Kroc Camen

"Ce n'est pas un smartphone"

Tactility, Utility, Intentionality; a picture from 5 years ago of everything I used instead of a smartphone (although I forgot to include the Kindle 4).

The dumbphone, a Sony Ericsson Elm I used from 2010 to 2022 and only switched to a smartphone when I was forced to by a number of online services finally breaking on dumbphones post-pandemic; a move I continue to regret.

#psion #gameboy #ipod #dumbphone #retrotech #retrogaming

Mar 28 at 8:21pmWeb
Show threadJoel Pomales1d ago

@Kroc man. I had both a Psion 5 and 7.

Give me any today with updated internals and I'll be set.

Show threadQCATOPR 1d ago
@Kroc Of all the things I regret giving away, I regret the 5mx the most.
Show threadKroc Camen1d ago
@timjclevenger Eh, don't beat yourself up, you'd be surprised at how difficult it is to put one to practical use in this day and age when everything has become so seamless and integrated; I am going out of my way to use mine for a very specific, very focused task -- writing a book -- and I know that a cheap Android tablet with a Bluetooth keyboard would easily be "better" and more productive for most anybody. I am transferring files to a laptop using a USB CompactFlash adaptor: That's not a hurdle most people could tolerate when they could be using Google Docs, but then I'm not most people
Show threadHeliopolitan20h ago
@Kroc @timjclevenger I gave away my old 5mx, threw away my old 3a, then got into Psions again, and now have a whole room full of their innards, as well as several working machines :-) [I'm shanemuk over on the Psion Discord group - good to see you here too!]
Show threadThe Last Psion | Alex1d ago
@Kroc I loved my Elm. I wonder if I still have it?
Show threadKroc Camen1d ago
@thelastpsion I bought 5 so that I always had a spare in case I lost one, got stolen, or broken. Phones were cheap back then :P Great phone, I only stopped using it because the Google Maps J2ME app stopped working and that was critical for me at the time. I had the w810i before the Elm, another outstanding phone for the time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Ericsson_W810
Sony Ericsson W810 - Wikipedia

Show threadThe Last Psion | Alex1d ago

@Kroc I also had a W810i! Totally agree. Incredibly well built, fantastic OS. Looking back, it was probably my favourite phone I've ever owned. I actually kept using the Walkman earphones that came with it for years afterwards.

I loved so many of (Sony) Ericsson's phones. I had a K700i, a T68i (OK, that had a dodgy joystick), a T20i, a T28i (kindly given to me) and a T10i. I also had a C902, which I didn't love as much but was still pretty solid. Nokia never appealed to me.

Show threadhobbs1d ago
@Kroc reminds me a lot of the nec mobilepro 770 i ran netbsd on in the early 2000s.