Old Phones

the "cloud first" approach was interesting and may work better today than it did in 2016, but in 2016 it definitely didn't work very well

but anyway WE USED TO MAKE COOL PHONES

Two views of the phone. The left is the back, which is mostly gray with a strip of a light teal at the top and bottom. The right is the front, with a standard touchscreen with the top and bottom being the same teal.

Nextbit Robin (2016)

this is still one of my favorite phone designs. It's beautiful.

oh yeah this account exists lol

A flip phone of absurd shape. The bottom half is normally shaped, but the top left curves instead of being rectangular. There's a hinge on the the left side that connects to a circular hinge in the middle of the front. This one is various shades of bright pink

Samsung P110V (2007)

ok, buckle in for this one

solition: bring back chunky flip phones

Sony Ericsson z610 (2006)

the front and back view of a candybar style phone. The front has traditional number keys, directional buttons, answer and disconnect, and menu buttons with a small screen at the top. The back looks like an old digital camera. The camera has a sliding shutter that closes to protect the lens.

Sony Ericsson K750 (2005)

and yes, the shutter slides closed!

A candy bar style phone with a small touchscreen on top and a fully QWERTY keyboard. Underneath the keyboard is a button with the Facebook logo. There are three views of the same phone. The left shows the back, the middle is the front view, and the right is the side view. The side shows that under the screen, the phone has a slight angle to it.

HTC Status (2011)

The Facebook Phone! literally a typical Android phone with a Facebook button that brought up whatever you were looking at as a post. It was dumb but at least they were trying something

A phone with a small screen. The front is a dark blue, the back is a light blue. There are only 5 number buttons (0 through 4), a menu/connect button and a power/disconnect button. The shape of the phone is almost like an 8 with it being thin in the middle and curving out. There are two antennas sticking out at the top to look like bunny ears

I-KIDS SF-001 (2006)

the Mobile Phone Museum lists this under their "Ugliest" collection and they are completely wrong, this is sick

two views of the same horizontal flip phone. The left is it closed, it has a smooth glass front with touch screen-esque numeric buttons. The right is it opened with a full QWERTY keyboard on the bottom half and a screen on the top.

the best phone under $500 is a Sanyo Innuendo from 2011

this wasn’t the only “ecophone” during the late ‘00s!

Motorola Renew W233 (2009)

Motorola claimed this to be the first “carbon neutral” phone. The manual was recycled paper and most of the ink was vegetable-based.

We fucked up by making phones ALL touchscreens, I cannot tell you how often I fuck something up because two touch buttons are too close together give me TACTILE BUTTONS NO I AM NOT A CRANK

i don't care that almost every study shows that touchscreen typing is more accurate and faster than the qwerty phones. i'm anti science when it comes to slider phones

A slider phone. The front has a small screen, directional pad, menu buttons, and numeric keyboard. The bottom slides out perpendicular to the number keys to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard. This one is a light green front with silver buttons.

the same phone as before, but the front is an electric blue

LG Rumor (2007)

i want a slide out keyboard so bad. also WE USED TO MAKE PHONES IN COOL COLORS

A slider phone. The front has a small screen, directional pad, menu buttons, and numeric keyboard. The bottom slides out perpendicular to the number keys to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard. This one is a light green front with silver buttons.

the same phone as before, but the front is an electric blue

LG Rumor (2007)

i want a slide out keyboard so bad. also WE USED TO MAKE PHONES IN COOL COLORS

former cellphone salesmen everywhere feeling VERY vindicated for hating Celebrite machines

necessary reminder that “carbon neutral” is based off purchasing carbon credits which is bullshit the fossil fuel industry came up with to put the onus of their irresponsibility on individuals 🥰

this wasn’t the only “ecophone” during the late ‘00s!

Motorola Renew W233 (2009)

Motorola claimed this to be the first “carbon neutral” phone. The manual was recycled paper and most of the ink was vegetable-based.

two of the same phones in different colors. The left if green with a black keyboard, the right is blue with a silver keyboard. It's a sliding phone with a QWERTY keyboard and a small screen. It has the Samsung logo at the top and the Sprint logo under the screen.

tired: banana phone

wired: corn phone

Samsung Reclaim (2009)

can't hack it if nobody knows what it is anymore

The Reclaim's was made from 80% recycled materials and the plastic outside was made from a material that is 40% corn

The box it came in was also made of 70% recycled materials, the ink was soy-based, and it didn't come with a paper user manual (uncommon at the time)

two of the same phones in different colors. The left if green with a black keyboard, the right is blue with a silver keyboard. It's a sliding phone with a QWERTY keyboard and a small screen. It has the Samsung logo at the top and the Sprint logo under the screen.

tired: banana phone

wired: corn phone

Samsung Reclaim (2009)

sorry for the lack of posting, been on vacation and mostly off social media but we're so back

rightttt????

A phone with a small screen. The front is a dark blue, the back is a light blue. There are only 5 number buttons (0 through 4), a menu/connect button and a power/disconnect button. The shape of the phone is almost like an 8 with it being thin in the middle and curving out. There are two antennas sticking out at the top to look like bunny ears

I-KIDS SF-001 (2006)

the Mobile Phone Museum lists this under their "Ugliest" collection and they are completely wrong, this is sick

a candybar style phone with a plastic cover that flips to cover the keys. A small screen on top. It’s mostly silver, the number buttons, directional buttons, menu buttons, and media control are all black.

the same phone as the prior image but with the plastic cover closed. the screen is still visible. The cover says “SAMSUNG MP3 Mobile Multimedia”

Since it’s Spotify Wrapped Day, lets talk phones switching to mp3 players! The first phone with mp3 capabilities:

Samsung SPH-M100 (2000)

it could hold roughly 7-10 songs!

a candybar style phone with a plastic cover that flips to cover the keys. A small screen on top. It’s mostly silver, the number buttons, directional buttons, menu buttons, and media control are all black.

the same phone as the prior image but with the plastic cover closed. the screen is still visible. The cover says “SAMSUNG MP3 Mobile Multimedia”

Since it’s Spotify Wrapped Day, lets talk phones switching to mp3 players! The first phone with mp3 capabilities:

Samsung SPH-M100 (2000)

it could hold roughly 7-10 songs!

A flip phone but it is square in shape and has a full QWERTY keyboard. The screen on the outside also has Play/Pause, Forward, and Back buttons and a camera. The outside and some of the keys are purple with a floral pattern

LG Lotus (2008)

it also came in black if you were a boring person

same phone as before but closed. This one is red with a circular/spiral pattern

they made a red one too! if you zoom in you can see a bandana/Bicycle cards-esque pattern

WE USED TO MAKE PHONES IN COLORS

A flip phone but it is square in shape and has a full QWERTY keyboard. The screen on the outside also has Play/Pause, Forward, and Back buttons and a camera. The outside and some of the keys are purple with a floral pattern

LG Lotus (2008)

it also came in black if you were a boring person

a closed flip phone with a small screen

Ericsson T39M (2001)

the first consumer phone with Bluetooth!