Hearing the ring of a clanging bell from a phone is perhaps an unremarkable sound to us today. But what is unusual, or perhaps even perverse, is when the sound comes from a cellphone. In addition to its unusual ringtone, this “cellphone” looks like none other.
Sparkfun Electronics’s “Port-O-Rotary,” is made from a derelict mid-century rotary desk phone; its original wiring has been removed and replaced with contemporary cellular technology, including a SIM card, miniature antenna, and lithium battery. Though weighing close to two pounds and obviously bulky, it can be carried and used as a cellphone.
What are we to make of such fetishization of the old and seemingly impractical? Of course the Port-O-Rotary is part of a consistent thread in contemporary design, one of housing new technologies in just slightly older yet already obsolete forms. Mashups of contemporary technology and retro packaging suggest how the past itself is “repurposed” for the present.
Certainly, the Port-O-Rotary is intended to amuse--as its advertising states: “The looks from family, friends, and even bartenders as the Portable Rotary Phone rings for the first time have given us endless amounts of entertainment.”[i] Beyond the mere sight gag, however, the Port-O-Rotary is part of a growing number of repurposed objects that constitute a new type of memorial in the information age.
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| MacAquarium |
