h a l f b a k e r yLike a magnifying lens, only with rocks.
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One limitation on the compactness of mobile phones is the
need for the keypad. Whittling one's fingers down makes it
possible to operate smaller keys, but there are limits.
MaxCommunications is therefore somewhat proud to
introduce its StickPhone, featuring combination-lock
dialling.
Resembling
a small but unusually expensive stick, the
StickPhone has a microphone at one end and a speaker at
the other. The body telescopes into itself, being four
inches long when closed and about six inches long when
extended.
Encircling the body of the StickPhone are 15 titanium-fibre
rings, resembling the number rings of a combination lock.
Each ring has, etched into its lovingly-knurled surface, the
digits 0-9, plus a # and a blank.
To dial, simply set the number on the wheels and pull the
two ends of the phone to telescope it out to its full length.
To hang up, just telescope it back down.
crank me up
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curta
Start me up... make a groan man cry [popbottle, Sep 24 2015]
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Annotation:
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[ ] disappointing it isn't a single-dial phone: 4 to the left, 1 to the right, 6 to the left, et cetera. |
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The US version of this telescopes out to 11 inches. The knurling might not be quite so lovingly. |
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Hey, you can do a lot with eleven knurled inches. |
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Made in chunkily machined aluminium with expensive
knurling? |
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No no no. Made of the finest titanium fibre. The
knurling is, however, particularly expensive. |
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A bun, despite requiring me to actually remember the
phone numbers of everyone I might want to call. |
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Maybe version 2.0 could respond to voice commands,
recognizing names and automatically rotating the lovingly
knurled rings to the appropriate position ready for me to
make the call. |
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//Maybe version 2.0 could respond to voice
commands// |
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No, but we're adopting the Curta mechanism so it can
calculate square roots. |
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A Curta phone would be beautiful indeed |
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We are considering using the Curta's crank to
recharge the battery. |
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You're considering this quite a lot. |
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Also, a few mockups of this on Kickstarter would attract barrow-loads of cash, I think. |
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Ah, but how many barrows does it take to fill a truck? |
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