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Jill

Future phone feature phone, with pink accents, in the key of Stanley Kubrick

Cory Doctorow at 2:57 pm Fri, Feb 15, 2013

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When I was eight, this is exactly what I believed all devices would someday resemble.

The future is pink and dial-up.

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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  • Antinous / Moderator

    She really looks like an assassin.  I’m pretty sure that that little button nose shoots laser beams.

    • zuludaddy

      She looks about twelve years old to me. Perfect disguise for an agent of SMERSH.

  • http://twitter.com/Ultrafem Ultra Fem

    You know what’s funny? Any one of us could build this from junk parts today. (OMG! Why am I not doing it??)

    • http://www.facebook.com/david.guilbeault David Guilbeault

       Oh I dunno, she looks pretty advanced to me.   Maybe the briefcase thing, though.

      • chaopoiesis

        What’s that thing on her head?

        • http://twitter.com/coherent_light Scott Elyard

          Under the hat? That would be her hair.

    • Lupus_Yonderboy

      My first thought, too – “man, now I really have to step up my search for old briefcases and IBM mechanical keyboards, I’ve finally got a *reason* to get them”.

  • http://www.aarongilliland.com/ Aaron Gilliland

    You can have any ringtone you want, as long as it’s The Blue Danube.

  • http://www.flickr.com/photos/stefan_e_jones/ Stefan Jones

    Kubrick? I was thinking a prop from a Gerry Anderson show. 

    • Preston Sturges

      Except that the handset would be about 14 inches long. 

      • Antinous / Moderator

        That’s what he said.

  • Preston Sturges

    It’s an impressively thin CRT.  Very futuristic.

    • morcheeba

      They were making thinner CRTs … here’s one from the Sony Watchman.

    • CLamb

       And yet it doesn’t have a flat screen.

  • Preston Sturges

    HELL0?  WHAT? I’M IN OUTER SPACE!  OUTER SPACE! WHAT?  NO, IT’S RUBBISH.  IT’S DARK AND COLD. CIAO!

  • sam1148

    I miss the future. The one we got sucks. 

    • Wreckrob8

      Please select the service you require from the following four options….

      I’m sorry I didn’t get that. I’m going to have to cut you off.

      Bzzzzzzzz….

    • Preston Sturges

      “Future” may not be available as shown,  
      “Future” not available in parts of India, Asia, Central, and South America.  
      Individual fates may vary. 
      -Tom Servo

  • Donald Petersen

    Pretty sure I have that selfsame model of briefcase, though in a fab late-seventies shade of chocolate brown.  But it’s very slipslidey.  I don’t know how she’s keeping hers perched on that bus station seat.  I couldn’t balance mine on my lap without spilling my briefs all over the damn place.

  • SoItBegins

    Didn’t something like that turn up in Mission: Impossible?

  • crummett

    An early iPhone prototype, circa 1967.

    • felonmarmer

       It is rectangular, with rounded corners.

      • Preston Sturges

        Shiny metal edges

  • Preston Sturges

    It looks like if the handset is actually placed in the cradle that the case will not come anywhere near closing. 

    • http://www.aarongilliland.com/ Aaron Gilliland

      The New 1968 Lug-o-Phone Parisienne comes with all the features that today’s unmarried stewardess demands, including our revolutionary BulkTech Anti-latch system to prevent unsightly closure.  Remember, ladies, an open case means you’re always ready for the next caller.

      • Preston Sturges

        You are a marketing crap ninja. 

  • xkot

    I do not own a cell phone precisely because they do not look like this.

  • Jake0748

    She stole the nuclear “football” from the President!

  • pjcamp

    I would give my left nut to have that for my cell phone.

    Or maybe Don Adams’ shoe.

  • http://twitter.com/timothykern Timothy Kern

    “Your call is important to us…”

    • http://www.aarongilliland.com/ Aaron Gilliland

      “I’m sorry, you’ll have to speak up; I’m wearing a beret.”

  • garyg2

    Reminiscent (or precursor…) of Oscar Goldmans exploding briefcase:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zA6wa_tM7LI

    Best toy ever when I was a kid.