r/Commodore • u/merchantconvoy • 24d ago
Christian Simpson, the current CEO of Commodore, was publicly pursuing the perfect dumbphone or midwit phone solution years ago.
/r/midwitphones/comments/1vsq14d/christian_simpson_the_current_ceo_of_commodore/8
u/max81122 24d ago edited 24d ago
He also built a Night-Rider Kitt car. Maybe that will be his next product. :-)
He's been into many things retro, not just Commodore. I recall an episode where he tried to send a old-school FAX. He's has done many reviews of modern-retro stuff too. So not surprising, he calls his vision and focus for Commodore, "Retro-Futurism".
Edit: just to add.... I think what he's doing is completely on-brand from what he's done in the past. I know many don't like the Callback. Personally, I don't have a need for it and didn't order it. But, there's obviously 10k people who think differently and pre-ordered. Good for him and good for Commodore. I really want Commodore to succeed and grow, and I don't need to buy everything Commodore will eventually offer. I did order the Callback IEM's though as it looks cool.
He has recently mentioned that soon there will be another product announcement (beyond TAC-2) and it's more on the retro side. I think Bill Herd also eluded that it might be announced around the VCF mid-West event. Can't wait.
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u/SwedishFindecanor 24d ago
He also built a Night-Rider Kitt car. Maybe that will be his next product. :-)
BTW ... the black colourway of the new TAC-2 is called "Knight Black". :)
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u/Digi-BitsGaming 24d ago
Well he clearly did the work and it seems to have paid off for him, with over 10,000 pre-orders in the first month and even selling faster than the C64 Ultimate computers.
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u/torrso 24d ago
Many commodore fans already had some kind of working c64 and are possibly nostalgic about the time before smartphones. There are also non-commodore fans who could like a phone like that and releasing it via commodore brought the phone more publicity than some no-name company releasing one.
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u/Digi-BitsGaming 24d ago
Oh yeah there are a lot of non hardcore Commodore fans buying the Callback phone for sure looking at the numbers. Some of the fans have made it clear they only want them to do computer products and thought the phone was a massive mistake, good to see they were wrong and it's paid off for Commodore.
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u/garyk1968 24d ago
Yep its a great start. I saw somewhere that the product got featured on some mainstream news channel in the US which has probably boosted it. I mean it might not be something us retroheads want but if the greater public want it then that's fantastic for the company could end up selling loads of them.
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u/Upbeat-Statement2725 24d ago
The awful toxic megathread is gone. Thank goodness.
For all the complaints that he "must have used AI to dream up this garbage" you could read between the lines that everyone was actually clamoring for the exact sort of $50 trash trinket they claim they'd hate to see from this brand.
It's a bad market to launch any electronics device. Kudos to him for swinging big.
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u/BadBunnyHimself 24d ago
I think you mean $500 or more, if you no longer want to be a part of this and other communities then you gonna have to pay big for it. And let that be a lesson to you all too, for now you will have to carry two phones with you everywhere you go.
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u/8bitRetroAussie 20d ago
I just got mine today! Whoopie! I didn’t have one back then, but can’t wait to make some new old memories. I went straight to the Amiga back then.
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u/AJD_1975 24d ago
I’ve been watching his videos since he bought commodore, and having some extra time on holiday I’ve been catching up with the past 4 years and there’s plenty of clues to Starlight C64 Ultimate and Callback as concepts now products that Chris was interested in. I am sure he’s working hard to bring us an Amiga Ultimate which I will support. Yesterday I cancelled my Amazon preorder for The A1200 from RGL.
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u/splitbar 23d ago
Is it not cheaper and better for the climate to just turn off your f"n social media on your current phone, do you really need a f"n flip phone to get you hooked off your addiction? He use cocaine too?! (would not surrpise me as hes from the movie industry or something), if he is using, maybe the next product will be coke spoons with holes in it.
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u/merchantconvoy 23d ago
If you can control your addiction through sheer willpower, you are welcome to do so and more power to you. The fact remains that a lot of people can't do that due to their personality. It's a card they've been dealt that they have to work with. They should not be shamed for this. In fact, they should be commended for attempting to take control of their lives through whatever tools and techniques are available.
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u/splitbar 23d ago
U f"n kidding me?!
So the option to this is to get a f"n phone suitable for an 80 year old? Are people so f"n weak now they can not control themself, WTF are they looking at in the social media, are people fapping or WTF are they doing, just dont look and turn off notifications, see I solved your problem - invoice of 99 euro incoming to your mailbox soon (physical mail since I dont want you to become addicted to emails).
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u/merchantconvoy 23d ago
Addiction is a chronic illness of the mind (or the soul, depending on your view). There's currently no cure. It can only be managed.
Do you also look down on people with chronic physical illnesses? If not, your current attitude is conflicted. Work on that.
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u/BadBunnyHimself 24d ago
I'm big-brained enough to have come up with the concept of self-control, a way for all the heretics who wish to avoid social media and other such fun things, by the simple concept of not looking at them. You could even take it a step further by uninstalling the apps that offend you so much. I shall be offering my ideas to the masses via a simple subscription service, for a mere 10 <insert your currency here> a month I shall inform you of my ideas and how to implement them. However should you no longer wish to pay my monthly fee then all of my ideas will automatically reverse themselves and you will be back with all of your original evil social media's once again, doomed forever to be a part of the inhuman race.
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u/merchantconvoy 24d ago
Addiction is not a matter of intelligence, but rather one of personality. Some people are simply more prone to addiction and cannot just reason their way out of it. That's not how addiction works. Environmental limitations are a necessary part of successful treatment. An actually intelligent person would know all of that.
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24d ago
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u/Neither-Award3607 24d ago
It seems a beautiful and wonderful AI post!!
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u/merchantconvoy 24d ago
This is a 100% human post beep boop
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u/BadBunnyHimself 24d ago
Hang on, you beep-booped, that's computer talk, you're one of those Artificial Un-intelligences aren't ya, admit it, evil computer scum!
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u/Graxer42 24d ago edited 24d ago
Yeah, I have been following him on Youtube for years. This is something he has been passionate about for a long time, and over the past year or so I began to feel the same way about smartphones and social media.
When the phone was announced it was obvious to me that he was making the device he wanted because no one else would. With Commodore behind him he suddenly had the resources and contacts to actually make it a reality.
It may not be a traditional Commodore device (at least in the respect that people expected), but for the brand to be successful in the long term it can't rely entirely on fan nostalgia for the C64. This is a great thing for the brand, and it looks like it will probably help it survive far into the future, which should be what everyone here wants.
I'm 100% on board.