"good old days when telephones were made for talking"

Finally. Just what I'm looking for.

I agree.

These also look nice - http://www.jitterbug.com/Phones.aspx.

Although they are not so cheap initially, since they offer lower-priced monthly plans than I have seen elsewhere, the cost of the phone is paid back relatively quickly if you only need an hour or so per month.

Also, I think they have a kind of Kramer appeal.

Agreed! The first thing I thought when I saw that phone is, "that's EXACTLY the phone I need!"

I work in a secure facility, where cameras are not allowed. Do you know how hard it is to find a phone w/o a camera in it these days? It's actually a PITA! And that's just silly... :)

I know some folks working in secure facilities who actually drill out the camera lens with a drill press and fill the hole with a drying cement. It's effective, if a bit... draconian.

Though I heard a month or two ago that the regulations for some secure sites have been changed to allow cameras on phones. Several people I know who have not gotten cells are now looking at getting them because they can keep them when at a secure site.

This is all experience with military contractors in St. Louis, so your mileage may vary.

Sadly I doubt it will ever come to the US. You couldn't text on that (with no screen and all), which kills it immediately for major US companies, who increasing depend on data for revenue growth.

But I would use one of those in a heartbeat.

The Motorola F3 has been selling at this price point for a year I believe - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_FONE_F3

You can pick up pay as you go Nokia S40's for £20 or so these days too.

The tricky part is designing a UI for illiterate users.

Do you know if the F3 will work with T-Mobile in USA?

There are two versions of the F3; the 850/1900 MHz variant works with any GSM carrier in the US (AT&T/T-Mobile/etc).

I bought one for $40. The calls sound clear, the battery lasts for 5+ days, and you can run over it in a car without breaking it.

The most striking thing is not the no flips, no folds... there's no screen.

And that probably means there's no addressbook either. I don't know if I could go back to remembering all those phone numbers.

Well, either it has some features like that, or the pic is just an artist's impression, given that it has an enter key.

$20?! What, is it made of diamonds?

My current phone is AT&T's $10 Go Phone (some kind of LG), and it has a color screen, customizable menus, and better voice quality than my previous phone (an LG flip phone). It's also light, small and has decent battery life.

Of course, I'm just waiting till I'm eligible for an upgrade so I can get an iPhone . . .

Maybe they are not subsidizing the cost of the hardware with the service price?

The same could be asked of the phone here. Cellphone companies always use the lowest, most underhanded tactics possible. Never trust them.

In India, handsets are never bundled with the service.

They aren't in most countries - AFAIK, bundling with the service is mostly a U.S. phenomenon. That's why you only see SIM-locked GSM phones in the U.S.

I'd really be interested in a phone with slots for 2 or more SIM cards. Can you get those?

Not as far as I know but you can get dual-sim hacks in most market phone shops. See http://skydeck.com/blog/thisisbroken/the-xphone/

This could really catch on. It's hip.