose of having a 'dumb' phone would be to simplify things, not carry around multiple gadgets!

Also, taking a photo with an iPhone is very quick. Press home button, swipe up and you're ready to go. Arguably faster than a lot of pocket cameras (plus, are you really going to carry a pocket camera with you everywhere you go???).

[stephengillie]

I thought the purpose of having a "smart" phone was to simplify things, not carry around multiple gadgets!

[dwild]

My first smartphone literally cost 50$. It was an LG Optimus One. No contract, no obligation. It was 200$ but it came with 100$ gift card for BestBuy and a rebate of 50$. It was first on a monthly contract but it was WAY too expensive (30$) for my use so I switched to prepaid (100$ a year).

3 MPX camera (don't need more for an emergency camera), AM/FM radio (always useful) and enough battery to last more than a week. It was really solid, only a cheap plastic on the screen, it's not flip, so you can't break that.

There was a button for the camera too, which means that you could press the power button, aim, shoot, like your pocket camera.

I fail to see why I would pay the exact same price for an old phone... it has ALL the quality of the old phone. Also most of theses old phone in Quebec doesn't have a SIM slot, which means that you CAN'T change the carrier, like I did.

[fixxer]

That would work.

I've actually been thinking of setting up some sort of ubiquitous monitoring system (like a button camera that is nearly always running). Still on the drawing board... Google Glass might fit the bill, but they're too obvious.

(this is not for pervy applications, I swear)

[Ilmesnkie_Jones]

I would take a dumb phone that didn't call anyone but only texted if it had the advantages of my last dumb phone: week long batter life, drop-ability, and the ability for me to leave it in cabs and have it returned because no one wants it.

I get/make a vanishingly small number of actual voice calls these days.

[sbierwagen]

Sounds like you want a Motorola T900, essentially a two way pager. It runs on a single AA.

http://www.superpager.net/

[ams6110]

Holy crap... I never knew such a thing existed. I'm dumping my mobile phone tomorrow.

[Amadou]

Too bad they essentially closed their doors, the Peek was great.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peek_%28mobile_Internet_device...

[nicksergeant]

The thing is, most people don't use their "phones" for talking, anymore. And "phone" manufacturers realize that. They're putting their money into smartphones, which is where the market demand is. I'd be shocked to see any improvements in "dumb" phones.

[bergie]

I'd go even further and claim that there are no "smartphones" anymore either, just pocket-sized tablets: http://bergie.iki.fi/blog/no-smartphones/

[ckrailo]

Voice quality isn't a manufacturer problem but a carrier technology problem. It's easy to get $200 good microphones (see podcasting). (My electrical engineering friend works in the cellular tech industry and tells me such.)

That said, I think we're getting there. LTE dumbphones that transmit using VOIP instead of standard voice tech could work, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were rules about 911 connectivity or something similar that prevent them from coming out.

[Dylan16807]

Do you want an address book? Once you have a screen capable of displaying a couple lines of text it's basically zero cost or effort to implement mp3 playing and text messaging, so you're probably stuck with those features. Oh, and a clock too.

Also, I completely understand you not wanting most features, but why would you not want a flashlight? Flashlight mode is very convenient 1% of the time, trivially ignored the other 99%.

[pcl]

Oh, and a clock too.

This brings to mind an unrelated product design gripe of mine. Two things that I hate about my kitchen are the clock on my microwave and the clock on my stovetop. I've got a perfectly serviceable clock on the wall in my kitchen; I neither need nor want clocks on those displays.

Sadly, it seems as though every manufacturer of anything with an LCD takes this same approach: we can put a clock on our widget, so of course we should put one on it. In the case of my microwave, this leads to dedicated buttons for configuring the clock. And naturally, every time the power cuts out, these clocks end up blinking at me in anger. Naturally, neither appliance provides a means to disable the clocks. And a piece of tape doesn't do the job, since the same LCD is used for all other cooking metrics.

A plea to product designers everywhere: please don't add mandatory features just because you can.

[com2kid]

> This brings to mind an unrelated product design gripe of mine. Two things that I hate about my kitchen are the clock on my microwave and the clock on my stovetop. I've got a perfectly serviceable clock on the wall in my kitchen; I neither need nor want clocks on those displays.

I love them. Well except that they get out of sync, much to my dismay!

I haven't hung a clock on the wall in years.

Likewise I use my cellphone for time.

Why shouldn't I take advantage of the tech that is around me? Know what else I love? That microwaves have a timer feature! It is amazing, I burn so much less food now. And the granularity is second based rather than the "plus or minus a minute" of the old egg timers.

[marcosdumay]

A mobile phone is the one exception for that rule. The clock sets itself up, and it's something you carry around, sometimes to places that don't have other clocks.

But yes, to the people designing every other product: When people want clocks, they go out and buy one.

My kitchen is even worse, because every appliance there use LED displays. They don't just stay there blinking, they also shine.

[goblin89]

> The clock sets itself up

I wish I could find a dumb phone with that capability. On my old Nokia (new dumb models as well) the clock is reset each time SIM card is changed (and I think sometimes if the phone runs out of battery).

[mirsadm]

It is not difficult to find a phone that fulfils those requirements. Nokia 301 sells for <$100 and makes phone calls.