John’s Phone
Done with over the top smart phones, packed with millions of functions you don’t need? Try John’s Phone!
Named after it’s creator, Amsterdam-based ad agency John Doe, John’s Phone is taking phones back to being, well, phones. The only thing you can do with it is dial a number, talk and hang-up.
The address book is handled in official old school fashion: a little paper booklet, tucked away in the backside. And it works with every SIM-card in the world, so go out and get yours!
- 14.09.2010 .
- Maarten P. Kappert .
- Tags .
- Category:
- Industrial design
- Object:
- Mobile phone
- Agency:
- John Doe
- Share .
- 26 comments
Now this is a minimal mobile. Simple, clean, and practical.
The paper address book is a nice touch. I just wish it was just as smooth looking.
Wow, I want one.
So sick with my Sony Ericsson, and my Motorola F3 is just frustrating to use when you get a text message, so why not just eliminate the texting by going old-school ;D
Why is it so chunky? What’s the sound quality like? Why the amusing but childish icons for call accept/reject? Why does the whole product look ironic, like a joke played on behalf of the consumer? In order to motivate the design and the luddite streak, something about it has to be outstanding. It can do one thing, sure – I love that idea, but it has to do it flawlessly. And not be 1,5 cm’s thick and look like the punchpad you open the door to your house with. Perhaps this is proof that ad-people should leave the designing to actual designers, not people with funny hats and an indecent fetish for all things white.
I agree with Artur, can’t they believe they produced it. I hope to see something more minimal like the Apple Shuffle in a phone.
That there is one ugly attempt at a minimalistic phone.
Very childish, looks like a Fisher Price toy to me.
“What Derek said.”
(though it’s a nice idea)
Good design is about solving problems and this doesn’t do it for me. If I wanted to make a call, I’d have to continually turn the phone back and forth to get the number from the notepad on the back?
Fine, if you want to streamline and get rid of the useless accessories – a phone that just phones is a great idea. But don’t throw the baby out with the bath water – why not store the phone numbers as well?
And yes, it should look as beautiful, sleek and elegant as the idea itself.
Back to the drawing board, I think…
The phone is indeed available in different colours (pink/white/blue/green/brown/black) and some of them does not have the icons but text (hello/bye) instead. It is of course hard to know if it works well in real life. I think I would do away with the pen and phonebook. Less stuff to break and cheaper manufacture. I would rework the volume control so it doesn’t get nudged accidentally.
I think anyone should be able to design stuff. Not just designers.
I like it.
Now a day after thinking about this phone, I wonder why every phone on the market has such cluttered menus and no option to remove some of the options.
I mean, look at this, NO menu items, no menu at all really. So why is there no phone on the market with a OS similar to the iPod nano OS where you can have a simple list layout and remove most options and features..?
(Yes, all designers and producers, take my idea and make it happen. I don’t know where to start)
The truth about design is that producing something simple, functional yet beautiful, appealing – is just about the hardest thing to do. We see lots of products that try for this, but most of these efforts are just not good enough. John’s Phone is one of these 70%-of-the-way-efforts that never should have left the concept stage. Not the way it looks right now, at least. But we’ve established that. Fine.
Why I wrote that designers should do the designing – has to do with what I wrote above, just now. An industrial designer would know about the pitfalls that whoever designed the product in question – didn’t. Yes, everyone with creativity should be able to express it, but that does not make them a designer per se. Every Tom, Dick and Harry out there can afford the software to do the actual designing, and with the availability of cheap manufacturing – those same Tom’s, Dick’s and Harry’s can get it on the market. But we’re not doing anybody any favours by forgetting the value of that same sort of creativitiy – only educated, experienced and willing to put in the hard work. John’s Phone is a silly fluke in a world that has lowered the cost of production sufficiently low enough to allow for it to fail without any greater consequences. And I probably not alone in there to think that fail, it will.
Robin: I understand where you’re coming from, but there’s a reason it won’t happen: It’s all about Occam’s razor (read up on it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occam%27s_razor) – it’s one of the governing principles in any mindful design.
What you have to do in the case you describe is to follow the idea through, conceptually. The answer you’re likely to end up with is – if there is a need to customise your menu, whatever needs to be customised, probably shouldn’t be in there to begin with (thus link to above mentioned principle).
Software is good when it doesn’t force you to make unneccesary decisions.
Don’t believe me? Make a decision tree for just five items. Name them and give them properties. Now, see how they combine and what happens to the multitude of choices once you take away something from the equation. Then think through what sort of interface you need to be able to manipulate your decisions, and think of ALL the scenarios a user is likely to need to be able to use the product in an intuitive way. Its a bit like mathematics. What you don’t need in the equation, shouldn’t be there.
Good simple design only looks simple. The road to getting there is winding, tough and may not be all what it initially appears to be.
Not minimal enough.
I really want to like this thing. But I don’t.
A phone is a phone.
And a phonebook is a phonebook.
There is no point in combining these two, unless (!) it’s done in a nice and practical way that’s not going compromise the phone – as it seems to do with this phone. Small hinged plastic doors are fiddly and prone to breaking. The “phone book” seems too small to comfortably write on it. And the compartment it is stored in adds to the phone being thicker than it needs to be. If I need to carry phone numbers with me, I either get a sheet of paper or put them in a proper moleskine notebook or something similar.
Why this “negativeness” ?
I think this is just a product what somebody did, and if you do not like it you don’t have to buy it. While I agree that it could be done better, I also think that this is a great idea, and will find a lots of buyers. But I too hope it will have a 2.0 refined version too :) Good luck John :)
@Gergely: Why the negativeness?
I may be utterly indifferent to the 99% of idea out there that I don’t like or don’t need as a product. If this phone were just another totally ill-conceived junk idea, I wouldn’t bother at all…
In this case, however, I like the general idea of a minimalist phone. I really do. All the more frustrating then are the little flaws (as I perceive them) in execution. This is what made me comment as “negative” as it seems…
f☎ckin lovely!
When you all want to know some more background info on the whole design and production process, please read here: http://www.johnsphones.wordpress.com
Or follow us on Twitter: @johndoeams
Note: we are creatives, designers and made this phone by ourselfs and not with a big phone or electronics company behind it.
Thx,
John
@Arthur,
I designed and made the John’s Phone. You can Google me if you like to see more of my work.
Would love to see all your work. You have a website?
Hein Mevissen
I love it.
And I pitty all unemployed snob designers above trying to be somebody. Losers sitting at home, or making flyers for the local football club. Guys that talk about design but never made anything. Grow up you bunch of wankers.
Ha I love it. Its pretty funny. It would look a hell of a lot better without the cartoon icons though.
I ordered mine today.
I’m no designer, but I do like quirky ideas. I’m sick of spending a fortune when I travel with my iPhone so this is a great second phone for me.
I also love the idea that if someone has something to say to me, they call.
I do like texting but I’m prepared to experiment to see if this makes my life less cluttered in terms of information overload.
I’m with Fnord. The concept is great, I’ve been whining for “just a phone” for some time now. Drop the cute paper phonebook part though. Really, I want just a phone, nothing more. If making it thinner is problematic and you’re trying to fill space, put a self-charging mechanism in there (shaking/movement-powered generator).
Just won the golden John’s Phone;-) it’s funny to see how John Doe keeps changing the materials and colors of the phone. Love it. Stop boredom!!
Anyone want to ship this to the US for me? Sell me theirs? Email is johnny.acehandler@gmail.com
its funny to see,anyone want to ship this to the pakistan plz mail me if u can
I like the general idea of a minimalist phone
I think this is a only product.