Anything made after 1994 isn't the Commodore 64 "Commodore", ya feel me?
It's 2026 and I'm suddenly desperately interested in buying a flipphone from Commodore? What is even going on? Has reality itself completely jumped the shark?
Commodore has had an interesting year. A retro-tech YouTuber got into discussions with the company and ended up buying it. I think they had plans to become a public benefit company of some kind, with a focus on openness and preserving old tech.
I'm surprised that the Wikipedia article doesn't have a lot of details on those recent developments from the past year
Well, bought the trademarks at least. Commodore as a proper company hasn't existed for over three decades, the name has just been bouncing around from one company to another.
There's another Commodore in Italy too though. Not sure what's the deal with that.
Dumb ❌
Overpriced ✅
People do not know the manufacturing cost of TVs because everything is a smart device that generates data for to be sold by the manufacturer. A dumb device cost a premium in [insert current year] because they have to account for that lack of that revenue stream to keep the lights on. Its why dumb "commercial displays" cost an arm and a leg (plus they are designed to be on 24/7, their actual specs are usually fairly mid).
Commodore's phone is also a smart device, despite what its form factor would suggest
i am the target audiance like 100% but.. THE PRICE! HOLLY FUCK! the idea is nice but.. realy? t9 crap? and lets take about the website. i can smell ai generated background. and the scheme of the phone look like a chat gpt thing.
Privacy first? So what is WhatsApp doing on there?
I get why, that is for a lot of people the ONLY way they use a phone instead of calling, but this definitely not privacy first or social media free then.
I mean, it's not like it comes preloaded or anything. It's Linux, you can choose install (or not install) whatever you want.
Edit: Good Lord, it actually does come preloaded. Unreal.
Edit: Good Lord, it actually does come preloaded.
At least Facebook will subsidize a large portion of the price, right?
> $500
Well then.
It’s Linux, you can choose install (or not install) whatever you want.
yes, well except that is what they are trying to patent (as far as I can tell) using key based tools to not allow certain apps and DNS filtering as well. If its based on linux, thats one thing, but doesnt stop them from locking things down.
$499 hell no, max $70
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.
$70 is a bit low but yeah $500 bucks for this phone is just stupid. Max I think would be $150 to $200 just because that's the economy right now. It's not like these kinds of phones are hard to build.
As always these companies are overestimating the power of nostalgia.
Kinda funny that we’re looking at this on lemmy, 90% of us are on our phones browsing while doing random things.
It looks cool, but smartphones, good or bad, fill the void of riding the bus, waiting 5 mins for your next meeting, waiting for your partner to get ready in “5 more minutes”. I’m ADHD and this helps me just unwind.
I know it’s not for everyone, but it’s silly that this is being pitched as revolutionary.
I have ADHD too and my smartphone is pure poison. It's way too addicting. I long back for the days I could just zone out on the bus while listening to music.
I will suck Commodore's dick all day, but for $500?
Fuck out of here with your AI-ass ad and Whatsapp-preloaded flip phone.
As much as awesome this is, ~450$ for this is toooooo much
Yeah I was pretty shocked at that price, I thought it would be less than $200
I kinda like the phone. Would be a good phone for my daughter, but not at that price tag. I'd pay 150€ max.
"We built the phone in between" [a smart phone and dumb phone] is a pretty appealing tag line. In the last half of the 2010s, when I finally dragged myself into getting an actual smart phone, I really wished I could get a flip phone that was more capable. The feature phones still on the market at the time seemed to be right out of 2003.
This implementation seems a little off. It has the flip form factor, and can run most android apps, great! But then it sounds like they arbitrarily block browsers and 'social media'? I think just leave them out by default, and let people go that route if they want it. The form factor already limits how well some of those would work.
Agreed, it's an odd move when so much else about the phone is being marketed as having the user's interests at heart. If you scratch a bit and squint at the wording they're using, though, it feels more and more like the CEO has his own idea of how people should be using their phones and is pushing that. The fact that it is more privacy respecting is incidental to the fact. I could be wrong, but that's the vibe I've certainly gotten.
It's too bad. I wouldn't mind having a phone with no social media but no browser is probably going to be a dealbreaker for me. Their FAQ says it's basically a way of 'cheating' to get to social media sites and that's incredibly condescending. I probably just want to look up if a nearby store is still open or something.
the CEO has his own idea of how people should be using their phones and is pushing that.
He does and he is. I've watched Perifractic's channel for awhile and he is really very strident about "digital detox" on account of his smartphone use negatively effecting his mental health. This phone is made for Peri specifically; he just happens to be selling it.
(Which I'm fine with, by the way. I hope it does well; I'd like to see the new Commodore stick around a little longer.)
Overall: we want to either get a cheap one second hand or make our own because PWEW that’s such a good idea lol
Transparent shell = prison butt phone
Already exists via kei phones out however you call them
KaiOS. Which is a great alternative... as long as you don't mind Google everywhere (most people don't, I know). But yeah, this one is asking too much.
Looked this up and this looks really cool!! Thank you for showing :3 Might still use sailfish but not 100% sure now
I would be interested, but the amount of paternalism is disgusting.
No browser? I'm an adult; if I want to google something 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. 🙄
Frankly, I'm not feeling it.
Long ago, Commodore trademark was just slapped on random junk.
It was my hope that when the Commodore trademark was recently acquired by folks who genuinely care about Commodore history, this sort of things would not happen again.
Makes me a bit apprehensive.
This will flop. Iol be surprised if this gets more than 5 units sold to collectors.
I want this but no 5g is a deal breaker
What do you need 5G for with a phone like this, though? It's explicitly not a media-consumption device.
While true, won't 4g be phased out in like 5 years?
I'm on a provider that only has 5g in some areas. Nobody is putting up new 4g or lower towers I guess
Frutiger Aero is back in fashion!
It's super cool and I'm strongly considering it, but not including 5G is dumb I think. Where I live 5G has way better coverage and 4G is lacking and spotty many places. Also no mentioning of Bluetooth is also a big no no for me. So much for a good DAC buy now all my headphones I already own are wireless with LDAC And AptX etc.
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
