Well, coming to a Puerto Rico 'near you'.
Google has set it's sights on PR as a testing market for their new modular phone idea. Lets see if it lives up to the hype..
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=in…
Google's Project Ara -- its coming!
scrimshaw on 16/01/2015 - 02:06
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I have been following this project since the initial info was released for alpha/pre-beta testers. IMHO, it is cool idea but not really feasible for the mainstream market.
Interesting concept, looks expensive though. Cant imagine your average population would get into it. I like my phones to be one solid piece and not something my sons can steal
I don't think this is a great idea.
People point to the modularity of desktop computers, but the difference between desktop computers and phones is that most people use their desktops for different things whereas most people use their phones for the same thing.
What do most people use their phones for? Calls, texts, Facebook, games and apps, happy snaps with the camera…etc. That's about all right - whatever variations do exist in the way people use their phones is not significant. So, in other words, a "power user" doesn't actually need that much more horsepower than a "normal user" when it comes to phones.
On the other hand, with desktops, we have such a different playing field because you can get from $300 basic desktops for web browsing to multi-thousand dollar systems for graphics and animation, CAD work and even gaming.
Desktops are modular because they need to provide for different use case scenarios with extremely different hardware requirements. That's why you need to pick and choose the components that you will need in order to do the things you want to do.
Phones don't need to be modular, because the use cases are so similar. As devices get smaller and simpler, the use cases converge and things need to sacrifice modularity in order to achieve more important design considerations such as smaller size through more efficient use of space, toughness and less points of failure.
For me, this fails because it introduces modular connectors which waste space and weight, it makes the phone less tough because there are more parts that can fail, fall apart and become lost or damaged and there are simply more points of failure in each of the connectors and in the different modules and parts being produced and assembled separately rather than a whole phone which is designed to work.
Yeah, this phone is by no means svelte but it does represent a step forward in eliminating one big problem with consumer electronics — planned obsolescence which contributes to e-waste. The battery is removable. Parts are easily repaired by simply swapping. And If your phone is lacking the next big thing (say, you have a 2014 era device that only does 1080p display, a camera that only does 720p recording, and you'd like a 4K UHD display and a 4k recording camera, you'd swap out the parts that you want, rather than buying a whole new device.)
I don't how much it will cost all up, as pricing is still un-announced but I think what is more likely is that Ara might not get any manufacturer support behind it, as many businesses wouldn't want to destroy their profit model (which is to push a new flagship phone every 2 years — just look at Apple and Samsung). And the second is probably their relunctance to let Google control too much of the business or market.
You're right, it does help to alleviate planned obsolescence, but I think that's a pretty narrow way to look at things. The truth is, phones have reached the stage where upgrading is more due to a "want" than a "need". I still use a Nexus 4 from late 2012 and I expect that I'll get at least a year or two more out of it. Most people would be horrified by using a phone for 4 years, but it does everything I need it to do.
The only thing that I would want to change or upgrade is the battery - that's a genuine concern. However, upgrading the screen and camera isn't all that useful. If I wanted a better camera and screen, I'd have been better off paying for a better phone upfront. The problem is that technology isn't moving quickly enough to warrant this style of incremental updates. Let's be honest, how much have screens and cameras on phones improved over the past few years? We've reached a stage where if you buy a flagship, you can use it for the next 5 years if you're not lusting for the latest and greatest for the sake of it.
Of course, the other way to look at it, and this is how I view most "upgrades" is that I'd rather pay a bit more to have two working devices rather than one working device and one useless piece/part. For example, if you want to upgrade multiple parts, you might as well buy a new phone and keep your old one as a backup or give it to someone who might use and appreciate it. Better than buying upgrades and then ending up with one phone and a bunch of modules that are as good as useless on their own.
Better than buying upgrades and then ending up with one phone and a bunch of modules that are as good as useless on their own.
Can always give away the modules to someone else with the same phone.
@ozhunter: I bet the modules are designed to be usable on all ARA phones, slot size permitting. Only makes sense.
It'll be interesting to be able to plug third party modules into the chassis. If ARA takes off there'll be an explosion of interesting modules. That for me is far more interesting than the upgradability. Note that the battery module is also planned to be hot-swappable (within a certain number of minutes) so that would get rid of the need for carrying power banks or model specific spare batteries.
I don't think it will hit off. PCs have been modular for years, and i've never seen someone just upgrade one part at a time for their entire life. It gets to the point where the upgrades arent feasible/superseded technology and you might as well just build from scratch.
http://www.reddit.com/r/gadgets/comments/236eia/googles_new_…