Image Source: NTT DOCOMO
I just can’t seem to get away from this topic, but this one looks different (literally). The folks at NTT DOCOMO have come out with a prototype phone made from…wood! Well, the case at least is “made with the surplus wood of trees culled during thinning operations to maintain healthy forests.” They point out that such a use of surplus wood “helps to preserve other wood resources while strengthening the health of overgrown forests.” It appears to be equipped with the full array of applications that we have come to expect, and it even smells good. “No artificial colors or paints are used, so the cypress retains its original natural appearance and aroma.” The phone’s press release claims that the method used to compress the wood makes it durable, insect resistant, and water resistant.
Once again, the last thing an environmental posting should do is accelerate perceived obsolescence by encouraging you to scrap your perfectly good phone. In addition to being interesting from a forestry perspective, the people at http://www.treehugger.com/ are hoping that the quality of a wooden phone “people might keep them longer than the average 18 months before upgrading again.”
According to NTT DOCOMO, “The prototype was created in collaboration with Sharp Corporation, Olympus Corporation and "more trees," a reforestation project.”
I was unable to find out when consumers will be able to get their hands on these phones. At this point the phones are scheduled to be exhibited at industry trade shows in Switzerland and Japan this fall.
I just can’t seem to get away from this topic, but this one looks different (literally). The folks at NTT DOCOMO have come out with a prototype phone made from…wood! Well, the case at least is “made with the surplus wood of trees culled during thinning operations to maintain healthy forests.” They point out that such a use of surplus wood “helps to preserve other wood resources while strengthening the health of overgrown forests.” It appears to be equipped with the full array of applications that we have come to expect, and it even smells good. “No artificial colors or paints are used, so the cypress retains its original natural appearance and aroma.” The phone’s press release claims that the method used to compress the wood makes it durable, insect resistant, and water resistant.
Once again, the last thing an environmental posting should do is accelerate perceived obsolescence by encouraging you to scrap your perfectly good phone. In addition to being interesting from a forestry perspective, the people at http://www.treehugger.com/ are hoping that the quality of a wooden phone “people might keep them longer than the average 18 months before upgrading again.”
According to NTT DOCOMO, “The prototype was created in collaboration with Sharp Corporation, Olympus Corporation and "more trees," a reforestation project.”
I was unable to find out when consumers will be able to get their hands on these phones. At this point the phones are scheduled to be exhibited at industry trade shows in Switzerland and Japan this fall.
This is probably the coolest phone I have seen. Not only is it environmental friendly, it has a diffferent look to it, which is refreshing from the Blackberry's or touch cell phones. NTT DOCOMO employees are my new favorite people. I would keep this phone much longer than any other cell phone I have owned. I think this "phone made out of wood" would get a lot of attention. Because it is so sharp looking, I believe even people who aren't very focused on becoming "environmentally friendly" will be attracted to a phone like this which could benefit all of us.
ReplyDeleteThis phone is great, but uhmm, it’s ONLY for Japan, right?? Yeah, Japan is way beyond us, technology-wise and being “environmentally friendly“. We don’t compare.
ReplyDeleteI’ve seen (and currently own a) unlocked phone (s), and they are expensive. If you buy phones with a plan, you get them for maybe $50-$150 at the most. If you bought a cell phone individually unlocked, it would most likely cost you more than $300. It would probably only work with a cell phone company in Japan, not in the U.S. I know a phone from Europe that works in the U.S., but not as good (3G).
It is fantastic that Japan has made this new phone, out of wood, but think of all the other phones they come out with. They even make hello kitty onesJ.
(The phone looks like a bean.)
Man at first glance this phone has got to be the coolest idea I have seen in a while. The idea of making a cell phone out of durable wood is genius considering every phone today breaks after a couple months. And the fact that it is made from excess wood after "forest thinning" makes it environmental friendly. But Nou does have a good point...Japan is years ahead of the United State in technology, so this type of phone may not become available here for a while. When it does reach the United States how much will it cost? Because the phone looks like it has a touch screen which may be a little pricey...But who am I kidding, I already have the LG VU which is a touch screen phone and it wasn't too expensive. So if my phone breaks by the time this phone comes out and it is a reasonable price, then I’ll buy it for sure because I think it looks pretty awesome!
ReplyDeleteI think this phone is really cool. At first when I looked at it I thought about how it may be bad for the environment because as soon as I saw it I thought about deforestation. But then as I read on, I read that they actually made with the surplus wood of trees culled during thinning operations to maintain healthy forest which helps to preserve other wood resources while strengthening the health of overgrown forests. So this was a plus.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a good idea, but once again only if people wait till their cell phone goes bad and they HAVE to get a new one, not just go out and buy it because its cool cause that would not be good for the environment.
The phone is pretty cool and maybe it will attract alot of attention and will have others think about saving the environment.
Just a quick question nothing major but what about termites and natural rotting? jw
ReplyDeleteIf you read the article, it says it's resistant to water, bugs, and mildew.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, whoever created this phone was very intelligent and is looking ahead and planning to make this world a better place. I'm surprised that this is actually the very first wooden phone created. I think it's really neat that no paints or artificial colors are used to make this phone. I could honestly careless what my cellphone smells like...but i guess that's just a bonus to those who like to smell wood frequently. Using the wood from trees they would already cut down to maintain a healthy forest, is a great idea; it's not like they would do anything else with the wood anyway.
ReplyDeleteUnlike the other 'green' cellphone on the market from Sprint, this phone mentions nothing about being recyclable. If you look at the phone it has touch screen, which probably cannot be recycled to much more than it already is. I see both pros and cons in the making of this phone. I understand that the United States may not be as technologically advanced as say...China, but i sort of see this phone more of a loss than a gain.
If I had a wooden phone I think I would feel better about myself, not because its wooden, but just because of the fact I will actually look like I’m trying to make this world a better place. I’m trying to figure out why we have not come up with having wooden phones in the USA. Seeing all of the technologies we have come up with, actually we probably got all of them from Japan or China like always. I really am looking forward to having a wooden phone whenever they make their way overseas. Like Dani said about having pros and cons to the phone I can see that. But I don’t think that we will ever have a phone that will be good for our environment anyways so it might as well be “kind of” good for the environment so we can all…like I said be able to say at least we look like we are trying to make our environment a better place. ☺
ReplyDeleteI love the look of this thing. It’s has sleek, smooth curves and the touch screen looks pretty wicked with the wood edge. It’s an awesome idea and seems like it will really live up to what the maker says it will. I bet it would even float if you accidentally dropped in a pool or the lake. On the flip side, I bet it’s pretty heavy compared to other phones. I mean solid wood can get heavy fast, especially with some varnish on there and sealants. I’m also curious as to how much it actually saves. I could see it taking a while for a phone like this to catch on and it doesn’t look like there is much more then a wood casing on the phone. So even if me and all my friends had one, I could probably go and cut the same amount of wood out of a sapling in my backyard. It will take a lot of people buying these phones to even make a dent in the impact on wood supplies. Although, if the phone does become popular, then it would make a difference and probably spark some green thinking in other phone companies at the same time.
ReplyDeleteThis phone is really cool. It looks fantastic and has everything a cell phone needs. Not only does it look great, it also looks differnt from any phone I have ever seen before. I think this phone will attract many peoples attention. It's so different that many people are going to want to have it. Also it has touch screen which everyone wants these days. The coolest part about this phone is that it's water resistant. I'm sure that could help this phone last way longer than the other leading brands. It being enviornmently friendly makes this phone even better. I think people will buy the phone not only because it's environmently friendly but also because it actually looks really good. Most people are not going to care about how buying new technology effects the environment. But if phone companies can make something that has good looks and is eco friendly they should have success. I hope this will help other phone companies to starting thinking of new ways they can go green as well.
ReplyDelete~Courtney
Wow, another one? AWESOME! Since we began our semester in Environment science, I didn’t realize how in-trouble we were world-wide environmentally. Now that we do these blogs, I have learned new technologies and advances to better strengthen our world. Why hasn’t somebody thought of this before? Although it may look good on the outside, what about the inside? How much of this phone is really recyclable? It looks as if this phone has all the features we have grown to love, from the touch screen to a built in camera. As I talked about in the green phone blog, I don’t know who would rush out to buy a brand new phone? But why would they in the first place, if theirs worked just fine. That just beats the whole purpose of recycling, right? If my phone was broken or no longer worked, I might consider buying this phone if it makes its way to the US.
ReplyDeleteI am in love with this phone and would want to own one. It's pleasing to the eye and your are helping out the environment as you talk on the phone or text. From what the artical says it seems like this phone would help out with many different issues and make them better just by using recycled trees and wood. I don't understand why it's only available in two countries, even though those countries are far more into technology then we are, i think we should have them here. If they can create these phones so can we, there are intelligent people in our country also.
ReplyDeleteI'm really disappointed that this phone hasn't come to the US yet! It's been 6 months since this posting and I still haven't heard of this phone except through this blog. I like that it's made from wood and that they don't use any chemicals or harmful substances that would be bad for the environment when the phone died. I didn't know that phones usually lasted 18 months, but I'm excited that this phone will (hopefully) last longer than that! My only concern is what would happen if someone were to drop the phone-would it crack or break or would it be just fine? I'd like to know that before I purchased it. Otherwise, I really like that it's water and insect resistant. If these are affordable and available by the time my phone dies, I'll definitely consider getting one!
ReplyDelete