Commodore's Callback 8020 Is a $499 Flip Phone That Blocks Social Media and Browsers (techspot.com) 124
Commodore has unveiled the Callback 8020, a $499 Sailfish OS flip phone that runs most Android apps but deliberately blocks social media, browsers, email, and workplace apps to discourage doomscrolling. The "not dumb dumbphone" still supports messaging, music, maps, ridesharing, hotspots, a removable battery, and plenty of Commodore nostalgia. "The phone uses T9-style texting with predictive input, includes Commodore SID ringtones, ships with a selection of Commodore and Sailfish games, and even includes Snake," reports TechSpot. From the report: Commodore says it has developed patent-pending technology that prevents browsers and social media apps from being sideloaded, while DNS-level blocking should stop them from working even if someone finds a way to install them. Users can still sideload nearly anything else if it's not available on the Commostore, but apps designed for doomscrolling remain off limits. That means useful services such as WhatsApp, SMS, Signal, Telegram, WeChat, Spotify, Uber, Lyft, maps, podcasts, QR scanning, voice notes, and hotspot support work, but the likes of Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Gmail, and browsers do not.
The Callback 8020 has a 3.25-inch 480 x 640 internal display, a MediaTek Helio G81 chip, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, a 48MP Sony rear camera, an autofocus front camera, dual SIM support, USB-C, a headphone jack, FM radio, and something many of us miss from flagships: a removable battery. There's no 5G as Commodore argues that 4G VoLTE and Wi-Fi better fit a device meant to discourage constant streaming and scrolling. [...] The main screen is touch-capable but disabled by default, while the outer display keeps things deliberately sparse, showing basics such as time, battery, signal, and notifications via dome LEDs.
The 8020 name is a nod to Commodore's 8010 modem from 1980. The phone comes in ProtoPET White, SX Silver, BASIC Beige, a translucent Starlight Edition, and a gold Founders Edition with a 24-karat gold-plated Commodore button. Standard models start at $499, the Starlight version is $549.99, and the Founders Edition costs $640. Preorders open June 30, with shipping targeted for winter. You can watch the launch ad on YouTube.
The Callback 8020 has a 3.25-inch 480 x 640 internal display, a MediaTek Helio G81 chip, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, a 48MP Sony rear camera, an autofocus front camera, dual SIM support, USB-C, a headphone jack, FM radio, and something many of us miss from flagships: a removable battery. There's no 5G as Commodore argues that 4G VoLTE and Wi-Fi better fit a device meant to discourage constant streaming and scrolling. [...] The main screen is touch-capable but disabled by default, while the outer display keeps things deliberately sparse, showing basics such as time, battery, signal, and notifications via dome LEDs.
The 8020 name is a nod to Commodore's 8010 modem from 1980. The phone comes in ProtoPET White, SX Silver, BASIC Beige, a translucent Starlight Edition, and a gold Founders Edition with a 24-karat gold-plated Commodore button. Standard models start at $499, the Starlight version is $549.99, and the Founders Edition costs $640. Preorders open June 30, with shipping targeted for winter. You can watch the launch ad on YouTube.
Whitelisting? That trick never works (Score:1)
Blocks innovation. Dare I say anti-freedom? And the motivations of the "evildoers" will drive them past the safeguards.
But I do have a funny smartphone anecdote to report. Trying to find an old picture yesterday in response to a human query. The google's Photos app was not being cooperative. We could both remember this as a relatively trivial task on the webbrowser version of the app, but it seems like a case of "no can do" on the smartphone. Finally gave up and stuffed the phone back into my pocket.
A few m
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If you don't like it, don't buy it there are a ton of alternative
Be a great phone to give kids though, you know that parental responsibility thing where they can keep kids away from the BS.
Re:Whitelisting? That trick never works (Score:5, Insightful)
Anti-freedom ?
If you create your own website, the phone won't be able to display it. That's why it is anti-freedom. A browser is an operating system on its own that runs on many devices, including iphones and most Android phones (except this one). Blocking browsers means that the phone can run only Android apps, not web apps.
If you don't like it, don't buy it there are a ton of alternative
If you like it, buy it. But make an informed choice.
Be a great phone to give kids though, you know that parental responsibility thing where they can keep kids away from the BS.
Assuming you don't want your kid to access any websites, including their school website, your family website (if you have one) a weather station website, government websites, or their own websites, if you kids have learned to build one.
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Family website? Wonder how many kids are browsing government websites for fun. Pretty sure the kid can use the computers at school to check the school's website (where there might be notifications about a rescheduled class or a homework or something). And, there are weather apps if needed.
A browser (Firefox or Chrome itself or Safari) isn't the entire OS... it's an app that's built into the OS (and some more than others).
Does the kid want to look at their own website on a small screen like that or on a b
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If I am understanding what you are saying, then, no, you are wrong to the point where I doubt you understand what freedom means. Choosing to be a slave is not an exercise of real freedom. I could include a mnemonic to clarify my position, but Slashdot rejects the not-equal symbol...
However the research indicates that about 30% of the people do hate freedom and do prefer to be told what to do and think. This appears to apply across national borders and for many identifiable groups. From a political science p
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You actually want anarchy, not freedom. You want to do what ever the hell you like with zero restrictions, that is anarchy.
The alternative is laws, social norms, and other restrictions which all remove "freedom" from someone
The kind of paranoid "freedom" you are wanting exists in the back blocks of nowhere with no internet and no cellphone, with probably a very large amount of t
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NAK
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I think that for kids that phone could be an interesing idea, but it's expensive.
I can unsertant that somebody could like that phone, but not me. It's like the Kobold: my neighbour has one and says it's a great vacuum, but I'm ok with a 50 euro one bought in a discount. different people different nee
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This is not stealing a beer, this is an ongoing cost, and its a large enough cost it will be seen.
Your fairy tale why it won't work is only true for a small group.
I see you are posting as a coward though, you scared your PDF behaviour is going to be made harder ?
Brand necrophilia at its worst (Score:5, Interesting)
This is the retrocomputing equivalent of the Trump T1 phone, and I'm far from the only person saying this. Fundamentally, there are two groups of people in this world: People who think having a YouTube influencer buy a venerable brand to "reboot" it is a good idea, and people who recognize this for the quintessential grift it is. Oh, and then there are people who don't have any emotional investment in Commodore - but based on a sampling of the people I communicate with regularly, there are very few of those. The kindest thing that can be said about Perifractic is that he started out running a reasonably interesting retrocomputing channel, but he slid through a one-way sphincter straight down the colon of SEO and YouTube monetization, never to return. (Pointlessly long intros and stretched content to maximize ad impressions and keep the "suspense" coming to meet minimum view time quotas, careful scrubbing of language, clickbait thumbnails and video titles - everything bad you can think of is there).
What is being done with the Commodore indicia now is a deplorable embarrassment to the community of Commodore collectors, historians and aficionados, on par with the ludicrous "PET phone" that was created by some bootleg company in Italy a few years ago.
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What is being done with the Commodore indicia now is a deplorable embarrassment to the community of Commodore collectors
The phone is way overpriced, but I can see what they are trying to do. I would actually like a phone with real buttons, removable storage and battery. I'm just not going to pay $500 for it.
And their new Commodore 64 replacement looks genuinely good. Sure, it's a niche product, but if you want to play with an old C64 and can't be bothered find a good vintage example, then build/buy and adapter to connect to a modern screen, then build/buy some way to get software onto it... this FPGA version fills that niche
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I would actually like a phone with real buttons, removable storage and battery.
I kind of miss physical qwerty keyboards, but definitely have no nostalgic feelings for the awful era of T9 texting. The problems with physical keyboards though, is that you either have to give up a bunch of screen space, or end up with a real chonker of a folding/sliding phone to accommodate the keyboard portion. It's been tried and for the most part ends up being too much compromise for something that, unless you're writing a novel on your phone, you probably don't actually need.
The T9 style flip phone
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I kind of miss physical qwerty keyboards, but definitely have no nostalgic feelings for the awful era of T9 texting. The problems with physical keyboards though, is that you either have to give up a bunch of screen space, or end up with a real chonker of a folding/sliding phone to accommodate the keyboard portion. It's been tried and for the most part ends up being too much compromise for something that, unless you're writing a novel on your phone, you probably don't actually need.
The T9 style flip phone design (which is what this phone is) is really the worst of both worlds - it wastes a ton of space that otherwise could've gone towards a larger screen and is still absolute garbage for text entry.
I'd be happy with T9 if it was as slick as the old Nokias. I even bought a Nokia 2720 a couple of years ago, hoping to find the same experience I had in 2001. Unfortunately, since then the T9 text entry has become quite laggy and they have tweaked the handling of capitals and punctuation so it was actually slower to type a proper sentence on a "modern" T9 keypad. I still keep the 2720 around, because it's very compact and works as a hotspot for a real computer. In my case I use a GPD MicroPC, which isn't mu
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I had an LG slide-style phone with a physical keyboard, and if I could get something with that same form factor that would work (and had a decent camera) today, I would happily carry and use it. Sliders were perfect, and I'm still sad there's no current equivalent.
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The whole point of the C64 Ultimate is to combine what was basically about a dozen or more individual C64 retro projects into something that is consumer friendly. If you ever tried to acquire these things, you'll quickly find out they're often made in small quantities by individual hobbyists all over the world, and buying each piece separately you'll find will cost more from all the individual shipping and piece costs.
The company basically scanned the Commodore retro landscape, picked the components that we
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putting together a real C64 already costs a fair chunk of money - working units are several hundred dollars, plus a disk drive, or other parts like an SD-IEC and adapters to modern TVs and replacement power supplies
Several hundred dollars? Let me know where you're seeing people paying several hundred dollars for a bare, working C64. If you pay $100 for such an article, you are overpaying (This comment won't age well due to market volatility but it is true today in June 2026 in the United States). Putting together a minimal real C64 system for the purpose of playing games/demos/SIDfiles and/or tinkering with BASIC should set you back about $75 for the computer itself, about $60 (shipped) for either a Kung Fu Flash 2 ca
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E-bay, every single day.
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E-bay, every single day.
I'm doing it wrong. I wouldn't buy at those prices, and I've never had an auction bid up to those prices. Maybe some people with the cojones to list at Buy It Now of that price get some non-collector who wants it NOW to pay it... I guess.
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there are people who don't have any emotional investment in Commodore
People who are too young to have used a Commodore or who were adults when it came out and who never had one at home, university, or work come to mind.
But yeah just about any American who was school-aged between the late 1970s and the late 1980s probably used a Commodore computer or gaming system somewhere. Throw in the Amiga users, K-12 teachers, and it's a whole lot of people.
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People who are too young to have used a Commodore
I was actually being sarcastic there by stating that the group of people without a real connection to Commodore is insignificantly small - not that it's super important. People who are really Commodore enthusiasts like me loathe the tosser who owns the Commodore paperwork ("Commodore" per se ceased to exist long ago), and the zombie influencer Temu entity into which it is being fashioned. People who are too young to be Commodore natives are consuming the fast-fashion aspect of it the way they'd buy an iPho
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This is the retrocomputing equivalent of the Trump T1 phone
The Trump T1 phone is just a gilded HTC U24 Pro. The controversial aspects of it are entirely related to its association with the president, and that it was originally claimed that it would be US-made. As far as its actual smartphone functionality goes though, it is an entirely unremarkable mid-range Android phone.
This Commodore phone, on the other hand, is a far more niche product with some substantial limitations compared against what the market typically expects.
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I think that phone isn't clearly for people that are in retrogaming or retrocomputing but another demographic. The price it's quite high, so it isn't a kids' phone and neither a senior phone.
I think that it's aimed to "hipsters" that like to have a qu
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ITÃfs not the equivalento of the Trump phone, because is an original product
The equivalency stems from the fact that it is shanzai junk shilled to a target audience of "people who define themselves in terms of the social media they consume".
You know it kind of bugs me (Score:5, Insightful)
There's just something uniquely fucked up about a clearly substandard product that exists specifically to cater to someone who can't just uninstall Facebook and twitter, and again I am not blaming people for that Lord knows I have my own mental issues as my detractors will no doubt a test to. But there's something really fucked up about selling what's very obviously a $150 device, I mean for fuck sakes it's a cheap Media tech phone with a cheap display, and charging a premium because the phone blocks apps that the person buying it knows they can be tricked into installing even though those apps make their lives objectively worse.
It's also possible that this is going to get marketed to kids but again you have a bunch of people doing a fucked up thing and another bunch of people selling a product to solve the problem caused by the first fucked up thing. How about we just don't do the fucked up things in the first place?
It really is peak capitalism though I'll give them that. One group of capitalists Selling me a substandard solution to a problem created by another group of capitalists.
Re: You know it kind of bugs me (Score:2)
Re: You know it kind of bugs me (Score:5, Informative)
Phones that run stock Android are usually pretty good at letting you uninstall/disable anything you don't want. On the iOS side, Apple is also pretty good about letting you get rid of the preloaded apps (which are all first party - Apple doesn't allow preloaded 3rd party bloatware) you have no interest in using.
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Phones that run stock Android are usually pretty good at letting you uninstall/disable anything you don't want.
Disable, yes. Uninstall, no. If it's pre-installed it's part of the system image, which is mounted read-only and protected with fs-crypt. Actually modifying that would require root access to remount it rw and to disable fs-crypt.
That would also, of course, completely destroy the Android security architecture, leaving you wide open to all sorts of attacks. If you want to do that, get an Android device that has an unlockable bootloader (e.g. Google Pixel), unlock it, then do whatever you like. And be su
Re: You know it kind of bugs me (Score:2)
Moto phones bought direct have no unremovable crapware.
Re: You know it kind of bugs me (Score:2)
I've been using Moto phones exclusively for as long as I can remember. No real reason except habit, (and they are inexpensive.) That's fun to learn they are consumer friendly as well.
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Moto phones bought direct have no unremovable crapware.
The pre-installed apps are just as unremovable on Moto as any other (unless you unlock the bootloader; some Motos have unlockable bootloaders). It may be that you define their pre-installed apps as not crapware, but that's a judgement call, not a statement of technical fact.
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It may be that you define their pre-installed apps as not crapware, but that's a judgement call, not a statement of technical fact.
Oh no! You can't remove... *checks* the app for moto actions, and an app for notifications!
What I'm talking about is bundled apps like Faceboot. They can be removed.
You don't even buy a Moto phone unless you want Moto actions, so yeah it's a judgement call, but if you already made the call to buy Moto, then you've already made the other call as well.
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It may be that you define their pre-installed apps as not crapware, but that's a judgement call, not a statement of technical fact.
Oh no! You can't remove... *checks* the app for moto actions, and an app for notifications!
What I'm talking about is bundled apps like Faceboot. They can be removed.
You don't even buy a Moto phone unless you want Moto actions, so yeah it's a judgement call, but if you already made the call to buy Moto, then you've already made the other call as well.
Also, a bunch of Google Apps. Moto bundles those as well. You apparently don't consider them crapware, but other people disagree.
As for Facebook, etc, there's another class of "virtually pre-installed" apps (I forget what the actual term is) which aren't actually part of the system image. Instead, the system image has a list of apps the device will automatically download and install after factory reset, so they're present by default but you actually can remove them. Whether Facebook is really pre-inst
Re: You know it kind of bugs me (Score:2)
Nobody is buying a vanilla android phone and using it as delivered to not use any Google services. If they want that they are at least reflashing, if not buying a phone with an alternate android on it... Which moto claims they will soon offer. Not holding my breath though
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I remember years ago I had one of the old Huawei ascend phones which was the first really cheap Android. It could just barely run angry birds and that was a big selling point. I didn't care about angry birds but it was nice to have a cheap Android phone back then but it barely had enough storage to run the operating system and I remember being pretty pissed off that some stupid bubble bubble clone was marked as a sy
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Some aspects of this comment I really like to the point where I think it might have been a better and more productive FP than the actual winner of that silly contest. But in particular I think it deserve a Funny mod for the closing paragraph.
However, I disagree on the main point. If the objective is to sincerely block them (as with a whitelist approach), then it is not going to work with a "substandard" approach. The defenses will need to be stronger and even smarter than the offenses, and there as SOOOO ma
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I mentioned Twitter and Facebook has the kind of places that someone who is having trouble with doomscrolling wants to avoid and therefore wants a device that refuses to install those apps. That's presumably the selling point here you can't install the kind of apps that you would use to Doom scroll with. You're not searching Twitter you're was
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Basically the ACK and I don't see any real area of disagreement. Also willing to complement you on the empty-minded cowardice of your adversaries. Not thanking you for your role in making me look at the vacuums, but I was curious if I was involved this time.
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I think it's more of a hipster thing to buy something like this. You know, the same sort of people who just have to tell you they only eat organic food, don't own a TV, or refuse to use a smartphone, etc. Because the paradox of this sort of product is that it still requires you have enough willpower to buy a device that prevents you from feeding your social media addiction in the first place, and if that's the case, you could just have a friend set up the parental controls on your existing Android or iPho
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The core market for this is neurodivergent people who are being actively harmed by.. I don't want to call it social media because it's not. We need a new word to describe the kind of nastiness that Twitter and Facebook do where they a
Re: You know it kind of bugs me (Score:2)
Peak capitalism should at least succeed commercially. This looks more like a bad idea that will sell maybe a dozen units and then be forgotten. So it remains faithful to the spirit of Commodore's business model at least :)
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To see commodore or the husk that is commodore taking advantage of people who have mental issues when those people with the mental issues are looking for something like this because another company is taking advantage of them.
Commodore was always a superior engineering company with substandard business executives. At times, extremely dumb executives.
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The management was great until Jack Tramiel was kicked out.
I think one thing that made it great and mostly successful until then was that Tramiel had enormous respect for the people who did the work. He basically seemed to respect anyone who wasn't a middleman, at least, as a person. So dealers and managers had a bad time under his hand, but customers and the team of talented engineers who put everything together got the support they needed. My understanding from the stories told by Haynie et al is that wh
Could somebody remind me... (Score:2)
Why did Commodore die in the first place?
No, it was not the price of their computers (they were _very_ cheap for what they were, always!)
No, it was not the quality of their computers (maybe not top-of-the-line, but not bad!)
It was the STOOPID business decisions they insisted on doing, over and over.
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It was the STOOPID business decisions they insisted on doing, over and over.
Yeah, but this isn't a stupid business decision, it's just an influencer grift like Logan Paul-branded energy drinks. Sooner they run out of money and sell the indicia to someone who actually has an investment in the historical value of the brand, the better (but I don't think this will happen; it's going to go the way of Magnavox and RCA and Polaroid and (...) and just be a zombie brand on random shanzai junk.
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When did doomscrolling first become a thing ? (Score:2)
“Right Twitter [wordpress.com]. I need some joyful book recommendations please. Heart-warming page-turners to get me through the nighttime feeding hours and distract from endless social media/political doom scrolling.”
As long as you don't actually need a smart phone (Score:2)
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No one actually needs a smart phone, nor does a smart phone provide any additional security to anything.
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No one actually needs a smart phone
I can assume from this statement that you don't own an EV.
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I can assume from this statement that you don't own an EV.
This is on an anecdote, but I rented an EV from Hertz in Colorado last year. I had no trouble using a public charger just by tapping a credit card. At the time I didn't have a phone at all.
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I've actually had the polar opposite of that experience once. Prior to Tesla opening their network to non-Tesla EVs, I tried charging at a OUC DCFC charger in Orlando. Had no end of problems with their poorly designed app and was completely unable to charge. Ultimately just decided to drive slowly on back roads and made it home anyway.
It'd be less of an issue if charging stations were as ubiquitous as gas stations, but as things currently stand, the situation of "oops, I can't charge here because they re
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EV apps probably run on this phone just fine.
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EV apps probably run on this phone just fine.
They probably do. That's the whole point of this odd neither fish nor fowl phone. It's for people who'd, for whatever crazy reason don't want a smartphone, but also don't want to be locked out of all the parts of modern society that have become dependent upon smartphone apps (for better or worse).
Also, no one *needs* an EV let alone a vehicle of any kind.
In my neck of the woods, you need a smartphone just to summon what passes here for public transportation. I'm totally not kidding. [google.com]
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In my neck of the woods, you need a smartphone just to summon what passes here for public transportation.
All rideshares require a smartphone app to use (either as a driver or passenger), so I'm not sure what your point is. Rideshare apps would also work on this phone.
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Also, no one *needs* an EV let alone a vehicle of any kind.
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No one actually needs a smart phone, nor does a smart phone provide any additional security to anything.
I agree 100%. Unfortunately my bank has recently decreed that customers can't log into their online banking without first authorizing it thru their app. So now I need to put the same password into two devices. Seems to me that would double the attack surface, but those billionaires think they know better.
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Unless your banking app requires Google services or web browser to function, the app probably would still work on this "dumb" smart phone.
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Unless your banking app requires Google services or web browser to function, the app probably would still work on this "dumb" smart phone.
I've just been reading about this Sailfish OS and it doesn't actually sound terrible. Probably better than Android, which Google keep enshittifying with every update. If Sailfish has enough Android compatibility to run the stupid mandatory banking app I will consider migrating when my 2019 Android smartphone sans sim finally dies or becomes incompatible. https://sailfishos.org/#Androi... [sailfishos.org]
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>"Unfortunately my bank has recently decreed that customers can't log into their online banking without first authorizing it thru their app."
If any of my banks (I use 3) required that, I would complain loudly and then close the account, making sure they knew why. Seriously. I don't want to "bank" on my phone, and I don't want use some bank's stupid "app" just so I can log into a website on from my desk. If they want increased security, then they should allow standard TOTP and I will use whatever off-l
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If any of my banks (I use 3) required that, I would complain loudly and then close the account, making sure they knew why. Seriously. I don't want to "bank" on my phone, and I don't want use some bank's stupid "app" just so I can log into a website on from my desk. If they want increased security, then they should allow standard TOTP and I will use whatever off-line/non-cloud authenticator I choose, like Stratum.
I agree with this 100% too. Unfortunately, with the Australian banking cartel, we don't actually have much real choice. I do have another account with another bank as well. I need to keep both because they both suck but in different ways. It would be off-topic here, but I could definitely rant to you about so-called "cashless banks," for example.
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As long as you don't actually need a smart phone
As Slashvertisement-ish as this feels, I still clicked through out of morbid curiosity and it seems like the phone does still function as a basic touchscreen-enabled smartphone when a 3rd party app requires it. So, if you need to use a DCFC network's charging app for your EV, or want to order a McLardburger with one of those perpetual X% off coupons for mobile orders, or place a drive-up order for groceries from Walmart - you still can.
I think that's kind of the point behind this - to unplug from social me
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So... just as much a douche and in the exact same way?
IMHO, it just feels more douchey to me when someone goes all old man yells at cloud because things change but they're stubbornly stuck in the past. Reminds me of this skit. [youtube.com]
Personally, I like just ordering my food on my smartphone and it just magically appears on a counter for me to grab without having to deal with a human.
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>"I think that's kind of the point behind this - to unplug from social media and information overload, but"
But for the same price, you could have a much, much better phone, run anything you want/need, and CHOOSE not to install social crap like facebook, instagram, twitter, etc. And CHOOSE not to go onto stupid time-wasting sites in the browser? T9????? Seriously?
And why would one want to block Email? How is that doomscrolling, addicting, or forever distracting?
hosts file (Score:2)
Can I install /etc/hosts on Android and block social media, AI, trackers, and ads? Because that seems more convenient than spending $500 on a phone.
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Obviously they didn't make this phone, it's rebadged. There are lots of flip phones you can buy direct from China if you want that form factor. Software wise, Android lets you uninstall or disable even built in apps, or install your own OS.
Like their FPGA based C64, you are paying for convenience and having a common platform with support. It's like how there are cheaper SBCs than the Raspberry Pi, but it's very well supported and understood by the community.
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It's amazing how few people here get that about the pi.
Sure it has some jankiness and isn't the best bang for the buck by benchmarks, but if it can do the task you save a whole lot of time by getting something widely available and widely supported.
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There are equivalents, yes. They don't use a hosts file but act as an alternative internal DNS server. I used one called personalDNSFilter. It comes with a number of domains blocked by default and you can add more.
Needs adjusting (Score:3)
Blocks email? You need email and that has nothing to do with doomscrolling. Spam is pretty under control at this point. Scammers will directly call and text you so just having a phone is an issue. I also need mapping apps and I need my browser for things like banking and such.
I could see giving this phone to someone who can't control themselves online like romance scam victims.
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Yeah, also "the web" is a big place. Being able to look things up in Wikipedia (or even a dictionary) is a useful feature. As are things like looking up prices, or getting technical information about the lawnmower you're fixing. So blocking the entire world wide web just to prevent doom scrolling is absurd.
Just block x.com, facebook.com, threads.com, bluesky.com, and tiktok.com if you're going to go that way.
A Bit Disappointed (Score:3)
I was really hoping for something like a Retromod Commodore Amiga 500 with HDMI out and modern I/O ports, that could dual boot Linux and AmigaOS.
I imagine it being able to be run in "Retro Mode" for classic games or distraction free word processing, but then could be flipped to "Modern Mode" for watching YouTube and browsing the web.
Instead, we got a flip phone. Rats.
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I was really hoping for something like a Retromod Commodore Amiga 500 with HDMI out and modern I/O ports, that could dual boot Linux and AmigaOS.
It's not an Amiga 500 but they do make a Commodore 64 using an FPGA for accurate emulation, with all the mod cons like HDMI, USB etc. https://commodore.net/computer... [commodore.net]
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How much more accurate is that compared to CPU emulation in something half modern?
$299 (Score:2)
I'd prefer a Sinclair unit anyway!
The Sinclair telephone ... (Score:2)
... will be this [wikipedia.org] but priced at $99.
A step in the right direction (Score:2)
Looking past what it's designed not to do, the fact that it has:
1) A removable / replaceable battery
2) A headphone jack
3) USB-C
are definitely steps in the right direction.
( albeit a pricey one )
Bring back the Micro-SD storage while we're at it instead of charging us extra for the " more storage " model.
It's absolute insanity that folks throw away $1k+ phones because we can't easily swap out a $25 battery.
It's absolute insanity they removed the headphone jack to force us to buy / replace battery powered h
Pick a damn standard, you say? (Score:1)
Um, okay [xkcd.com].
Re: (Score:2)
It's absolute insanity that folks throw away $1k+ phones because we can't easily swap out a $25 battery.
Indeed, because even if it's not user-repleaceable, any phone repair shop can do it. (It's also crazy to buy a $1k+ phone in the first place, goddamn, there are fine options for much much less.)
It's absolute insanity they removed the headphone jack to force us to buy / replace battery powered headphones or an adapter.
It's annoying, but adapters are cheap. I'm not going to lose sleep over $5.
It's absolute insanity I have different chargers and cables for at least five generations of this crap laying about. Pick a damn standard already.
They did, the whole industry uses USB-C now.
I like the concept, but.. (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Who is this for? (Score:2)
It's got a butt ugly design, it's roundy, transparent, plasticy, has the commodore logo on it, primitive, and it's got a SIM card.
You know what that means? It's still fully trackable, it will give you false feelings of safety, a phone without the bloat for sure, and maybe it's best as a 30$ Nokia simple-phone (yes they sell those), but this is a 500$ simple phone in disguise, and with a design that is so ugly that I can't even see it sell to people like me who actually used and coded Demoscene stuff back in
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Ugly phones won't get stolen as often as high end phones.
Tracking for kids is good too
Not seeing a downside for the intended segment of the market.
Re: (Score:2)
Not for you, but for them to track your kids.
Re: (Score:2)
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What's the objection to sim cards? Sims are why we're not locked to carriers any more. And yes, I'm aware of eSims, and that's a way to get back to carrier-locked phones by the back door.
It's a Minimalist Launcher with DNS Filtering (Score:3)
From a device standpoint, it's like the "souped-up" version of a Consumer Cellular Iris (https://www.walmart.com/ip/Consumer-Cellular-Iris-Easy-Flip-Gray/6926754486?classType=REGULAR) or the Walmart/BLU/Tracfone $30 flip phones. With stronger components, it can run native Android rather than the slimmed-down KaiOS (derived from Android but not compatible due to lack of Android Runtimes).
Ultimately, a humongous yawn. Paying premium to NOT be able to check my Gmail acct to complete required 2FA log-ins (from any other device, honestly) is rather dumb and a real nonstarter. It's a mobile device, meant to do mobile things, like reading that email without being tied to a workstation or finding the number you need to call because the doctor's office sent an appt confirmation via email -- so dumb.
Commodore Toilet Roll (Score:3)
neat (Score:2)
I can appreciate the whole gimmick, but it sounds like you're buying something modern and intentionally crippling it.
If we had a resurgence of early 2000s phones, like the Motorola Razr, borrowing only from todays tech like a modern USB-C charge port, a better camera, hopefully multi-day battery life and a modern cellular connectivity, I'd buy one. No android, no iOS, no apps, just a solid looking, feeling and functioning phone.
the hardest pill to swallow is, even if the phone I'm describing did exist, the
wtf (Score:3, Insightful)
Wait, so it's now the phone's responsibility to keep the user from doomscrolling? What the heck happened to simply exercising a little self control?
Also, selling this for $500 is probably going to not go well for them.
Launch video (Score:2)
The first 12 seconds is just the Commodore brand flying into view
0:12 to 0:24 is introducing the Callback name, without actually telling you what it is.
0:24 to 0:36 are some computer-rendered fly-throughs of a vaguely computer-y object: PCBs, chips, LEDs
0:36 to 0:46 is a smash of vaguely retro video clips
0:46 to 0:57 are headlines and audio about how awful smartphones and social media are for everyone
At 0:58 you finally get a view of the product! But still
blocking social (Score:3)
Price is Bonkers (Score:2)
$499 is pretty nuts for this. Kids will hate it no matter what*, but if it were $99 they would probably sell way more than 5x the units. Seems like they think they are marketing to adults that have enough self awareness that they have a "problem" with social media, but something like this would make more sense as a first phone for a kid, but the price is too high for that.
For a $499 "minimal phone" I would want something crazy like an iPhone style form factor but with a color e-ink display and an open sourc
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, for even two hundo, I'd be considering buying this as a fun accessory.
For five hundo? Nope.
Half measures (Score:2)
So if your chat app gets compromised you can't search for a solution or workaround using the same phone. Brilliant.
brought back memories of my Moto Razr V3 (Score:2)
getting photos off on your laptop
contract lists
making notes
listening to music.
I remember having an iPod, a palm pilot, and my Razr, and really wishing they could all be mashed together. Today, that is iPhone (or any smartphone). Problem for me is I don't like the huge size of 17, 13 mini was last iteration that I liked. I was really hoping Apple would get on the retro/flip/simplify bus and do something, but seems like that jus