Justine Haupt has spent the last three years developing the old school device so that it can fit in her pocket, get better reception, and maintain a battery life of up to 30 hours.

When she wrote about the retro cell phone on her blog, the website crashed from the sheer number of visitors clamoring to admire the retro gadget.

Since Haupt has been inundated with requests from fellow smartphone haters begging for their own version of the phone, she is now offering DIY build-it-yourself kits to the public.

The astronomy instrumentation engineer from New York's Brookhaven National Laboratory says she was was inspired to make the phone because she dislikes the culture and design of smartphones.

"I work in technology, but I don't like the culture around smartphones," says Haupt. "I don't like the idea of being at someone's beck and call every moment and I don't need to have that level of access to the internet.