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Commodore is back with a de-Googled feature phone for the anti-doomscrolling crowd (www.androidcentral.com)
submitted 3 months ago by to c/degoogle@lemmy.ml
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[–] 46 points 3 months ago (4 children)

from the article:

Privacy is a core selling point

also from the article: mock-up picture showing WhatsApp running on the phone.

I get it that it would be running Android apps through the compatibility layer on SailfishOS, but that means it's not private. Whatsapp will know lots of things about you.

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  • [–] 29 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    I don't use it, but unfortunately Whatsapp is the de-facto messaging app for a very large percentage of the world population (especially outside of the US) and so the trade-off people are stuck in is use Whatsapp or be cut off from friends/family/anyone else who doesn't care about Zuck peeping their DMs (aka, the vast majority of people).

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  • [–] 7 points 3 months ago

    WhatsApp entered just at the right time in my country. Despite SMS being the defacto way we text people pre iPhone, somehow WhatsApp captured the market here. May be that because the iPhone was expensive for a lot of us and most people instead went with the touch symbian phones and the likes instead and android phones were also still a bit expensive. And back then we don't have carrier financed phone purchasing culture

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    • [–] 27 points 3 months ago (9 children)

    Hell yeah! But $500 is a price I'm torn on.. Not terrible, but not great

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  • [–] 22 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    Who knew, objects made by paid adults in countries with labor laws costs money. All they need to do is to move production overseas

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  • [–] 14 points 3 months ago

    From another article:

    "On the hardware side of things, there seem to be enough modern features to satisfy users who fit the profile of desiring an in-between smart and dumb-phone solution. It supports global LTE cellular connectivity, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth wireless, and even GPS. At the heart of the Callback is a MediaTek Helio G81 SoC, with 4GB/64GB on board. A 32GB microSD card is included to get you started, too."

    https://www.tomshardware.com/phones/commodore-announces-linux-based-flip-phone-with-no-social-media-no-browser-the-callback-8020-will-be-available-in-five-retro-colorways-starting-at-usd499-runs-99-percent-of-android-apps

    To me, that's pretty low spec for $500 all things considered. Now, there is a price to privacy and the fact they're not monetizing data is a pretty huge incentive. So, probably worth the $500 after all.

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  • [–] 12 points 3 months ago (3 children)

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  • [–] 7 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    Lmao love seeing the IT crowd memes still all these years later

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    • [–] 11 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    It "blocks" social media? Whether or not you actually want that, I'm not sure how they could possibly implement it in a way that isn't terrible. Jolla is outside my wheelhouse, but it's Linux isn't it? How are they stopping me from installing anything, let alone these specific things?

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  • [–] 6 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (2 children)

    "Blocks" is hyperbolic, but it's definitely going to add friction to the process. The screen is small (although apparently a touchscreen), the keyboard is T9.

    Edit: Good Lord, it's not hyperbolic. They're jockeying for selling devices that can be locked down by one party before being handed to another.

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  • [–] 6 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    Commodore’s patent-pending technology blocks social media

    Certainly feels like they're claiming more than just journalistic hyperbole

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  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago*

    Huh. Guess I wasn't paying attention.

    Commodore’s patent-pending technology blocks social media platforms and internet browsers at the system level.

    An optional feature apparently.

    If a web browser can charge you an extra $60 to offer you not AI or cryptocurrency wallets, then maybe Commodore can charge you an extra $400 (vs a similar KaiOS phone) to offer you not a web browser.

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    • [–] 8 points 3 months ago*

    That actually looks like an interesting phone. I hope it delivers on its promises.

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    [+] 6 points 3 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (24 children)
    [deleted]
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  • [–] 4 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (13 children)

    How do you think people managed before smart phones?

    Nothing’s that important it can’t wait to get home or to a library, or call someone and get them to check if it is THAT important.

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  • [–] 8 points 3 months ago (4 children)

    So many places now just assume you have a phone. I've been to restaurants that don't have physical menus by default and just have a QR on the table.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    From the article (emphasis mine):

    The Callback is built to do many everyday things, even without a browser. You get QR codes, maps, home security apps, global cellular bands, predictive text messaging, and popular communication app support.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago

    Not impossible to get by, but a lot more difficult in the modern world. I used a dumb phone for a little while a few years ago and I just ended up carrying a smartphone w/o a SIM to tether when needed bc of how much infrastructure assumes you have a smartphone nowadays (in the US at least). It's infuriating - not impossible, but a lot more difficult than it used to be.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago (9 children)

    Some feature phones had browsers

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  • [+] -2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (8 children)
    [deleted]
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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago (6 children)

    WAP/WML browsers, not web browsers.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago (5 children)

    Just googled to see if I was misremembering because I definitely browsed the regular web on my Nokia N73. It also came out in 2006, and back in the day it was not called a smartphone.

    I would say your statement is factually incorrect.

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  • [–] -1 points 3 months ago (4 children)

    I’ll say I’m correct on a technicality. 2006 is not “long before smartphones” only a year or so. The N73 is a sort of proto-smartphone, even if the term wasn’t in use yet.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago* (3 children)

    I’m really curious what other metric there is for a smart phone than “accessing the web” and/or “downloading apps”. Thats the barebones definition of smart TVs or any other appliance or equipment, why are phones somehow different?

    Why are people trying to define it so specifically? So they can feel better about themselves?

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago (2 children)

    The point where it becomes a general-purpose computing device, I think. Programmability is generally what makes it “smart”, i.e. not having the limitation of predefined “features” which make it a feature phone.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago* (1 child)

    Isn’t a feature phone a “dumb phone”? A phone meant for calling and texting, with preinstalled programs, and that’s it. So yeah, installable apps and a browser would instantly make it a smart phone.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago

    It’s all relative but more or less yes.

    Dumb phone has no software features (e.g. Nokia 5110 or so — unless you count the snake game), feature phone has software features but limited to the ones that come with the phone (rarely installable at all), smart phone has actual software aka “apps”

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    • [–] 4 points 3 months ago

    maybe i can put my nokia 7110 to rest

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    [–] 4 points 3 months ago

    I'd trade all the WhatsApp, etc for a mobile hotspot. I can't pre-order on principal but after this phone it's a strong runner up!

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    [–] 2 points 3 months ago

    If it's customizable enough to allow users to remove any and all unwanted user and system apps - through ADB or otherwise - I'm all in. But if I'm stuck with a $500 phone with unremovable Big Tech affiliated apps, it goes into the trash can.

    Also, in my country, electronic identification is a must have, so I hope that works too...

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    [–] 1 point 3 months ago

    The Callback is completely de-Googled, but thanks to the compatibility layer, Sailfish OS can run over 99% of Android apps. That means you still have access to essentials like WhatsApp, Google Maps, Spotify, Signal, and iMessage via a third-party solution that needs temporary access to a Mac.

    In other words no Android app compatibility unless you already own a Mac. Seems like a strange way to have Android .apk compatibility but I don't know the specifics of how Sailfish OS works, maybe it has other macOS dependencies.

    That aside it could be interesting for people not needing anything Android related at all.

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    [–] -2 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    I would be interested, but the amount of paternalism is disgusting.

    No browser? I'm an adult; if I want to search something on the net that I forgot (when was that event?), that's my f'ing right. Don't try to patronize me.

    They sabotage themselves by trying to teach you "to be a better person".

    No social media or internet browsering for you, young man! Now do your homework. 🙄

    And then they add WhatsApp?

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago*

    Yeah, I really fail to see why on earth WhatsApp is there.. Then Signal, Telegram, Facebook Messenger, Snapchat and idk, OG Wickr should be there too and hey, Instagram has it's DMs and some people use their Instagram DMs as their messenger app so hey, add that shit in too!

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