A Microchip engineer took a Western Electric model 500 rotary dial telephone from the fifties and replaced its innards with a GSM click on a Curiosity board. A few LEDs emanate a blue hue and you can spot the digital circuitry underneath the old shell. It's reminiscent of Doc Brown's time-travelling steam locomotive.
The Curiosity board inside is wired to the rotary dial and the 40V ringer. A T-Mobile prepaid SIM card inside the GSM click provides network connectivity. The phone can give and receive calls – your grandma's user experience married with modern cellular networks. How cool is that?
Juxtaposing old and new tech is strangely interesting. Perhaps it's the association with cyberpunk science fiction. Or maybe people are curious to see a discarded museum piece brought back into function. It's sort of a technological mummy coming alive.
Curiosity is Microchip's first development board to include a mikroBUS™ socket for click boards.
Yours sincerely,
MikroElektronika