Tech: Motorola Motofone F3

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In posting about the OLPC, I wrote that my ideal cell phone would be a bog battery attached to a big antenna. I’ve got a real love for cheap, rugged and simple technology–stuff that does what it’s supposed to do with utter reliability, with no downtime or compromises.

When my cell phone broke, I bought a Motofone F3; I’m very pleased with it. It has no camera, it has no games, it can’t download ringtones, connect to the internet, or play mp3s; it lacks bluetooth, animated screens, color, and it only comes in Henry Ford Black. The phone makes calls, keeps a basic addressbook, sends text messages, and has an extremely loud speakerphone. It’s a phone, not an iPhone.

It’s also only available in developing countries, so I had to buy mine through a Mexican importer. It’s sold for around $20 USD there; I bought it for $38 shipped.

It’s not low-tech though. It’s the first commercial cell phone with an E-ink screen, a technology now publicized by e-book readers like Amazon’s Kindle. Basically, it’s tiny balls of ink–black on one side and white on the other–that can be made to flip electronically.  Perhaps we’ll see a resurgence of black and white photography if the technology takes off before they perfect the color version, but I digress.  The point is, E-ink is extraordinarily readable in bright light and requires almost no power.

The phone lasts all week for me on a single charge, it’s designed to work in  areas with low signal strength, the keyboard is waterproof, it’s Motorola’s thinnest phone, and it’s cheap enough that you can get it stolen and not cry. Here’s a youtube of someone running theirs over with a car.

Technology is a tool, that’s all I’m saying.

Bonus tech: My keyboard, seen under the phone.


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