NEWS – The founder of Pebble, Eric Migicovsky just announced on Twitter a ‘side project’ he’s working on called Beepberry. You can pre-order one now, but there is only a prototype.
The current device has a Blackberry keyboard (with logo) and a Sharp screen. It’s powered by a Raspberry Pi module.
Migicovsky wants a ‘weekend device’ that lets him disconnect from higher tech but still stay in touch with friends, and he thinks there’s a market for the Beepberry.
He calls the device “a portable e-paper computer for hackers designed for chatting on Beeper.” Beeper is a service that puts all of your chats into one app.
The Beepberry won’t be an internet access device or phone so it couldn’t currently be used to summon an Uber or Lyft or make any voice contact, emergency or routine.
For $79 you can get in on the gamble that this may someday go live. If you’re away from home or work you’ll still need a phone, but if you’d like to step partially away from tech distractions, the Beepberry may be fun for you.
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I have to say that I would not. As much as I would love to have a Blackberry physical keyboard attached to my Android phone, I can’t imagine having a device again that only does texting.
Right? Almost as much weight and volume, but a fraction of the functionality.
It’s less about a go-to device and more about the fun of building the thing.
Also, to be fair, it can easily be a fully functional Linux computer or game machine. I built a mini MAME machine in to an old gameboy case.
So, to the question — would a “buy it”? Likely not. Would I buy the parts and “build it”? I kind of already have — but this one is sleeker.
I found your device while looking for “a technology device that only texts.”
My mother had dementia. We struggled through 3 cell phones before settling on a jitterbug 2 smart phone. Smart phones are too confusing and phone conversations are too hard to follow when you don’t remember 5 seconds ago. So I realized my mom hates talking on the phone to her sister but doesn’t mind texting her. My daughter and realized… dementia patients can keep with the topic because they can look at the texts.
I can’t take a chance of mom running up some bill because she pushes a wrong button, but a way to text would be wonderful. We would have to have it run on data, because many care facilities don’t have wifi available.
This is the device I’m looking for. On the weekends I don’t want anything to do with my phone. Especially with apps and government having access to everything you do these days through your phone. But would like text messaging for basic communication access.
This would be good for the deaf community or low tech people.
personally I thInk this is a steep in the right direction although I would prefer a watch like device, a modern equivalent of the 90’s swatch bleeper , which.was a watch with a pager built in , so you could receive a short text message but not reply , people could get a message to you if needed, a modern version would simply recieve sms messages.
With the current threats of communications shutdown and no internet for a while, I would like to have a means to communicate with family and friends – just as a health and sanity check. For something basic, type a message and get a response.