Gizmodo
Just days after we notice the mixed piece on the beautiful but ridiculously priced B&O Serene cellphone in the NYTimes, I notice GQ's scathing declaration that the B&O BeoCom 2 is the worst landline phone to ever hook up to POTS.
Even the most masochistic consumer will resent the two-column number pad, a bewildering design choice that complicates what should be a simple act: dialing.This is exactly why we need the mainstream media's gadget coverage—to keep us on our toes when the gadget lust comes in and common sense hits the fan.
The article is written by Michael Hsu, instead of Associate Editor Kevin Sintumuang. It cleverly reminds us that everyone has a cellphone these days, but not everyone has the landline. That makes it a bit of a reverse tech geek icon: Oooh, you can totally dial BBS with that shit, man. Furthermore, the landline is likely clearer than any cellphone, and you won't drop any calls. Obvious, but worth the reminder.
Jump for my favorite landline handset out of the rest of the article...
ITT 2500 Vintage Bell
The Bell 2500 Desk phone was last made in 1986,
prior to the big phone company "break-up." Since
the Phone Company was required to repair these
phones when they broke, they rarely did! These
are possibly the sturdiest telephones available
today. Great for teenagers, rough environments,
even business and factory applications. They have
an adjustable real mechanical bell ringer.
Ghetto tech fabulous at $49.
The Basic 2500 Desk Telephone - Vintage Bell [Custom Phones]
Comments
I gotta admit the BeoCom2 looks pretty crappy and theres no way i'd buy it...but then u could always give it away to ur lady friend for...
I guess I give this phone credit for being different. But then handicapped people are different too...
Every time I see this phone I get that damn 'Bananaphone' song stuck in my head. Curse you, Raffi!
but this phone doesn't drool.
It can't possibly be worse than the above illustration.
No, Mr. Hsu is correct. I stared at the phone for neigh on 30 minutes and I still don't understand how to dial it.
Are you supposed to press the button actually labled with the number you want to enter or one of the adjacent ones? Maybe you don't push anything? You just shake the phone wildly over your head? It's totally unclear. It'll be years before you master this phone. How do you get all time back, man? HOW??
I find it to be ominous and frightening.
Atrocious--that was hilarious!
Maybe it's one of those things that actually look better in flesh than in a picture...
Or a specially prepared product shot that requires viewers to squint and hold at an arms length to actually have appeal.
All I see is an ugly stick hit by a preceeding ugly stick.
I don't know about your choice of a favourite. I work ina hospital filled to the brim with those things, and maybe they are the roiginal 1986 versions, but they break all the time. You can hardly make a single call without one problem or another. I have grown to hate them with a passion.
Who cares about making calls with this thing after seeing a lesbian pr0n in which the phone made a guest appearance. Instead of making calls, the girls figured out a better use for it.
i have this phone. my opinion on it vary depending on what mood im in. the phone itself is pretty cool looking, sits up straight on its charger, magnetically sort of stands in place when u put it down. the keys being 2 digits in a row in stead of 3 digits in a row like all other phones is wierd at first, but when u get used to it, its pretty fast. the phone's buttons and controls work amazingly well when u get used to it. i flip through the phonebook or look at the last person called at light speed. grievances with the phone however, no speaker phone (major downer for me) no way to change the ringing tone. its programmed with one tone, and u cant change it. how incredibly un cool.
Style over substance? The first time I saw this I thought it looked cool but a little dated. For some reason it reminds me of tech prototypes from the 1980's.
Other than that the feature list disappointed me. Funny, until this article I never noticed the 2 column number pad haha
Btw what happened to the magazine cover??? Was the half naked guy too much for gizmodo? This isn't gonna help in attracting the girls ;P
have you people no taste? u probably think your pay as u go phone from asda's cool you bunch of chavs. this phone is a thing of beauty. its beautifully engineered. a modern design classic. the only thing i can pick fault is the price
Gorgeous phone. Stunning quality, and beleive it or not, once you are used to the buttons and shape, making a phone call ia a very fluent action.
Too expensive though.
$1300 approximatelly :O
I scratch my head as to why it is this much.
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