1920s Design, 21st Century Technology

A telephone from the 1920s.  A simple yet elegant design, timeless but at the same moment very much of its own era.

While the Apple fans of this century drool over every new ultra modern looking product from the ubiquitous company some people harken back to a time when communication hardware was pleasing to the eye and stylish in an altogether different way.

Yet why not mix and match?  Adam Ben-Dror a South-African born designer and inventor who now lives in New Zealand has done just that. Ben-Dror has taken the beauty and utility of the 1920s design and added nothing to it: except all the technology that is needed to make it wireless.

If you take a look at what lies within the almost century old design you will see that certain changes have been made to the phones functionality. These changes enable the user to have twenty first century connectivity with the glamor of chich 1920s design.

The cordless candlestick phone is a old-world design housing truly twenty first century technology - a 2.4ghz wireless transceiver to form a truly fantastic yet functional piece. The original aesthetic of the phone has been left by Ben-Dror to do what it has always done. The only indication that anything has been changed is the cord – it isn’t there anymore.

When everything is tucked away it looks exactly the same as it did almost a century ago. The transceiver allows the 90 year old phone to be used wirelessly. A pulse to DTMF converter (built into base) allows the dial to work. Calls are answered by lifting the earpiece from its cradle and it is ended by putting it back. Redial and speed dial are activated by dialing and holding selected numbers.

Take a look at Adam Ben-Dror's website which features this phone and other projects too.