Another vote for just ignore the extra buttons. All of the major carriers I’ve seen have phones that don’t have cameras, for those of you whose beef is with that. I have had four different brands of phones, (Nokia, then LG, then two Sony Ericsson, and now a Motorola) and the basic functions on each (call, answer, call waiting, phonebook) were all very simple. To call, type in the number, and hit the “talk” button, or the green button, or the one with a picture of a phone. To answer a call, hit the same button. To pick up call waiting, hit whatever button says “switch lines” or something similar on your phone. To access the phonebook (if you even want to use it), you hit any of the 4 buttons that access the menu, and go to “phonebook”. It’s the one with a picture of a phonebook. Maybe it’s because I work with a lot of older people, and we’ve discussed it here before, I think that once you hit a certain age, most people just become unable to cope with the fact that there is more technology than there used to be. If I could find you a rotary-dial cell phone with no screen, then I’d be happy to, but I only wish that they existed.
Text messages? I don’t think you can find a phone since the era of car phones that doesn’t accept them, but you may be able to get the carrier to block them if you don’t want people sending them to you.
I just feel that if you don’t want a camera/video camera/mp3 player or ringtones/text and picture messaging/Internet/games/day planner, don’t use those functions. It’s not like hitting the “3” button brings up the games menu, and you have to win a game of Deer Hunter before you can place a phone call.
But that’s not so easily done. It’s not like you get a keypad the size of a playing card, with four big ‘essential’ buttons clearly separated from the plethora of non-essential buttons. On the typical phone ignoring the extra buttons is a non-trivial task if you are concentrating on something else, or physically impaired in some way.
I’m a gadget sucker, but I still pine for my 8210, and I can’t help but think that the world would have been better if Psion had been better managed. Things like the DateBook could have been awesome, given their philosophy of doing the basics well and making sure it could all be powered by AA batteries.
I had my current phone for a couple years before I finaly learned how to turn off a lot of the noise. The only noise I want/need my phone to make is a ring when there’s a call (and not even then sometimes). I don’t need it to bleep when I dial, bloop when there’s voice mail, or do a song and dance music/visual extravaganza when powering up or down.
The only problem I had with getting the text messaging crap disabled was the disbelief of the salesgirl (but - but - they’re so cool!). I finally convinced her I was an eccentric old fart and that was that.
And I don’t think it’s so much old fogies don’t want to admit there’s more technology, or can’t handle technology - it’s just that a lot of us have gotten past the “new is always better stage” and don’t want to bother with stuff unless there is an obvious benefit to us. We’d rather spend our time and energy on other stuff.
I’d also like a charger that is easy to get the phone hooked into and obvious when you’ve got it wrong. I had a charger like that for my old phone (the one that died when I dropped it on the concrete garage floor)- you slid the phone onto the charger, and it only stayed on if it was on properly. Now, they all seem to be like this. Those things are a pain in the butt- there are three little wires on the charger that can get bent out of shape, and if they do the charger is kaput. They don’t always connect to what they need to inside the phone, either, even if they look like they’re plugged in, so I sometimes grab my phone after I thought I put it on the charger for the night, and find the charger didn’t connect and the battery is still low :smack: :mad:
My biggest problem is with companies that try to make their products look simpler while still adding features. This makes the features obscure and difficult to reach.
On my old Nokia phone, I was grousing to my son-in-law the other day about the complex process of sending a text message. Here’s what it requires:
Press “Menu” to bring up the main menu
Press “Select” to choose the “Messages” menu
Press “Select” to choose the “Text Messages” menu
Press “Select” to choose “Create Message”
Press “Select” to choose “Text” (as opposed to “Numeric Page”)
Press down-arrow to get to the “Add Number” menu selection
Press “Select” again to pick it
Enter the number, or press “Search” to go and find it
Press “Options”
Press the down arrow twice to get to “Enter Text”
Press “Select”
Start entering the message!
For those keeping count, if I know the phone number of the person I’m texting, and it’s in my area (making it only 7 digits), then I have to press eighteen keys before I can start entering the message. If I don’t know the number, I have to scroll through my contact list, which will be even more keypressing (rhymes with “depressing”).
My son-in-law said, “Why don’t you just press left-arrow from the main screen to go directly to step 5 on your list?”
OH! Left-arrow! How blatantly obvious! I could have been pressing only 15 keys instead of 18 to start my text message. Since the majority of multi-function cellphone owners seem to use their phones primarily for voice calls, text messages, and taking pictures, why can’t they put a “text message” button on them?
It appears that most of the kids in the local high school have perfected the art of sending text messages with their hands in the pocket or purse that contains the phone without looking at the phone. They sure as heck don’t have the same phone I do.
I do like the smallness of the newer phones. I have a Nokia from a couple of years ago, pretty much like the “brick” you describe, but comfortably small. It’s just a phone like the OP described…caller ID, makes and receives calls, stores voicemail, and that’s about it. Oh, and it also has a little flashlight at the end which I find really cool for navigating the bedroom in the morning, since I have to get up so much earlier than my wife. It’s especially good for not tripping over a cat.
But now I don’t carry it anymore since my company gave me a blackberry. I have to carry that, and I refuse to wear more than one belt-hangdown.
As for flip-phones, why on earth couldn’t the come up with a release button, or a way that you could just jerk it open the way they did on Star Trek. It doesn’t make sense that you have to use two hands to answer your cell phone. It’s funny how they were marketed as more modern and up to date, and yet were the perfect example of a newer product being harder to use.
Most (all?) non-flip cellphones have a way to lock the keypad to prevent accidental dialing. It’s typically non-obvious. On my Nokia, it’s the menu/select button from the main screen followed by the asterisk key. Unlocking is the same key combo.
or should I say 