Adam Curry: “I have a phone tip. Yes, I got a new phone—a $63 phone, the Cat S22. I’ll tell you why I like this phone: I was on my old phone too much, with all the alerts going off, and even on my Graphene OS, it was just too much going on. I wanted something simple that gives me my email (not Gmail, of course), text messaging, and my Bible app. That’s about it.
This phone is a flip phone, and it looks like one of those old phones with a weird operating system. It’s an industrial-strength phone with a big keyboard, almost like one for grandma. The screen is small—probably 3 inches by 2 inches—and it runs a version of Android called Android Go. You can customize it with as little as you want, but even if you install apps, the screen and pop-up keyboard are so small that it’s practically useless for overuse.
So, it becomes a very minimal phone. You don’t install any Google products, and while T-Mobile tries to push a bunch of games when you first turn it on, you can strip all that out. It’s a very affordable, durable phone, and it looks kind of cool. People say, ‘Oh, what’s that? A flip phone?’ It’s apparently the new flex. It’s a good product. Despite being Android-based, if you just want a phone that handles a few essential tasks without distractions, it’s perfect. That’s my tip. You might want to check it out, John—you’d love it.”
John C. Dvorak: “I have a good phone.”
Adam Curry: “Yeah, it’s in the desk.”
John C. Dvorak: “No, it’s in a drawer downstairs.”