I'm sad that Project Ara never came to be. The idea of modularity for a phone was a cool idea. Definitely get why it never went anywhere, but dang it would have been cool. The idea was you buy a phone chassis and then modules that give features, storage, extra battery, etc.
🆒💙
The best part about owning a gaming PC is knowing that it effectively never gets “outdated” so long as you make small, incremental upgrades. Big tech doesn’t like you paying a couple hundred every other year over paying $1k for a new phone every other year. Modular phones sound so damn cool
Utterly pointless. Dozens of more points of failure. Added complexity. Added cost. Added size. Make phones more repairable and support right-to-repair, absolutely. But modularity on a device like a phone is pointless.
I would love a chunkier iPhone so I could upgrade the camera and processor/RAM, like the old days of tower computers. However, you’re right, it’s kind of true that modularity isn’t that easy.
I worked on this project way back in the day 😆. Crazy to see it pop up on my feed
The problem with this idea is that one of the key features of a smartphone is that input, processing, and output are jammed so tightly together.
We NEED stuff like this, but alas.....it will probably never happen now. Have you tried Fairphone? I haven't, but wanted to.
We don't have to worry about accidentally dropping our PC in the bathtub or pool. Completely unworkable in the real world.
I recently bought a Framework laptop, which is the same concept, but for computers, and I love it. I am hoping that, one day, they release a phone as well.
shop.fairphone.com/smartphones
Fairphone is nothing close to this vision
two words planned obsolescence
nah it's also difficult to make a good modular phone, then you still rely on manufacturer providing new modules compatible with the base you have etc. i can imagine a lot of problems that come with this. nowadays phones are so fast I think easily replaceable batteries should come back
It all began with poor people working in the bulb industry. They accepted that was a good idea to destroy the technology that made bulbs last forever, as the company was going to sell significantly fewer bulbs ergo jobs loose. This posed a problem for the early days of capitalism. 😂
Damn shame this didn’t go anywhere. I do think there is a tech future focused on modularity, if we want it
I know I want it. Being modular and customizable is a surefire way for me to want something even if I never even considered wanting whatever it is before
Legit same. Ara looked so dope and my friends and I were so hyped for it
I find myself thinking about Project Ara frequently... It was far more exciting than anything we've seen in the phone industry since 😢
Me too, but making phones more repairable would be great. Glued together glass sandwiches are a nightmare. Also bring back user replaceable batteries, as they're the part that wears out with use.