As someone who's done a fair amount of research into new flip phones, I'm of two minds about this. People are getting hung up on the price, but it actually makes sense on paper. Most flip phones aren't as fully-featured as this one. The cameras are usually closer to 8MP and pretty low quality. Most of them don't use USB-C or have that powerful of a processor. A lot of them use KaiOS, which is dead in terms of support now and not great when it was active. Plus, a lot of the "low price" of cell phones is supplemented, either with the cost of a plan or with selling data. A new company (with an old name, but let's be real), making a niche product without an existing manufacturing pipeline? Yeah, it makes sense. And there is a market for this, even if it is a small one. I've been a part of the "dumbphone" community for years.
But.........man, that's some unserious messaging. The U2 joke in the specs image. The whole "blocking apps at the system level because I feel like it" tone, followed by wishy-washy "Well, you can sideload SOME stuff" in the FAQ. The product announcement copy that has way too much Personal Voice. I don't doubt that there are some talented people working on this. It really feels like a guy with enough money to start projects, but I have my doubts about follow-through given how unprofessional this reads. I know there's been "discourse" about the new Commodore CEO. I haven't delved into that, but I can start to see it just from how this reads (not the article; well done as always). As someone who has worked in tech startups, this sounds like the talk of bosses I've had at companies that no longer exist. Love the idea of this product, but it's still a "wait and see" for me.
I feel like the Venn Diagram of "people who want to buy a port of a super-obscure , experimental PS1 game whose main selling point is that it's from the creator of another, different super-obscure experimental retro game" and "people who won't buy a game without the textures being run through a gloopy, ugly filter"...those circles can't overlap, right? I don't think those two circles can even see each other.
I mean, it's a very Sony thing to do, right? At least at that time. Take a genre that's popular at the moment and do a version of it with big production value. I'm thinking, like, Killzone coming out when Halo was super big. The Getaway for GTA. Doesn't make those games derivative, just reflective of when they were made. Sony started out big on third-party games, but they were always trying to find a hit that they Owned.
I love paying more for no reason! And small businesses? Who needs those. Thank goodness we have a Master Negotiator using his shrewd business acumen to bring all the success to America that he brought to...Trump Ice, Trump Airlines, Trump Mortgage, Trump Steak, Trump University, and other famously successful and definitely still alive products. Certainly, he's not just a rich failson who used daddy's money to stumble into enough mob connections to Mr. Magoo himself into looking competent.
Comments 5
Re: Commodore's Next Hardware Release Is Dumb, And Proud Of It
As someone who's done a fair amount of research into new flip phones, I'm of two minds about this. People are getting hung up on the price, but it actually makes sense on paper. Most flip phones aren't as fully-featured as this one. The cameras are usually closer to 8MP and pretty low quality. Most of them don't use USB-C or have that powerful of a processor. A lot of them use KaiOS, which is dead in terms of support now and not great when it was active. Plus, a lot of the "low price" of cell phones is supplemented, either with the cost of a plan or with selling data. A new company (with an old name, but let's be real), making a niche product without an existing manufacturing pipeline? Yeah, it makes sense. And there is a market for this, even if it is a small one. I've been a part of the "dumbphone" community for years.
But.........man, that's some unserious messaging. The U2 joke in the specs image. The whole "blocking apps at the system level because I feel like it" tone, followed by wishy-washy "Well, you can sideload SOME stuff" in the FAQ. The product announcement copy that has way too much Personal Voice. I don't doubt that there are some talented people working on this. It really feels like a guy with enough money to start projects, but I have my doubts about follow-through given how unprofessional this reads. I know there's been "discourse" about the new Commodore CEO. I haven't delved into that, but I can start to see it just from how this reads (not the article; well done as always). As someone who has worked in tech startups, this sounds like the talk of bosses I've had at companies that no longer exist. Love the idea of this product, but it's still a "wait and see" for me.
Re: Doshin The Giant Creator's PS1 Oddity, 'Aquanaut's Holiday' Arrives On Steam This Month, With "GenAI" Remastered Mode
I feel like the Venn Diagram of "people who want to buy a port of a super-obscure , experimental PS1 game whose main selling point is that it's from the creator of another, different super-obscure experimental retro game" and "people who won't buy a game without the textures being run through a gloopy, ugly filter"...those circles can't overlap, right? I don't think those two circles can even see each other.
Re: Anbernic's Next Handheld Looks To Sony's Ill-Fated PS Vita For "Inspiration"
Going by Anbernic's track record, this thing will look like a Vita, but just be barely powerful enough to play most PSP games with Frameskip on.
Re: Legend of Dragoon Producer Denies The PS1 RPG Was Intended To Be Sony's Final Fantasy Clone
I mean, it's a very Sony thing to do, right? At least at that time. Take a genre that's popular at the moment and do a version of it with big production value. I'm thinking, like, Killzone coming out when Halo was super big. The Getaway for GTA. Doesn't make those games derivative, just reflective of when they were made. Sony started out big on third-party games, but they were always trying to find a hit that they Owned.
Re: "Might Be Time To Go Back To A Corporate Job" - Trump's Tariffs Come Into Effect
I love paying more for no reason! And small businesses? Who needs those. Thank goodness we have a Master Negotiator using his shrewd business acumen to bring all the success to America that he brought to...Trump Ice, Trump Airlines, Trump Mortgage, Trump Steak, Trump University, and other famously successful and definitely still alive products. Certainly, he's not just a rich failson who used daddy's money to stumble into enough mob connections to Mr. Magoo himself into looking competent.