Industry analysts have been predicting the event of the disposable cell phone for some time now. They have existed in Europe and Asia for years, but you don’t have to wait any longer if you want to pick up one of these bad boys as they have arrived in the US.

Hop-on Inc, has recently announced the release of the HOP1800 phone, which will cost you $10 USD. With no contracts, you just walk into a retailer and pick one of these phones up and use any SIM card, or purchase a pre-paid SIM card and pop it into the HOP1800.

These phones are the bare minimum with no memory card, or camera, or any fancy schmancy feature. Not only does this phone lack all the features available on just about every phone on the market, it also lacks a screen. There is no LCD display screen of any kind on this curious phone. Where the screen should be is just a big speaker.

As you can imagine this would make it impossible to know who is calling you, or if you accidentally dialed the wrong number. It’s all relying on your intuition. Actually this phone would be perfect for those refusing to come out of the Stone Age and still have a landline phone with no caller ID.

All jokes aside, this is one step closer to getting those naysayers converted to using cell phones, albeit maybe begrudgingly. For $10 it really seems like a disposable phone, but Hop-on is taking it one step further by offering a $5 rebate when you return the phone instead of throwing it away. This is their way of recycling phones and doing their part to be green. That’s 50% of the cost of the phone returned to you, what a deal!

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Entry was posted on Saturday, May 31st, 2008 at 7:25 am under Cell phones, Green Technology, Uncategorized.

Read more entries by Mike Ferro.
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