Comment by mememememememo

1 month ago

Do we think a dumb phone Nokia and calls only SIM is just as good (to avoid all the drilling etc. of installing landlines in each kids room?)

I dug out an old Motofone (the $40 eink candybar) for this reason, only to discover that it’s 2G, which has been decommissioned. Too bad, would’ve been fun to watch the kid learn T9.

  • Modern dumbphones exist: https://www.hmd.com/en_int/nokia-3210

    • Of course they do. But this is HN - not as neat as using the 15-year-old phone I have.

    • For Americans, QVC and Target regularly have the BLU Flex or TCL Flip 3 bundled with a year of Tracfone service for $50 or less.

    • I mean, sure you can find them if you look hard enough, but a phone that plays videos is not a dumbphone in my book. And I wouldn't hand it to my kid. It's probably worse than handing them a smartphone, because I'm guessing it is just dumb enough to have no parental controls.

  • 2G to 3G converter ftw!

    • Is there such a thing? Given it's radio waves in regulated radio spectrum, I'm not sure such a device would even be allowed to operate without a license. This said, there are 3G Nokia dumbphones (e.g. C2-01). I just had to stop using one because my operator tore down the 3G network here, like in most of Europe. (2G was already down since some time).

      Edit: there are even 4G-VoLTE dumbphones by the way.

Ooma has a wifi box that you plug your handset into. It's not like a POTS where you need to put a jack in every room.

I believe cordless VoIP phones are still a product one can purchase new.

They need only an electrical outlet for the charge stand.