I'm less interested by the phone and more by the idea of "a unique innovation ecosystem evolved with little western influence, thanks to political, language, and cultural isolation." ... "gongkai isn’t a totally lawless free-for-all. It’s a network of ideas, spread peer-to-peer, with certain rules to enforce sharing and to prevent leeching. It’s very different from Western IP concepts, but I’m trying to have an open mind about it."<p>Any suggestions WRT other writing about this sphere?
From 2014: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8646781" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8646781</a>
The downside this approach to IP that is community based as opposed to legalistic is the culture of hazing it comes with. To learn about this I recommend listening to “Business and Fucking in China” by Sinica.<p><a href="https://m.soundcloud.com/chinafile/sinica-podcast-business-and-fcking-in-china" rel="nofollow">https://m.soundcloud.com/chinafile/sinica-podcast-business-a...</a>
Since this was 5 yrs ago, now there are regular phones that are similar if not a little more polished concepts.<p><a href="https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Uniwa-AEKU-C6-Mobile-Phone-GSM-Bluetooth-Kid-Pocket-Vibration-Card-Small-Mini-Button-Russian-Keyboard/32918800489.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Uniwa-AEKU-C6-Mobile-Phone-G...</a><p>I think this makes a lot of sense for some uses, kids, when you want to be tech-less.
ah, blast from the past! this has to be one of my top favorite HN submissions of all time, I recall 5 years ago when I first saw it posted here I was amazed. It'd be interesting to see a 2018 "Gonkai" phone.
I bought a slightly fancier one of these earlier this year, if I could get rid of the rancid boot sound it would be perfect. <a href="http://mos6581.com/pictures/vaio/nanophone.jpg" rel="nofollow">http://mos6581.com/pictures/vaio/nanophone.jpg</a>
A few weeks ago I tried to find the cheapest phone I could on amazon. I think it was $14, including shipping.<p>I can only assume the battery life and reception are terrible. It got bad reviews. But if you’re someone who burns through burner phones, or might do in a pinch.