In November of 1999 Randice-Lisa "Randi" Altschul was issued a series of
patents for the world's first disposable cell phone. Trademarked the
Phone-Card-Phone®, the device is the thickness of three credit cards and made
from recycled paper products. This is a real cell phone (outgoing messages only)
with 60 minutes of calling time and a hands free attachment. You can add more
minutes or throw the device away after your calling time is used up. However,
with the planned additional magnetic strip the cell phone would double as a
credit card, swipeable for purchases with free airtime credits as a bonus. The
retail price of the invention should average twenty dollars, with a two or three
dollar rebate for returning the phone instead of trashing it.
Altschul thought up the invention after being tempted to toss her cell phone out
of her car in frustration over a bad connection. She realized cell phones were
too expansive to lose or throw away. After clearing the idea with her patent
lawyer and making sure no one else had already invented a disposable cell phone,
Randi Altschul together with engineer Lee Volte, patented both the disposable
cell phone and the super thin technology (STTTM) needed for the Phone-Card-Phone
and other intended products.
The 2" by 3" cell phone will be manufactured by Altschul's Cliffside Park, New
Jersey company, Dieceland Technologies. The entire phone body, touch pad and
circuit board will be made of paper substrate. The paper-thin cell phone uses an
elongated flexible circuit which will be one piece with the body of the phone,
part of the patented STTTM technology. The ultra thin circuitry is made by
applying metallic conductive inks to paper.
"The circuit itself becomes the body of the unit," Ms. Altschul said. "And it
becomes its own built-in tamper-proof system because as soon as you cut it open,
you break the circuits and the phone goes dead." - New York TimesThe toy
designer with no prior experience in electronics said she developed the phone by
surrounding herself with experts who shared her ''conceive-it, believe-it,
achieve-it'' attitude. - USA Today
"The greatest asset I have over everyone else in that business is my toy
mentality," she said. "An engineer's mentality is to make something last, to
make it durable. A toy's life span is about an hour, then the kid throws it
away. You get it, you play with it and -- boom -- it's gone." - New York Times
"I'm going cheap and dumb," she told The Register, revealing: "In monetary
terms, I want to be the next Bill Gates." - The Register
Randi Altschul's background is in toys and games. Her first invention was the
Miami Vice Game, a cops against cocaine dealers game named after the "Miami
Vice" television series. Altschul also invented the famous Barbie's 30th
Birthday Game, a wearable stuffed toy that allowed a child to make the toy give
hugs and an interesting breakfast cereal. The cereal comes in the shape of a
monster and dissolves into mush with milk. Altschul has invested much of her
past profits into bringing the new STTTM products into fruition.
Lee Volte was the senior vice president of research and development at Tyco, the
toy making company, before joining up with Randi Altschul and Dieceland
Technologies.
Altschul and Volte have also created a paper laptop computer, which will sell
for twenty dollars and serve as an internet access device. The STTTM technology
has opened up the potential for creating countless new electronic products and
countless cheaper versions of pre-existing products. If STTTM is all that it
seems to be, this technology should be considered a milestone in electronic
innovation.
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