How Great Cheap Phones Never Get to the U.S.

prostoalex writes "Gary Krakow from MSNBC is impressed with Motorola's C116 phone only to find out that that the phone is not available in the US. The reason? 'A very, very basic GSM handset that handles incoming and outgoing calls as well as SMS messages, the C116 is sold all over the world -- except for the United States. It's not sold here because it's too cheap!' The phone is targeted for emerging markets, where people don't like to tie themselves into monthly contracts, and with little value proposition presents little interest to US wireless operators."

Comments

Ma Bell: "Go back to listening My Humps, America"

[Bushido Hacks]

Oh, I could guess the primary reason we don't see the new Cell Phones or PDAs in the US:

Download the latest ringtones to your cellphone incluidng the Motorcycle Frog and "My Humps" by the Blackeyed Peas. Watch videos and TELEVISION on your cell phone on the nations largest wireless network, blah blah blah and all that bullocks!

The problem is that we don't want that sh*t! We want our cellphones to to be used as tools not toys. Be that adding a camera was a good idea, despite the charges we have to pay for downloading and uploading photos. Heaven forbid we might use a USB cable and download these photos directly or upload our own ringtones that don't suck! Oh, that right, we have to buy [sh*t] music from iTunes.

Personally, I want to tell Ma'Bell to take her phone and shove it where the sone don't shine. Give me something that I can hack and create my own programs on instead of this bubblegum mainstream crap anyday!