Prototype Steampunk Rotary Smart Phone

Are you old enough to fondly remember rotary dialing but still young rely on your smart phone? Richard Clarkson is. In response to the increasing popularity of touch screens, Clarkson took it upon himself to build a decidedly steampunky prototype that brings some of the physicality back to communication. The phone modification features a good old fashioned rotary dial disc that can be swapped out for a disc featuring, newer, but still good old fashioned buttons. Design Boom quotes Clarkson as asking:

are we happy with the generic rectangles of a touchscreen or do we want something with more tangibility, something with more life, something with more aura?

It’s only a prototype for the time being and there’s no telling if and when a product like this might be available for purchase. Still, it definitely has some serious aura. Cell phones these days need a little more scratched up brass.

See even more on the tumblr devoted to the project.

(via Design Boom)