The Throwaway Cell Phone
You've heard of disposable cameras. What about a disposable cell phone?
Inventor Randi Altschul has patented the idea for a throwaway phone. And she talks about her invention in progress on The Early Show.
"It's dirt cheap. It's great and made for the convenience of the consumer," Altshul says.
The throwaway phone costs $19.99, and it comes with 60 minutes of airtime that is good for one year.
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"Moms could throw it into their glove compartment for an emergency," she notes.
The big difference between the throwaway phone, and a regular cell phone is that with Altshul's phone, you can only make outgoing calls.
"I'm going after kids and moms. I don't want the businessman," notes Altshul about her marketing strategy.
The idea of the throwaway phone came to her while driving in her car, she says.
"I got mad at my cell phone one day, and I kept losing the damn cell site. So I just said, disposable cell phones," she says.
The phone is battery operated because most phones work off a 6-volt battery, she explains. And there is no need to recharge it, she adds.
Altshul, who is a toy inventor, took care of the engineering and patenting and sees it as a promotional tool as well.
"They'll be able to pick it up at McDonald's, and it will be a McDonald's phone. And you'll have 60 minutes of airtime,...then you can throw it away," she says.
The marketing company or the person promoting the phone will have to set up the service contract with the cell-phone company, so the consumer would not have to worry about contracts and would still be able to get the service, she adds.
The throwaway phone, entering the modeling stage, has a flexible circuit, which forms the innards of many cell phones today but is elongated. This enables the flexible circuit to be folded back upon itself, eliminating the need for much of the plastic housing found in other cell phones, she explains.
According to Altshul, this technology can be used to greatly reduce manufacturing costs and the phones could be sold for a lower price.
She has $1 million of her own money in the project and is now looking for some investors.
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