The billion dollar nugget: The Microsoft Kin.

[@GKHaller]

My neighbor, an older lady had a kin one until about 2 years ago. She used that phone for over a decade as her daily driver. When it finally started having problems, she came to me and I somehow fixed it. The screen connectors were wore out. And then I had the task of uploading and backing up all of her pictures. 10 years of pictures. You would not believe how many pictures these babies can baby

[@DounutCereal]

That could very well be the longest lived KIN out there. I really hope she doesn't let it go in the bin

[@goeland4585]

Oh baby, that baby's babying, alright.

[@polandman07]

@@greggv8 is that a html reference

[@greggv8]

@@polandman07 Yes, it is.

[@randomchannel323]

Microsoft shouldve sponsored her

[@SocksAndPuppets]

I've lost count of the number of times Microsoft has gone "this industry looks like it's gonna take off" and they've been RIGHT, but they've spent hundreds of millions developing (or buying) products to compete, and then just... run them into the ground. I remember your video on the Zune... It always felt like they *could* have managed to compete with apple, if they'd just made better decisions... Windows phones? they want their own ecosystem for apps, they had the greatest headstart because they could have integrated their phones with windows systems... I remember them going "oh video chat's gonna matter", dead right, buying skype and just destroying it. Now they want to buy discord and try again. Just the perennial money pit.

[@MrHack4never]

The only time they were successful in the whole "trendmaker" thing was when they bought Minecraft, a game that was already insanely popular And now they are busy running that into the ground

[@EpicB]

I imagine Microsoft has so much capital they can afford for these projects to fail and don't care if they do.

[@AlguienMas]

And even more recently, they are doing the same thing with Minecraft. "Oh look, this game is good,lets make a viciously exploitable reporting system and enforce it with no way of disabling it"

[@ringsystemmusic]

Hell they did the same thing with Windows Mixed Reality

[@SilentdragonDe]

A great example is also Zoom. Like, really, why does it exist? You'd think between Microsoft Teams and Skype and their old messenger they could have easily made something like Zoom. But, alas, they were too busy making the window borders round and removing UI adjustments on Windows 11.

[@kennorcott7074]

This makes the zune look like a freaking masterpiece in comparison when talking about how bad they failed

[@Bronnenheim]

But what about the Zune Hd?

[@mkthemc]

@@Bronnenheim oh god what?

[@Photo0021]

Not to mention the Windows 8/10 phones. At least that lasted a good few years haha.

[@LeytonTheissRacing]

it does

[@shulme89]

Have a zune HD in box if you want to open it

[@schmintendont]

I had a friend that loved his Microsoft Kin so much that he made his username "KinLover". Needless to say I don't think he really thought about the implications...

[@JohnZombi88]

Big Michael Scott energy

[@insertcheesypunhere]

doot doo doo-doo

[@WW1N73R]

i don't get it

[@schmintendont]

@@WW1N73R Kin = family, Kin Lover implies incest

[@totallyreyalfactsfsfs]

​@@WW1N73R Kin can also mean family. So I don't think I have to explain what can be implied from a username like "KinLover"

[@robertkrutso3217]

I worked at a RadioShack here in the USA. I remember when they lunched these things. The carrier required a Additional $50/mo data plan and something like $199 down. Now the funny thing is I remember getting a internal memo the next day after the launch saying “ please send back all your stock of KIN. It has been discontinued “. 😅

[@lerk.]

The developers probably were like: "This is a social phone! What do the teens use to be social?" - "No idea, probably sms, email and the browser like any corporate user too."

[@DEMENTO01]

tbh devs are usually very up to the times, its the corporate ppl and the execs that go *last minute change* and the devs have to adapt to something thy cant adapt to bc its way too late adn they already had a working prototype

[@lerk.]

​@@DEMENTO01 what do you think is more likely? "last minute change, throw out all the social garbage" Or "last minute change, it has to be a social phone for the teens"

[@blakksheep736]

​@@lerk. From what I know about software dev, it could very easily be either.

[@RockyPixel]

​@@lerk. Honestly both sound equally plausible.

[@TweeterMan287]

I had to sell these. Before it launched, we were invited to a Verizon mini event in a corporate location, where we were shown working Kin phones and told all about them. Afterwards, armed with our new knowledge of the devices, it was then time to try and push them onto perspective customers. Try telling customers to buy a $30 monthly data plan on a device that didn't offer nearly as much internet access as a Blackberry would. No one bought them.

[@JohnGardnerAlhadis]

Ouch.

[@eddy.h3872]

imagine having your first phone being microsoft kin

[@chrisfratz]

Off topic but holy cow, I used to watch your videos back when I was like 12 so around 10 years ago, fancy you here after all those years. Now back on topic, I can't even imagine how hard it was to keep a straight face when trying to sell these to people

[@magician4058]

Can you believe no one bought them.

[@helm_108]

I remember our store’s inventory being +2 on these on launch day because of online order returns… You practically had to bribe reps to take a customer anywhere near the Kin display and seeing them avoid it was like watching a beautiful dance. No one wanted to have anything to do with these and it was hilarious

[@CallMeVidd]

Microsoft really has this pattern of wanting to be the big competitor to something, realizing it’s expensive and needs more development, rushing the software and cutting the budget and then wondering why it flopped

[@bt3743]

@@josephrblake your videos are all worth less than dogshit

[@Milamberinx]

Yep. If they couldn't understand the need for apps and full social media integration in 2010, when iPhone, Android, and Blackberry were already offering everything... it's like they didn't even bother handing one of these things to anyone in their "target demographic" before releasing it.

[@theimaginativeweirdo4537]

Welp that's about it summarized

[@razerow3391]

Yeah cause Apple have never ever done that with anything like the Apple Televsion, HomeBase, Apple Lisa, Pippin, Newton or System 7... Honest... Ping?

[@miscl_anon]

@@razerow3391 are you just hating on apple in every reply thread lmao

[@williamfoster5237]

You realize the phone is useless when you need a software to connect a Microsoft phone into a Microsoft Windows

[@yammy3739]

Back in the day, I had Nokia Lumia 520 on windows phone 8, that was my second smartphone ever and the first one, which I bought myself. I still had windows xp on my pc and was completely happy with it back then (I think it was in 2013). And I had to install windows 7 because In my country the good cellular internet was too expensive for me, and I didn't have a wifi router, so to download apps or anything else I need to use my pc. And drivers for xp were not even a thing for it.

[@chillhour6155]

Like searching m$ troubleshooting when you're internets not work, a complete paradox

[@williamfoster5237]

@@yammy3739 it's so nostalgic hear you talking about windows xp

[@williamfoster5237]

@@chillhour6155 xD

[@TheFrogInYourClosetWatchingYou]

​@@williamfoster5237windows xp was by far my favorite

[@pastormikeleiter]

I worked for Verizon when this came out. All I can say is that nobody bought it and they later converted into a "dumb phone' with a keyboard and decent camera. When other stores requested product transfers (of stuff people actually wanted), we would stuff our extra Kin phones in with a note that says, "You've been 'kinned'." True story.

[@_Mr.Tuvok_]

“Phones used to be a lot of fun” Mr. Mobile: *senses a disturbance in the force*

[@lawnmowerdude]

No he’s “when phones were fun”.

[@mrgodspeed]

lol

[@Bane_Amesta]

I mean Mr. Mobile covered the first phone on the video already. Imagine a collab with Dankpods...

[@mrbisshie]

@@josephrblake He's not even black, you bot. :/

[@razerow3391]

Star Wars quote... Star Trek Voyager PFP.... This is clearly a higher functioning being! Dank should give him the channel.

[@maskedrebel9670]

Microsoft has some weird habit of dropping support for expensive products, they should probably address that.

[@theLazyElf]

Shhh, let them finish their adquisition of Activision-Blizzard without reflecting on that. If they do that right (and by "right", I mean "wrong"), we can say good riddance to both Call of Duty and Candy Crush at the same time.

[@MLGPRO-dx8fg]

@@theLazyElf Microsoft doesn't mess around when it comes to games. On Xbox Series X you can play every generation of Xbox games lol

[@notlNSIGHT]

@@MLGPRO-dx8fg Probably the only thing they don't mess around with. Surface Pen has dumb design, Windows 11's functionality was hobbled due to Microsoft chasing aesthetics

[@walmorcarvalho2512]

@@MLGPRO-dx8fg But OOOH they sure tried. Remember the Kinect?

[@iambenjaminwild]

@@walmorcarvalho2512 kinect was great, ahead of its time even, was just over priced, poorly marketed and poorly executed

[@GaffsNotLaffs]

I've been waiting for this video just to see that "Plastic bags can be dangerous keep away from children" sticker. So glad he's kept it.

[@thatone3590]

course he kept it, it helps stop the pkcell from rolling away

[@offscreen6578]

@Recommended For You 🅥 I'm looking for a video where you get some bitches

[@misteri2908]

@@thatone3590 aww, sounds like we're gonna get less of "oh, my pkcell..."

[@GaffsNotLaffs]

@@misteri2908 They say all good things must come to an end.

[@nachiopistachio]

*PLASTIC BAGS CAN BE DANGEROUS KEEP* *AWAY FROM CHILDREN* What’s up with that line break, ugh

[@Cheezus]

I remember having a classmate get a kin and was bragging about how crazy it was. Then seeing him switch to an iphone shortly after and never mentioning it was pretty funny. I was too poor to get one of these and I had a sony ericsson still. (the one that slides up and has a control nub)

[@sargera1]

W910?

[@caranook]

There was a similar situation in one of my classes! A girl got the little square kin, and I actually remember thinking it looked really cool. Then like a few weeks later she was rocking her old Nokia flip phone again! Apparently her kin had screen issues right out of the box.

[@Suiseisexy]

Man I remember these days, gf had a crackberry and I had an LG Chocolate little slide box and no desire to use social media, had whiskey and a tiny blonde and was like "nah I'm good". God damn I didn't even text back then.

[@MarekKoshinski]

I still remember making the best choice of my life. I was at the AT&T store and picking out the LG Quantum C900 (Windows Phone) instead of the Kin. I still to this day think that LG was the best phone I’ve ever had.

[@patrickfitzmichael5940]

I had a couple Nokia's. The first one was a 930 or something. It would get hot and drain the battery just playing solitaire. I got the 1030 after that with the 42 megapixels. Thing was great. No lag. Never locked up. Then they cancelled all the apps on windows 8 phones. I was just getting used to it.

[@zekenelsons2069]

I stuck with the LG Stylo for THREE GENERATIONS and I was devastated when LG decided to stop making phones. Even with a full edge to edge touchscreen and stupid clutzy fingers, I never got so much as a scratch or dent on those things. They could give OG Nokia bricks a run for their money in durability. LG you were one of the few making actually good hardware with minimal bloatware on purchase, why did you do us this way?

[@animeloveer97]

​@@zekenelsons2069 I have lgs last phone the lg velvet 5g it's still really good even if it came out a few yrs ago

[@nobyl8163]

Finally found someone else that had that phone!! That thing started my brand loyalty to LG until the day they stopped making phones, bought one off of ebay recently for like $20 just so I could turn it on and mess with it every now and then lol

[@phillipfry5669]

When your phone looks like a thermostat, you know you purchased a quality item

[@waveringeyes8277]

Gottem

[@ivanquaglio2242]

This killed me ahah

[@AndrewBehm]

I had the neutered Kin TWOm because I couldn't afford the data plan, and I honestly loved it. Later I had to get a warranty replacement on my first nugget and Verizon told me the replacement was the LAST one they had. Don't know what happened to the rest of them

[@WeebJail]

probably buried in a hole in the desert

[@Journey_to_who_knows]

They became sentient and jumped into fire

[@steveballmersbaldspot2.095]

@@WeebJail They probably sent them to China to get e-cycled. The chips from these probably ended up in some low end smartphone in China.

[@rayvega3163]

@@Journey_to_who_knows It sounds like something that would literally happen in Tom & Jerry lmao. I'm even imagining it in my head rn 😂

[@stroudnick]

I was in a similar boat, had the kin 2, it was decent with working WiFi and a headphone jack. However with the horrid software experience, it was my last non-almost-smartphone smartphone.

[@DiceRobo]

As a new owner of a surface duo, Microsoft got there in the end, it just took a lot of failures like this to get to the point microsoft finally just said, "yea alright we'll use the os that already exists"

[@andrewduong2740]

At least the custom launcher looks good

[@onee1d1d]

And it STILL has problems with the software. At least according to reviews of Surface Duo I've watched.

[@IanC14]

I really want a Surface Duo but the cost is a bit much lol. Currently using my girlfriend's old Pixel 4 XL.

[@DiceRobo]

@@onee1d1d The only thing that definitely doesn't work to me is the gesture navigation. I just put it back onto the regular style for android with the three buttons.

[@GingerNingerGames]

Surface isn't without it's issues. My Surface Pro 4 can't connect to any USB serial devices, which is frustrating to say the least. I just can't work out how a software giant, with hardware that they controlled, couldn't make it work properly, so when I try to code my arduino I have to run a laptop from 2010 that's so slow the serial monitor bogs the computer down

[@Myriadconsciousness]

I had the kin 2 for about 8 months back in the day. I was about 15, but I did like it and this was before I had a smartphone carried an iPod touch with this phone lol. I got an iPhone 4 at the end of that 8 months and never looked back, but it was a time for sure. Nostalgic video for sure man

[@mrrooter601]

This plus an Ipod touch was perfect. got to keep the super slim IPT and had this little nugget for texting. Worked perfectly fine for texting and taking pictures.

[@NikoBellic-1234]

0:02 THAT WAS SMOOTH

[@ncc74656m]

I had a Sidekick when the buyout happened. Someone at Danger sabotaged the server bc MS had a reputation for not hiring on existing staff during takeovers. I lost everything I had on the phone, including the last message I had from my best friend who had died earlier that year.

[@ID-nvm]

This could be a Hallmark movie

[@AceGaimz]

@@ID-nvm No because this story is actually interesting, Hallmark movies aren't lol

[@KeanueAnakoni-Aukai]

lol, owned

[@TheOrangeDart]

Oh my god, I had a Kin One when I was in high school. Everyone who saw it was like "That's a phone?" because it's just a square. I loved it at the time. When I saw this video in my feed, I don't think I ever clicked on a video so fast.

[@vgamesx1]

Windows phone wasn't bad, it just had the exact same problem, a tad on the expensive side and no apps...

[@notlNSIGHT]

@@vgamesx1 Exactly. If Microsoft actually gave a shit, Windows Phone would be a genuine competitor in the space and still around now. Hell, I'd fucking switch in a HEARTBEAT

[@namesurname4666]

@@notlNSIGHT it was kinda the same thing with the last versions of symbian from nokia, used in n8 etc

[@notlNSIGHT]

@@namesurname4666 it's like the companies love to fuck up

[@xxRAINA1xx]

Same I thought my memories of this phone was a fever dream

[@thelongestrose]

It really is amazing just how many times Microsoft has utterly failed to break into the mobile market.

[@the3fellas753]

Really should’ve just stuck to xboxes and computers

[@noisewaveofficial]

Oh the windows mobile was good. They just didn't see it.

[@jlc2415]

@@noisewaveofficial Yeah, the Motorola Q and Palm Treo (Windows Mobile version) were both good phones, among others.

[@ivaerz4977]

Who remembers Lumia phones

[@atimholt]

@@the3fellas753 I'm watching this video on a Surface Pro 8. Every once in a while, a product of theirs sticks, if only by accident. Honestly, it's better than Google's tendency to constantly cancel good, working products in favor of the same product with a different name and not-fully-overlapping feature sets in buggier, 1st gen state.

[@TheFunniBaconMan]

*- Makes a "Social Phone." *- Doesn't add social features* Amazing job, Billy.

[@nick0p87]

In 2010 I got my first smartphone and I had the choice of getting either a Palm Pixi or a Microsoft Kin. I'm glad my mom convinced me to go with the Pixi. Got me through most of middle school

[@wpww3343]

I still have my pixi in a box somewhere. It refuses to turn on unfortunately

[@slm1993]

they were the palm pre here. they were big at their time. i believe it was the fastest selling phone in sprints history to this day

[@danwake4431]

@@slm1993 there are two models, Pre was the bigger one with slide up screen to reveal keyboard (i had several, audio kept breaking and i got several free replacements) and the Pixi was the smaller one with screen above exposed keyboard. The Pixi had hard buttons which were easier to press. I still have a Pixi that turns on works ok on wifi. Palm OS was perfectly usable for social media and had an app store but just couldn't compete with Apple.

[@82000]

I'd chalk the WiFi issue at the very end up to the fact that the Kin is just that old that it (probably) doesn't support any WiFi protocol beyond WEP. This was a thing for stuff like the Nintendo DSi as well where any access points using WPA2/PSK simply weren't supported in some situations like backwards-compatible DS games.

[@mikes78]

That is a possibility, but the sad thing about that is WPA and WPA came out in 2003 & 2004. Mind you early implementations of it were complete ass and there was always a risk of compatibility issues between your device and the access point. Mind you 802.11n came out in 2009, what's the bet that this device can only handle 11g. This might need a revisit with an access point set up and gimped, uh, limited to old & slow specs so that chunks of junk like this will be able to go online.

[@hoodye90]

@@mikes78 Exactly. My 2004 PowerBook G4 can join WPA networks. Classic Microsoft, the Zune and Kin...

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

I still have some 15 year old wifi stick that I got for a fiver and that can do WPA

[@firemaker1258]

PSP too.

[@daemonspudguy]

Oh God, Kin. What a weird decision. It was only available on contract in the US, specifically on Verizon Wireless. And you needed a data plan. And it didn't even launch in most other countries. And it was 100 dollars. And you needed the Zune Desktop client to sync your data. And that appears to be running the Kin OS M version, because it has the Calendar and doesn't have the Spot.

[@rberks5]

I actually remember them being sold. They had a big display.

[@daemonspudguy]

@@rberks5 where are you from?

[@rberks5]

@@daemonspudguyMilwaukee

[@razerow3391]

Yeah, I am glad apple never made devices that needed software to restore or reset or get full use of... Imagine having to download iTunes. So glad that didn't happen.... COuld you imagine having to use iTunes for an iPod? That wouldve been crayyyyyyyzeeeeeeeeeeeee. 🙄🙄🙄🙄

[@daemonspudguy]

@@razerow3391 at least iTunes worked and still does. If you have a device that used the Zune services, you're fucked.

[@Flyingpapaya]

I knew someone using a microsoft phone in 2016 or so. The Charger port was recessed too far into the phone chassis, so while it was a standard micro-usb, but you had to use microsofts special long-cable to get into the plug.

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

My keyboard is that way. The plug on the original cable is just a tiny bit deeper than a normal one. Still possible to use any other cable, all it takes is a bit of knife action on the rubber around the metal part.

[@doggo6661]

Truly the Concord of nuggets

[@stardustxiv]

My first phone was the Kin One M, and I LOVED that thing. Having the Zune player to listen to music/watch movies, having an internet browser in my pocket, having a unique little device that no one at school had ever seen or heard of before... It was cool as hell. I still miss that little hockey puck of a phone.

[@sargera1]

does the os work decent.they dwarfed the function alot form what i read lomg time ago.almost the brink of a featphone like a 6230

[@thatwolfboy2898]

Other than an inherited flip phone, the Kin One m was my first phone too! My family is pretty anti social media and I didn't even have a texting plan at the time! I loved being able to email my friends and Google things without needing to boot my bulky laptop, and having a mobile camera was cool too. I also liked the physical keyboard and sliding it out. My dad had different windows phones that also had keyboards so I felt like him which was cool. In fact I still have it and just went to my closet to make sure it was where I thought it was. It's in the silly tube it came in. And I have the earbuds! I forgot, the backs were magnetic so you could stick both together, I guess if you only wanted to listen in one ear but not have the other one dangling? Quirky! Unfortunately I'm not sure where the wall to USB brick went.... But I did like that little thing. ​@@sargera1it had everything I needed at least. Looking at the Wikipedia page it looks like they just removed a bunch of the social media stuff so I wasn't missing anything. Plus they added a calculator and a calendar 😁

[@sparkleponies5648]

I really needed a new DankPods video today. Always puts a smile on my face!

[@SpyceySalad]

Man I had a Kin TwoM back then and I was so stoked that it didn't need a data plan. The keyboard was actually decent and the phone felt solid but all the apps were nuggetware except the zune app which worked surprisingly well.

[@crsimp9790]

even a nokia asha dumbphone beats kin

[@astranott]

As a kid, my my mom got 3 of these, she dropped 2 in the ocean and stopped using them cuz they sucked so much. The only thing they're good at is being a detox phone if you use social media too much. I did like flipping the screen up tho

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

The social Media Phone for when you need a break from social media, that is so Microsoft.

[@rahulxsood]

I briefly worked for the person who ran this team (after it failed) -- I remember this person giving me a lecture that she was also a startup entrepreneur inside of Microsoft -- because she ran a billion dollar startup at Microsoft. 😂. A memory I wont soon forget.

[@blorglord]

so it was a woman that spearheaded this billion dollar failed movement? interesting... nvw yvu see....

[@coachcrage]

I love that your videos still retain the same charm and magic I loved from the beginning. So fun to watch every time. Thanks for being awesome.

[@SOBINTAXIDRIVER]

6:52 I was devastated when the 3D text didn't show up.

[@jakeholland6194]

It is amazing how terrible Microsoft did getting into the cell phone /mobiles market

[@notlNSIGHT]

Between Windows Mobile, Kin, and Windows Phone... They fucked up big time

[@nickwallette6201]

If at first you don't succeed, 😃-up a few more times.

[@ChaseMC215]

Especially when the company bought out Danger, just to have them shit the Kin out. You can have a older gen Danger Hiptop (Sidekick) and you will still have more enjoyment than the Kin, especially when the Hiptop was seen in games like Midnight Club: Los Angeles, and EA's skate.

[@MattExzy]

I lived through this era. Considered myself up with technology. Never, ever heard of this thing. At all. BlackBerry was still a big thing during this time, and I had a chonk Nokia E63, which was a BlackBerry imitation type thing, along with an iPod touch 4. I feel like I've slipped through quantum parallel dimensions, I cant' believe this Microsoft thing existed.

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

And Windows Phone wasn't even that bad, there just wasn't any software for it.

[@marshmanandapril951]

YESSS A NEW UPLOAD!

[@thatocapus3151]

Look it’s a one billion dollar nugget

[@s.k.t.3855]

all hail the king nugget

[@Paradoxical124]

Woohoo you’re 12 years old!

[@eat_lasagna]

A true blessing from the gods

[@MrDNE007]

Data plans nowadays are insane: I switched my plan from mid December 22 which give's me a lot of benefit: 23 EUR for unlimited 5G data (300Mbit/s down 100Mbit/s up) and unlimited calls and sms inside my country and a lot of stuff for the EU und USA and so on. Just amazing how these develop

[@bacicinvatteneaca]

Mine is like 50 GB for 7€ and I feel kinda scammed because I see ads for 150 GB for 8€ (both include 5G but my phone doesn't :[ )

[@raphael1186]

Wanna feel scammed? Be American

[@Spacepack]

What the fuck? HOW?????

[@MrDNE007]

Update: Now I use a secondary sim card inside a WIFI router at the same plan for an additional 15€ per month. So I can use my unlimited data at home (for my TV, MacBook, iPad and girlfriend) at high 4G speed (5G routers are somehow incredibly expensive) and on the go I use the 5G everywhere it pops up.

[@AlexParr]

Coming back here after Sony developed Concord in 8 years only for them to kill it in like 2 weeks. Some people just never learm.

[@vodkanizer6866]

i love how the definition of a cool phone before is so different than a cool phone today

[@andrewduong2740]

Cool phones before: whoa, the screen flips out! Cool phones today: is that a headphone jack?

[@myrealusername2193]

@@andrewduong2740 also an SD card slot lol

[@JamesTSmirk87]

This makes me think it’s about time to upgrade from my Kin. Something with a proper Yahoo mail and MySpace apps might be nice and I’ve heard the Motorola Droid has a nice keyboard. Could you review that?

[@Kalvinjj]

I obviously know this is a joke, but I did daily use, as my only phone, in huge part because I had no need of replacement and there was absolutely jack all that interested me, a Sony Xperia L from 2013 to 2022 (tho there was 2 of them, 1 on the 1st year that got stolen and the other one from 2014 onwards lasted the 8 years). Yes, only this year I replaced it.

[@cellofellow5115]

@@Kalvinjj What did you get as a replacement?

[@SUPERBOBESPONJA1000]

@@Kalvinjj i have my Xperia M2 as backup, with custom rom thing is still usable for today, i do want a modern xperia, there were always good

[@Kalvinjj]

@@cellofellow5115 A Z5 Compact, as that was extremely cheap and ticked all the boxes. Could have gotten the XZ1 compact but it was a tad too expensive back when I got this one (from Aliexpress nonetheless). I just hate it that there isn't small powerful phones anymore. You want small, you get a stupid elderly phone. You want powerful, you get a gigantic thing. And everything is just a game of how far do you tolerate the bullshit, instead of how good you want it to be for me. Not even gonna talk about the headphone jack affair that killed the XZ2 for me.

[@Kalvinjj]

@@SUPERBOBESPONJA1000 I was thinking of throwing some CFW on it too, push it to the Android 7 version I run on the Z5 Compact now, but damn last time I needed a video call on it and it was just dying trying to do it, and the camera itself suddenly bugged into a green noise glitch after some minutes of use, I thought it was time to finally set it on the shelf as an endurance trophy and backup. Dang thing was awesome with a 128 GB card that it could access through the mighty mass storage mode (and decently fast, it wrote to the card at 20 MB/s through USB. I think it's the card's top speed even). You will be missed good days of Android, you will be missed.

[@molberding5]

Oh hey, a phone I actually know! My dad had one of the small square ones (the Kin1, as I'm now learning it's called), and I remember using it when I went on a trip to DC way back in middle school. After learning how long they lasted and how rare they seemingly are, it's amazing that I even know about it, let alone have one still around. In fact, I think we actually have two? It's been so long

[@cinemint]

I remember seeing ads for this as a kid and thinking it looked really cool, but it was taken off the market before I could even get a look at one lol

[@LaskyLabs]

This phone roughly lost Microsoft $20,833,333.333333333 per day until they killed it. That's one billion divided by 48

[@cloudbank3106]

Dank: $10 for a GB of data! Me, a Canadian: [crying in the corner as telecom giants beats me like my pop did]

[@mirkomilova]

wait till you find out about european mobile carriers prices, 150gb for 9.99€ 😁

[@TilfordM]

@@mirkomilova Can confirm currently in the Uk on unlimited data with three for £7.50

[@hobbes1887]

80gb for 5.90€ on mobile and 25€ for unlimited home plan

[@mttdlln1]

I paid 250 Canadian dollars for going over my data plan by a 1.5 gigs… last month

[@normalcat7296]

@@mirkomilova no fucking way

[@patty_meltd]

I actually had the fat nugget kin phone, it was honestly just a talking piece and we didn’t have data then. Didn’t realize it was even Microsoft til years later. Lol, apparently that makes me one of the few to have one. Edit: my mom had the other one so we had the pair of them in my household 😎

[@DeathMetalSon]

One billion dollars in one house... Wow

[@bbmikej]

I had the ONEm back in college and loved it as just a phone. It was nice and small and made one handed texting pretty easy.

[@Alias_Anybody]

So you basically had about 20% ever made in your household.

[@patty_meltd]

@@Alias_Anybody apparently lmao.

[@ShadowWesley77]

Bringing back memories because I had a kin 2 for a year. It was well after it became a feature phone, but I could text like crazy on it. Upgraded to iphone 4 after this guy. Wish I still had mine.

[@coconut5650]

@Recommended For You 🅥 Bots are so shit now,fuck off

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

Oh I can see why texting would be great on it. there is just something about physical keys that makes fast typing a breeze.

[@kelligarza5199]

This was the first phone I ever bought my son (he's 25 now). This was his big Christmas present that year. Christmas night, we went to eat and he was playing with his kin while taking a sip of soda and he dropped it in the cup. Not even a full day. 😂 We got him a different phone the next day and he's never broken or lost a phone since.

[@DankBoyy00]

Hey Mr Pods man, I have come to bare wonderful news! Those USB stick MP3 players iPod shuffle knock offs are actually still being actively produced to this very day, I thought that was just wonderful and that it would brighten your day, thank you

[@emilyrodzinyak6811]

Hey Dank love your vids, thanks for being a laugh for me when things get ruff

[@nachiopistachio]

4:51 Nice Perry the Platypus charger you’ve got there, mate 🕵️💚

[@ukrainiansturgeon8561]

The Sony Ericsson series was released before these phones and they worked even better then the Kin. No restarting to change the screen. They even look better.

[@KRONIXTHEMAN]

I have never had an Ericsson but the PlayStation one was for me the best looking one :)

[@ukrainiansturgeon8561]

@@KRONIXTHEMAN the experia play? that’s a good one, reminds me of a PSP.

[@azhariarif]

During the cell phone era, Sony cybershot k800i was the iPhone of mobile phones.

[@LordDeBahs]

@@ukrainiansturgeon8561 xperia was cool but as portable console it was fragile

[@IaHarbour]

Still lasted longer than the most recent British PM lmao

[@ThatRandomFerarriFan]

lol😂😂😂

[@HatWearingDog]

The fact that this is the result of $1 billion in R&D should have triggered a corporate corruption investigation.

[@CaptJABRONIE]

It's funny because if it were a fully fledged smart phone, I'd love it. I would totally take the hit to screen size to get my physical keyboard back.

[@SirSethery]

My first phone was a Kin TWOm, and I loved it. Zune, the touchscreen (a rarity for cheap feature phones), WiFi with the working browser, decent (for a feature phone at the time) camera, made it WAY better than the other cheap feature phones I got after it broke (Verizon was out of stock so I couldn’t get a replacement)

[@AlguienMas]

7:22 You know this was made by Microsoft when it asks you to restart

[@stephaintdeadyet]

my favorite part of these videos is watching you get more and more patreons every video and there’s more stinky names on the screen so it scrolls faster every video

[@MatthewHoang756]

What you could’ve bought with 1 bill dollars: 500 million nuggets

[@HughJeffreys]

Am I the only one still daily driving a phone with a physical keyboard? That's something I wish they would bring back, maybe in the form factor of a vertical slider.

[@cinemint]

Lucky! :(

[@joshbrowning3488]

I was a long time blackberry user and made the switch to the titan by unihertz. If you like a physical keyboard and a huge phone it's not a bad option.

[@tylern6420]

Hugh what are you doing here

[@fyrewatermelons]

What a pretty little nugget. I sure hope it was loved and cherished during its time amongst the living.

[@eliasvalimaa4282]

3:26 MICROSOFT HAS A FANDOM WIKI??? Shouldn't surprise me though, even gas masks have their own wiki.

[@BuddyS95]

WOW... I JUST realized that you're Garbage Time, and I've been following that channel for a couple years now! I was just watching one of your videos over there and was like "Wait... I can't be crazy, this dude sounds exactly the same! Do they know each other, or something?" NOPE! 🤣🤣🤣

[@competitivedishwasher6579]

Welcome to the Trash Network, mate!

[@adamgreenhill110]

When you first jump-cut at 6:05 I thought THAT was the phone's video. I thought "Damn it looks insane". Nope. Nevermind. Not even close

[@ken1w]

I remember when they were released. Even Microsoft knew (before release) that Kin was hopeless. Kin made Zune look great. Sidekick was actually fun before MS bought it and tried to make it “better” 😝 Steve Ballmer’s Microsoft wasted so much money.

[@BScHamP100]

Hi, I almost never comment on videos. I had the Kin One around 2010-2011 and 'upgraded' to the Kin Two later on. I think I was around 13-14 at the time and had only ever had flip phones or slider phones. When I got the Kin Verizon had already changed their mind on the Kin and it didn't require a data plan like it did when those devices first came out. As an upgrade from a slider phone this phone was amazing. I had some issues loading music onto it, like I'm sure everyone at the time did, but it really wasn't bad if you took it in the context of a feature phone. A feature phone with Wifi, Facebook integration, the ability to load music onto it, and a web browser? 13 year old me thought it was a great phone. The downside to these phones was that I was constantly resetting them because after a while they'd become so slow that you just had to wipe them. But I think that's like most feature phones, they all had limited memory at the time and most other feature phones you couldn't load music onto. Sure they failed, but as a kid this was probably my favorite phone. I upgraded from this to the Motorola X2, which I ended up flashing Cyanogenmod onto.

[@acynicalasian]

Cyanogenmod? Now that brings back memories. I think I had to move to Lineage once Lollipop came out though.

[@BScHamP100]

@@acynicalasian Iirc LineageOS is just the continuation of Cyanoggenmod's work, right? What device were you running?

[@acynicalasian]

@@BScHamP100 I think I was running a Galaxy S4 back in the day. And yeah, I did hear that LineageOS was the continuation of CM, but I'm not sure if that means ex-CM devs, forking the code base, etc etc.

[@deadGrlz206]

Kind of reminds me of my palm pebble. That was definitely my favorite 2000's phone.

[@ndrzst24]

“Guys, I didn’t mean to show this on camera. We’ve just watched a nugget pass away.” Says the guy who regularly smashes them into oblivion.

[@HKT-4300]

I really like the design of the tiny one, like wayyyyy more than i probably should, i wish it was sound software wise and not a rushed flop as i think it could have honestly been quite neat

[@TheBigGuy.]

That nugget at the intro is sick, btw if you want a moder one the lg wing is perfect.

[@eightsprites]

I worked in tech/IT since 1999.. I never heard of Microsoft Kin.. must been worth the 1B for sure..

[@HACKYOfficial]

that unfolding tho

[@nikashpersaud353]

2:29, "we're only just getting out of that" Cries in Canadian

[@solared]

🥲

[@XxDesperado254xX]

I actually had a Kin One (the hockey puck) and it being just okay. Got stuck with it for 2 years because my parents were under contract with Verizon at the time so I made it work. I really didn't need a smart phone at that time cuz I wasn't super into social media, all I really needed was a phone that made phone calls and text messages and it got the job done. That being said, I absolutely DESPISED getting phone calls on the damn thing because you couldn't hear anything, even when you cranked the volume to the max! The Zune functionality wasn't THAT bad as far as I remember, I don't recall ever having to use the Zune software in order to put music on it, I just remember just plugging it into a computer and just dragging and dropping music on the thing but the one thing that REALLY sucked about it was the fact that it WOULD NOT PAUSE whenever you would pull out headphones from the jack like EVERY OTHER PHONE AND/OR MUSIC PLAYER EVER MADE. I don't remember the touch screen being THAT delayed, I think it's just because this one is thrashed. The one really positive thing I will give the Kin One is the fact that that keyboard was GODLIKE! That keyboard had NO RIGHT being THAT good, it was kinda concaved, perfectly spaced out and the buttons felt super good and comfortable (to me at least), I could text better with that keyboard better than I can with touchscreen keyboards

[@Hotrob_J]

I'd love to see you cover the palm pre! When that came out I was like "iPhone? What a piece of junk! Gimme that palm pre with the keyboard and trackball!"

[@corky842]

The press really did it dirty by focusing on the shit that didn't matter like oh my gosh this edge that you'll never touch is so sharp! And it's made of plastic instead of some glass that'll shatter if you look at it wrong! And the keys are so tiny! Meanwhile I can cover half of the keyboard with my thumb and it still feels better than an on screen keyboard.

[@kshadehyaena]

The Pre3 was so good, shame about WebOS being only on TVs now.

[@Sa7urnz_channel_123]

2:07 "MONEY!" such inspired frases. I will now be happy

[@briancorona4894]

I had this as my first “smart phone” had to deal with it for about a year before i managed to convince my dad to trade it in for a droid

[@paranormaltester2036]

Can't believe that Pagers/Beepers out lasted this phone. There are doctors where I live that still use Beepers.

[@bentheturntableguy182]

iPhone 4 is definitely an S-tier nugget. I had one when I was younger, and I don’t really remember much of anything bad about it.

[@Tristanimator_]

7:16 The beans have returned

[@rayniebee]

I had a Sidekick and loved it, then I had a Palm Pre and loved it (my favorite phone I ever had to this day). I was so excited about the Kin and was so bummed about it flopping so hard. I'm so bored of the form factor monopoly of flat glass slabs, and I'm excited to see flips and foldables adding some variety, but I have my fingers crossed (hopelessly, I think) that maybe the keyboard sliders can make a comeback like the flip phone. RIP Danger and Palm.

[@ajmjdj123]

I don't know about the rest of you but this phone was my favorite growing up. I had the ONE and TWO and both were amazing phones for someone broke in high school. The videos and photos I took! Man I would do anything to get those memories back.

[@BobIoNix]

Whoa! This brings back memories of my first encounter with the HTC Tityn Windows phones. Even though the keyboard seemed robust, I hesitated purchasing as my experience with mechanical keyboards has been a bit "hit and miss" after enduring fast tapping while texting, some of the keys did wear out. And no thanks to little manufacturer tech and hardware support, there was little information on where and how to purchase a spare mechanical keyboard. However there was one thing about these keyboard phones, especially with Motorola Razrs and Nokia 7610s etc, their battery suffered almost zero bloat swelling and almost no explosion risks. Compare to the battery swelling and bloatphones of today's Nokia 2.1 and Huawei Cs. I know candybar touchscreen phones seems cliche now, but some phones like the Samsung Flip Z and Oppo N2 flipphones are trying to bring back a mechanical features with a twisting touchscreen, I've rarely seen them list how many mechanical cycles these screend and the hinges will endure. I wonder if more endurance is the way to go forward as in military grade phones with OS support for over 10 years as in Fairphones? Or will the industry be pivoting use and throw disposable phones? Unlikely, considering all the costs involved. I hope to be able to see maybe a satellite StarLink or Oneweb LinkedIn smartglasses or smartwatches , one day, maybe? Until then, happy to be clattering away on mostly, urban locations only restricted 5g and GPRS instatexting Nokias! Lol!

[@vaGnomeMagicianYTB]

Yo, you unlocked a supressed memory of the Kin 2 I had. It was.... so weird. I remember hating how the texting app worked and watching movies. I got it used in like 2009 or something and I traded up to a Droid 2 like a month later or something.

[@captainnurbles9169]

For comparison, I own Windows PDAs from the mid 2000s that have better app support than this thing, that I was also able to connect to the internet with (you need an unencrypted network, and most websites don't work). I can run XCOM, Doom, and theoretically Quake, alongside a stinkload of other custom software, all of which the billion dollar nugget phone can't. For Pete's sake you don't have to restart the device to change color themes! Also DankPDA when

[@oscarleeson2298]

Still lasted longer than Liz Truss as PM of the UK O.O

[@pandawithanorange]

I had a Kin Two-m and oh man I loved it. My family was a Zune family, so that integration was really my first taste of having a phone that was also a full Zune.

[@chickenpasta7359]

I was baffled when this thing came out with no app store even as a dumb kid in middle school. Smartphones at that time were becoming more and more the norm and not having an app store was basically suicide. I remember at one point Verizon was practically begging people to buy these things

[@carllinden533]

9:34 I've got an iPod touch 4th generation that still works with the original battery. It can still fully run KZbin, the video quality still looks super nice!

[@Liggliluff]

(1:45) Physical keyboards on phones usually have very poor international support, so I can understand why on-screen keyboards became popular. You can't just limit a language to only use A-Z, that's not how it works. That's like saying English has to give up on G J U W Y and use C I V V V respectively instead. That's the same as telling Swedish people to just not use Å Ä Ö when typing on a physical phone keyboard.

[@ThecrazyJH96]

Had the kin, the longer version. Loved it! Camera was really good at the time too

[@ThatDudeArvai]

I had one of these! I got mine back in the day on a 2 year plan for $20. I got it right after they made it where it didn’t require 3G service on your contract. For a basic phone, it was great! But my senior year I ripped it in half because the top screen stopped working. I recently bought another one a year ago while browsing eBay and got one in box for around $20. Doesn’t work just like yours but kinda cool to have.

[@Elipsis_]

Say all you want about it, but I absolutely dig the Kin One's design.

[@C-Midori]

I actually dig it as well. If a phone with said design was revived today with better features I’d cop it immediately. I’d happily walk around with this pebble in my pocket.

[@limitless_valley]

3:21 Finally. More of final cut ruining videos features!!!

[@AlphaXY13]

I literally had one of these, first smartphone I ever had and I lost it about as fast as it got discontinued, thing was tiny for even little 10 or 11 year old me.

[@aviumcaravan]

rewatching this, and i noticed something. the Kin Two looks like a Nokia 5800 XpressMusic and whatnot.

[@jaxpimble7750]

I'll be honest here, I don't care about old nuggets. but your personality is why I watch. I don't even know about kins or anything, but god damn, your reaction is great.

[@CommieGIR]

I had the Sidekick, totally loved it. Man, I miss physical keyboards. The Kin 1 looks suspiciously like the Palm Pre

[@wclongboards]

I actually had one of those!! I was blissfully unaware of everything I was missing out on. I had to have been around 12 and it was only my second phone. I had no clue it was such a flop. Apparently they’re worth money as collectors items now. I need to go find mine and sell it. If anyone wants a working kin one then let me know haha