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dw861 [soylentnews.org] writes:

The CBC's evening current events show "As it Happens" reports that American engineer Justine Haupt is the creator of a rotary dial mobile phone. Listen to the full 5:39 interview here, or read a shortened transcript at:
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-friday-edition-1.5464054/this-new-york-woman-built-her-own-rotary-cellphone-1.5464235 [www.cbc.ca]

Haupt said she built the phone because she doesn't like how hyper-connected people have become in the world of smartphones. Haupt further revealed that she created the phone because she wanted a device that she could control.

Although the phone operates on a 3G cellular network, it is not a smartphone."It's as un-smart as it can be, intentionally."

The phone is small enough, and thin enough, to fit in a pocket. It does integrate some modern features, such as programmable shortcut buttons for calling specific numbers, a power switch, and a curved e-paper screen that displays basic information such as missed calls.

Though only briefly mentioned in the interview, the phone incorporates open source hardware from Adafruit Industries.

Full project description and documentation can be found on Haupt's webpage:
http://justine-haupt.com/rotarycellphone/index.html [justine-haupt.com]

Original Submission