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Comment on This Espressif ESP32-Powered 4G "Smartphone," Programmed in the Arduino IDE, Packs The Essentials

Hacking isn’t about reinventing the wheel. This isn’t a finished product destined for a market. Even if it was, think about the small business utilities involved in local knowledge (“low-tech”): many small producers (farmers, shops, etc.) still use “obsolete” mechanisms and improvised mechanical technology. If that could reflect personal or community knowledge into real technology, even if “low technology”, that’s already a social gain for those people.

Besides that, it’s worth it for a personal project where the end goal is obtaining knowledge about how things work in the world. Not everything is about stocks, and stocks doesn’t fill all of the “market” also.

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FelixCress@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

it can make calls, and send texts," LuckyBor writes of the project, which perhaps stretches the definition of “smartphone”

… And you need to remove the screen to insert a sim card. Now tell me again this is not ridiculous.

Take the first one off the shelf smartfone, wipe out the entire software, replace it with bloat free, spyware free, update free equivalent and voila!

Absolutely no need to reinvent the wheel, this is a road to nowhere.

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- BackgrndNoize@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  I do not think you understand what a hobby prototype means, educate yourself then come talk amongst adults
  
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  - FelixCress@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    My son put a lego car toghther yesterday. Look, a hobby prototype! 🙄
    
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    BackgrndNoize@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    Congratulations, looks like your son has a chance to grow up to be a sensible and creative adult, unlike his wet fart of a father
    
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- sudoMakeUser@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  I remember having to remove the battery of one of my phones to change the SIM card. It was particularly annoying because that phone/SIM had issues registering so I would have to reinsert the SIM card a few times and reboot each time.
  
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- Evil_Shrubbery@thelemmy.club ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  
  … And you need to remove the screen to insert a sim card. Now tell me again this is not ridiculous.
  
  Lmao, it prob doesn’t even have a working software kit, you would have to arduino some shit yourself.
  
  I don’t think you understood what this is & who is it for.
  
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- notthebees@reddthat.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  I think they’re having more fun making it than looking for a perfect solution. The fastest way to accomplish this is just buying some flipphone from Kyocera or something.
  
  Also it’s a prototype. It wouldn’t survive in the real world in it’s current state.
  
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  - FelixCress@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    
    I think they’re having more fun making it than looking for a perfect solution.
    
    Possibly, thus my point - reinventing the wheel.
    
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    notthebees@reddthat.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    I wouldn’t consider it reinventing the wheel. Giant algae tanks to replace trees is reinventing the wheel. They’re just making a phone out of parts that would have originally been in a cheap phone at one point (before they got turned into development boards).
    
    If I wanted to be super uncharitable, what the maker did was akin to this.
    
    youtu.be/d59J78yhwtg
    
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