A new type of phone?

[Whoey]

I've always thought this is how phones and laptops should be... I can't see big brands jumping on this as it means they'd lose that huge income stream of people completely replacing obsolete/broken devices.

https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/2931-phonebloks

[Dexter]

I've always thought this is how phones and laptops should be... I can't see big brands jumping on this as it means they'd lose that huge income stream of people completely replacing obsolete/broken devices.

https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/2931-phonebloks

Love the idea, but big companies working together? iPhone and Samsung...

[dks]

So it is the phone equivalent of the desktop PC. My main PC is from 2007, upgraded a few times but still fine.

In a way you can do that now, with upgrading your phone memory and android version, on some models, which gives you a few extra months...   

[comis]

Wonderful idea, but probably more feasible 10 years down the line I imagine--persoanally, I think our current semiconductor tech is developing fast, but not to the point of total maximization.  This phone block might still be a little too blocky and pricey to make vs current smart phones. 

But many years down the line, when everything becomes so dirt cheap and sizes cannot be any smaller, then revising the size to a what we see nowadays for a phone block is probably a viable option.

On the other hand, we might see even more trash/waste when the disposable cell phone becomes popular around the world:
http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa022801a.htm

[Whoey]

I dunno about blockiness... this is a concept after all, and when you consider you can change elements as you need, and that the thinner, sleeker and larger phones get the more likely you are to add a boxy case/cover/etc. Also it pretty much has to be blocky to have interchangeable elements, otherwise we're back where we started. I'm sure there would be base platforms that have a rounded edge, allowing the blocks to be inserted in the center yet keeping a sleeker profile.

I can't see major manufacturers on board with this until it takes off, pretty much the way there were only a few android phones at first. Plus with it all being changeable components, perhaps the quality will increase, and they can focus on what they do best, like a Nikon or Canon camera, etc.

I still think it's a great idea, would love to see this in laptops too, it's time we stopped throwing away good electronics because one element failed or not powerful enough and is deemed too difficult to replace. This has always been why I prefer a desktop over a laptop.

[comis]

I dunno about blockiness... this is a concept after all, and when you consider you can change elements as you need, and that the thinner, sleeker and larger phones get the more likely you are to add a boxy case/cover/etc. Also it pretty much has to be blocky to have interchangeable elements, otherwise we're back where we started. I'm sure there would be base platforms that have a rounded edge, allowing the blocks to be inserted in the center yet keeping a sleeker profile.

I can't see major manufacturers on board with this until it takes off, pretty much the way there were only a few android phones at first. Plus with it all being changeable components, perhaps the quality will increase, and they can focus on what they do best, like a Nikon or Canon camera, etc.

I still think it's a great idea, would love to see this in laptops too, it's time we stopped throwing away good electronics because one element failed or not powerful enough and is deemed too difficult to replace. This has always been why I prefer a desktop over a laptop.

Expanding on your idea of phone-block, I do see some new 'tech' that is upcoming that will make life more fun:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1608192864/rfduino-iphone-bluetooth-40-arduino-compatible-boa?ref=category

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/48651611/espruino-javascript-for-things?ref=home_spotlight

Honestly, I consider myself geeky, but those tech is way beyond my geekiness chart.  But I get the feel that many small interesting pet projects could be made with ease now with these tech become more common in years to come.  And eventually, I hope the phone industry to tap into that block idea.

[Grant Lamontagne]

I hate changing things like phones, laptops etc so I'd be for this one 100%.

You'd still have to upgrade the main part of the phone eventually too as connectors advance as well- think of the connectors on the back of a PC for example. Parallel ports used to be used for everything, then it was USB, then USB 2 and so on.  Still though, it would take a lot longer to change the whole thing if you could keep components rotating around.

The other problem is- if you are swapping components and only the main board remains.... Aren't things like capacitors, batteries and LCD screens the main part of the e-waste problem?

Def

Sent from a digital multitool

[Whoey]

From what I saw the "main board" is connections only, so there are no components to go wrong there. Plus it should be easier to recycle components vs entire phones... Many architectures like USB are retro compatible... So since you could technically upgrade the USB controller chip and still have minimal waste.

If done right this should be far more future compatible, with far less waste vs current tech that seems to be thrown away every 2-3 years

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

[Grant Lamontagne]

Even if it can stretch that to 5-6 years I think it's great.

Def

Sent from a digital multitool

[mvyrmnd]

Who says laptops aren't upgradeable/fixable?

My Late 2009 white MacBook is called Grandad's Axe - only the Fan, the Wifi card and half of the screws are origninal - every other component has been replaced or upgraded.

It's even got a faster CPU than it shipped with.

I'm all for the tighter integration that a controlled platform allows. This "block" idea is good, but there are a few compromises that need to be made for it to work.

[Whoey]

There are usually only about 3 things that are easily upgraded in most laptops.

Ram, Hard Drive, Battery.

In most of those cases the system is already at maximum capacity and or little to no speed will be gained by upgrading most of them... (bus speed restrictions, already maximum capacity, etc) They generally are only changed due to failure.

That being said I pulled the dying 4200rpm mSATA from my brother in law's laptop and replaced it with a nice new SSD and saw a huge speed increase... however the old drive was reporting over 130000 errors... I also swapped 512mb ram with a 2gb dimm. I would have put 2x2gb, but the CPU is 32bit only, and maxed out at 4gb, part of which the built in video card uses... so 2.5GB was a good trade off without spending any extra money (2+1gb)

[Aloha]

great idea. 

[jzmtl]

Good intention, not going to happen. It goes back to desktop vs laptop, the latter is small because it's NOT modular and components share space to save space, would you want to lug around a phone that's like 80's mobile phone? Plus the "standards" change as technology evolves, so new better blocks probably won't work with your old phone.

Then it comes the human factor, people want new phones because they want something new, a more powerful chip isn't going to make it feel like new.

[pfrsantos]

Speaking for myself, I'd be more willing to pay €150 for this one than €80 for a "traditional" Nokia or Samsung or the like...
 

[Freudian Frog]

I like it but it would be a bit of a mess at first...

A lot of hardware would only be compatible with specific other hardware. For the average user it'd be too much to follow. Architecture would limit what modules you could use with what. Still, if done right this becomes a non-issue though it wouldn't be as open as they'd hope.

But hell! I'd take a bigger battery any day!

[lister]

A bit of an update:

http://motorola-blog.blogspot.com/2013/10/goodbye-sticky-hello-ara.html

[pfrsantos]

Yup, saw that too... We're getting there, folks!

 

[Whoey]

definitely interesting...

[jekostas]

Ah, the things you can do when you suddenly have Google's R&D budget backing you.

[enki_ck]

Ah, the things you can do when you suddenly have Google's R&D budget backing you.

+1

Still good though.