Vodafone Simply Unremarkable

The prevailing trend with cell phones are feature enhancements. A cell phone today comes with a built-in camera, the ability to download/stream video, email capabilities, Internet browsing, kick-ass games, and oh yeah … it can also make phone calls.

However, Vodafone is bucking this trend with its line of Vodafone Simply phones. What’s remarkable about the Vodafone Simply phone is how unremarkable it is. It’s not sleek. It doesn’t play games. And you can’t take pictures with it.

Vodafone is appealing to adults aged 35+ who find current cell phones overly-designed and overly-encumbered with confusing-to-use features. A cool tactic Vodafone is using to inform the young employees at its retail stores about why the phone’s simplicity is a selling point is to lend Simply phones to the employee’s parents to try out. (Pretty cool, eh?)

I just love how unremarkably remarkable these phones are. Unfortunately, they are not yet available in the United States.

SOURCE | Wall Street Journal article | reprinted in the Philadelphia Post Gazette
also mentioned on the Good Experience blog

Comments

[Jim Seybert]

"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." - Leonardo da Vinci.

Wish I'd said that, although I do say, "Confusion is the mother of indecision."

Three cheers for Vodafone. They are making it easier for shoppers to make a decision about their product.

NOW - if they could only get cellphone plans to the same level of ease.

[vlad]

The move is brilliant. I'm not very old (25) and I would really love one of those phones. Good for Vodafone!

[David Culbertson]

This a brilliant move, but it should have never been necessary. Some products are just so different in how they are used (phone, web browser, pda) that keeping them separate makes more sense. Perhaps next, the luxury car makers will focus on having simpler dashboards. Things are out of control when you need to attend a class to know how to use BMW's iDrive!

[electron]

I, too, am 30'ish and am a huge gadget-o-phile... but want a phone that makes and receives phone calls. That's it.

The more stuff they add, the more complex they become, which also adds to the cost of each phone, as well as decreasing the battery life.

Vodaphone understands K.I.S.S.!

[Mike]

I agree with the others. I'm 33 and love the fact that Vodafone is heading back to basics. I'm not opposed to adding features to phones, but I do struggle with the fact that the added features make the phones more confusing to use. Their primary function starts to drown in the overall interface and experience.

[JGuerra]

I am 27 years old and I work in the mobile industry. I am lucky to be able to preview and use different gadgets before they hit the marketplace. I still insist on simplicity. Smartphones require too many button presses and have too many features. they make great toys, but consume your time and productivity if not used for a specific purpose. My primary phone is a Motorola V180 (offered free from Cingular). I just love the fact that I only have to press one or two buttons to get to the functions I use: call, send text messages, and write small reminder alarms from time to time. Great ideas from VF, I hope they don't plan to charge big bucks for these. Their phones should be completely free.

[ann moore]

CAN I BUY A VODAFONE SIMPLY IN THE U.S AND WILL IT WORK HERE. ALSO WHERE TO BUY IF AVAILABLE.