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Comment by brickmort | Hacker News Reader

the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Europe

The phones that I really like seem to never be available in the US. Admittedly, I have a unique taste in phones. I love the idea of a minimal phone OS with a qwerty keypad (or number pad). The new Blackberry Classic looks really nice too, but it's not available in the US and Blackberry has all but abandoned ship in the US market.

Nokia is getting so close to scratching that itch with this phone. I really hope there's a US version with similar specs somewhere up the pipe.

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I really want to switch back to a "dumb" phone once my contract is up on my iPhone 5. Im always at a computer or can have my iPad (which I never use anymore) with me in wifi everywhere I go except my car. The only reason to need internet in the car is for gps which convieniently they sell those too and I have one.

I just don't see the need to own a smart phone anymore for myself. If I wasn't at a computer all the time I could justify it but it no long serves a purpose.

I really hope they sell this in the us eventually. I suppose you can still buy an unlocked one and use that however. Just make sure it has the right keyboard and language.

I second that. I use my phone for two things - calling and texting - and I don't feel like I'm missing anything. I'm switching to a small, lightweight "dumbphone" (we got so used to the brick-sized smartphones we forgot how handy the old phones were), that can last a week without charging and has a physical keyboard which - in my opinion - is so much better than a virtual one.

I've recently bought an old Blackberry from eBay, and it's a refreshing change to not have the need to check multiple applications on your phone while having idle time and value actual conversation. The physical keyboard is also nice, having come from a fullscreen android phone.

From someone who switched to a smartphone only just last year (April 2014), there are still upsides. I'm almost always by a computer too, but I've found:

- I'm way more able to keep in touch with friends & arrange to meet up. Partly the onscreen keyboard (vs. T9), partly Yelp, partly Maps, partly the variety of messaging apps (half my friends don't use txt anymore)

- I'm actually able to use a cheaper phone plan by leveraging data & wifi (most dumbphones lack wifi)

- for whatever reason, having my email in my pocket has actually resulted in me spending less time looking at my email

Blackberry Passport (previously Q10) user here. BB10 is not a "minimal phone OS". Maybe this was true for older BBOS phones (don't know, never used one), but BB10 converted me from being a longtime Android user, and I've yet to feel like I'm missing out on anything (it does run Android apps too).

Also, Blackberry sells the Classic unlocked in the US through it's online store[1] and Amazon[2] and you can also get one on contract through US Mobile[3].

[1] http://shop.blackberry.com/store/bbrryus/en_US/pd/productID.... [2] http://www.amazon.com/dp/product/B00OYZZ3VS/?_encoding=UTF8&... [3] https://www.gousmobile.com/blackberry-classic

Follow-up: AT&T will be carrying the Classic and a carrier-exclusive Passport with rounded corners[1].

[1] http://crackberry.com/blackberry-classic-and-passport-confir...

Expansys is a good source for acquiring non-US phones that I've used once or twice in the past. A bit expensive at times, but has a wide selection of unlocked phones that carriers in the US don't sell

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