@biteemeyeedickeyy wrote:OK yet again verizon is forcing you to upgrade your device because they can... its well documneted the problems that occur when giving adolesents a smart phone .. its the main reason we have NOT given unfettered acccess via a smartphone to our children.. all internet access is controlled by me the parent.. haveing to pruchase yet anohter service to controll data when all you want is simple talk and text is not acceptable from a company as lagre a verizon... VERIZON is famious for not listening to consumer demands and this is yet anouther example. QWERTY devices that are simple and cheap should have been offered when the anouncment to turn off the CDMA was made public.. with landline based phones shrinking and wireless increasing and the aging population in the USA alone dictates not all customers want or need a smart device and the accosiated headaches ...
QWERTY phones died in 2013/14, not last year. Manufacturers couldn't make a profit off selling them, so they stopped making them. Not one carrier today has a basic QWERTY phone for sale. Not one manufacturer makes a new, small QWERTY basic phone.
Your existing phones have one more year, then they will have to be replaced.
biteemeyeedickeyy, as a parent, I totally know the concern about allowing internet access to my child. I do appreciate your feedback, and I would be more than happy to send this information up to the proper channels. Does this provide clarity to your concerns? SantoC_VZW
I assume this means that all older once-compatible VZ CDMA phones will no longer be able to call 911. Is this correct? Always kept these in the cars for emergencies since even the 10+ year old batteries held a charge for months/years when powered down. I guess it is safe to throw these away so that they can become so much more electronic waste. 5G is really a big step up for Mother Earth.
@AirtouchCellular wrote:I assume this means that all older once-compatible VZ CDMA phones will no longer be able to call 911. Is this correct? Always kept these in the cars for emergencies since even the 10+ year old batteries held a charge for months/years when powered down. I guess it is safe to throw these away so that they can become so much more electronic waste. 5G is really a big step up for Mother Earth.
Not without a network they can connect to. 911 will connect to any available network, but all are shutting down 3g.
Yes, if it is already activated on a Verizon account, it will work until Dec 2022. This drop-dead date has been moved a couple of times. It was Dec 2019, then Dec 2020, now Dec 2022. It may move again.....
No CDMA-only phones can be newly activated on any Verizon account.
I hate and despise smart phones, its the cause of countless deaths and accidents, im 42 years old and im also a tech head. but I will never for the life of me waste money on a smart phone plan....When I step out of my house I leave the dreadful internet with all its filth behind me...
I still use a extravert 2 with keyboard, its a shame the direction we are moving in...
Head in phone is bad bad bad
Great question. I also hope that they produce such a phone.
And most of the answers here make no sense. Why should the changeover to 4g/VoLte mean an end to the basic phone market ? There was a demand for basic phones when Verizon offered 3g, despite 3g offering high speed internet, so it should stay the same now, even with the higher speed 4g standard . The data speeds don't affect people who want a decent phone to call and text.
The QWERTY market is too small to be of interest for any of the big manufacturers. Fortunately several smaller companies filled the gap. And Verizon is now allowing BYOD devices on their network, which is great! I don't see any indication that Verizon would not want/care for you to use the device of your choice.
4G is much more efficient in its use of RF spectrum, which means more people can be connected with the same amount of infrastructure, which means the cost of plans goes down. It makes sense to move over. It was news to me that the shutdown was moved to 2022. That means Verizon is giving us 5 more years to use our legacy devices compared to AT&T. That's pretty generous I'll say.
I just received my Fxtec Pro1. There are lots of reviews online. I will take some pictures this weekend to compare the Pro1 to the Cosmo Communicator and our beloved LG Env3 et al.
I also have a Kyocera DuraXV and it's a great phone. Just no QWERTY keyboard. I see there are several other basic phones now. It's not clear to me why 5 manufacturers make all essentially the same phone. It seems to me if you enter a market you better do so with distinguishing features like a real keyboard. But that seems to be the way of the world. I can think of lots of examples, from cars to grocery stores to internet connections , ....
@Mordymo wrote:Great question. I also hope that they produce such a phone.
And most of the answers here make no sense. Why should the changeover to 4g/VoLte mean an end to the basic phone market ? There was a demand for basic phones when Verizon offered 3g, despite 3g offering high speed internet, so it should stay the same now, even with the higher speed 4g standard . The data speeds don't affect people who want a decent phone to call and text.
It doesn’t and hasn’t. Both Verizon and AT&T have basic flip phones that are LTE available on their website.
The issue is people want a phone with a physical QWERTY keyboard that is not a smart phone. The problem is there are no QWERTY keyboard phones that are LTE capable unless they are smart phones. If you look at every manufacturer, no manufacturer has made a QWERTY keyboard phone since 2013 or 14
@hearmenow123 wrote:I just received my Fxtec Pro1. There are lots of reviews online. I will take some pictures this weekend to compare the Pro1 to the Cosmo Communicator and our beloved LG Env3 et al.
The problem with these two solutions, the FX tech pro1 and the Cosmo communicator is that neither of them is small, and the FX tech is it also a smart phone.
unfortunately as nice as it is to see somebody trying to meet the demand of the market, I really think that both of them have missed the mark.
I doubt anyone can create a basic QWERTY keyboard phone that is as small as the enV touch, because the demands of LTE require a bigger battery. But I would really like to see somebody out there and make a stab at it. But I think the greater problem comes in customer demand. The bulk of customers want smart phones.
For those who do not want a smart phone there are still options out there, they are just far more basic than we would like them to be. I have been playing around with a Palm for a month. It is honestly too small to do anything other than make and receive a phone call, and if you absolutely need to you can send a text message using speech to text very easily. I had doubts that the keyboard was usable because the squares are so tiny, but it surprised me again I can actually type on it. It is however considered a smart phone, and I would suspect that Verizon would insist they were put on a smart phone plan.
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