Sprint is trying to sell me a flip phone

"facw" (facw) 09/15/2018 at 12:47 • Filed to: CELLPHONELOPNIK, Phones, Sprint, Advertising

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My ad blocker crashed, and this is what I’m seeing on Kinja:

Apparently to attract my attention, they are leading with feature phone that looks like it might be a dozen years old. Apparently it is rugged, but maybe I’ll just get a case. Presumably they have something like this to provide a clear (if bad) upgrade path for old push-to-talk users, but it strikes me as very weird to be showing it in a consumer advertisement.

WilliamsSW > facw 09/15/2018 at 12:59

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Talk about dumb. The entire market for that phone wouldn’t be able to get on the Internet to view that ad.

LastFirstMI is my name > facw 09/15/2018 at 13:39

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This isn’t a kinja crash, it’s a time warp! Quick, look at a newspaper and see what day it is!

LOREM IPSUM > facw 09/15/2018 at 13:48

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There has been a resurgence in the flip phone market as some people have been ditching their smart phones in an attempt to curb their phone addiction. Essentially f orcing themselves to unteather from social media.

XJDano > LOREM IPSUM 09/15/2018 at 14:23

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There is also the satisfaction of the flick of the wrist to slap it shut when you are ending a call. That’s what I miss most.

I’d go back to a flip phone.

58008

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > facw 09/15/2018 at 14:38

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I actually have one of those, picked up at a thrift store for a buck or two. With the exception of the low-res camera it has some decent specs and features including an SD card slot. I think I used it as an MP3 player in the car for awhile; you can fit a decent amount of music in 32GB.

Ash78, voting early and often > facw 09/15/2018 at 14:41

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Great for employees in the field, honestly — construction, sales teams, school staff, you name it. You give them PTT connectivity like a walkie talkie, plus real phone calls, but prevent them from screwing around on the internet or risk breaking expensive hardware.

I can definitely see a niche for this.

Urambo Tauro > facw 09/15/2018 at 14:46

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I’m not here to defend ads, but I do love a good f lip phone and I’m glad that they’re still a thing. Not everybody needs a mini-tablet.

Kiltedpadre > facw 09/15/2018 at 15:10

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I wish my work would switch my work phone to a flip phone. I’m not expected to answer emails outside of the normal shift. All I really need is the ability to send texts, calls, and a camera for those “who the hell approved building it like this” moments.

I wouldn’t want it for personal use, but I hate having two bulky smartphones.

wafflesnfalafel > facw 09/15/2018 at 16:20

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I had one of those,   like 5 7 years ago. I really liked it for the time, but I killed it running it through the washing machine by accident...

ranwhenparked > XJDano 09/15/2018 at 21:03

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I kind of miss how small they were. Like you could slide one into your front pocket and not have a thick square budge down your thigh.

Seriously, what do they expect us to do with them now? Use belt clips? Because those look stupid.