Light - The Phone Only Phone
Light Phone is credit card-sized cell phone that pairs with your existing phone. It is designed to be used as little as possible, and comes with no bells or whistles. Both figuratively and literally. Without even a display screen to its name, the light phone can't text, snap photos, surf the web, or help you take time away from all the awesome things you're doing to post Facebook updates about all the awesome things you're doing. And while the Light Phone will ring, it won't ding, ping, or sing Maroon 5 at you all throughout the camping trip you're allegedly taking to unplug and get away from it all. In other words, the Light Phone is just like a...like...phone.
Like one of these! Suggesting Light Phone represents a technological advancement of at least...one, two, three...negative fifteen years!
But just one question: why the hell does it cost $100? When I can get a prepaid flip phone from Sears for $19.99?
That wasn't a springboard for me to launch into all the benefits of Light Phone over no-frills, pay-as-you-go cell models. I honestly don't know. Sure, it's really small and all slick and Apple-looking, but otherwise I don't see much difference between buying it and buying a simple prepaid phone for way less. Light Phone makes outgoing calls and forwards all calls from your primary phone, but it uses an app for the forwarding service and so isn't linked to your phone in terms of mobile number--it has its own--or cell plan--it's still just a prepaid GSM phone that functions independently of your carrier.
It does come preloaded with minutes, along with a SIM card and the forwarding app. And it has a sweet Dot Matrix LED strip to show the time and numbers you're typing. And a touchscreen. And something that, at printing, over 1,700 people had pledged nearly $220,000 to back on Kickstarter. With over a month still to go in the campaign.
Maybe Light Phone is appealing to a younger generation that never knew of such things as Motorola International 3200s and Nokia 1011s. Kind of like how I got all whipped up about Fundies and then someone old was like, "Dude. Those are from the 70s.
In any case, if you want to get your hands on (but mostly keep them off of) the phone designed to be used as little as possible, pledge for yours on Kickstarter through June 27, 2015.
Muchas danke to Manny for the Dude Product Tip.
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