POLL: Project Ara?With Windows Phone?

[unstoppablekem]

The Project Ara idea is really neat, you gotta admit. I mean, a modular phone! You can build your own PCs, but never phones...until the Project Ara comes out.

My question is to you guys, would you like to see something similar come for a Windows Phone device? I know I would!

Take the poll and comment to let us know!

 

[Laura Knotek]

I said I don't really care because phones are something that most people don't keep very long anyway. People keep PCs a lot longer, and PCs can be easily upgraded. I wouldn't be that interested in customizing a phone, when I'd probably get rid of it after 2 years or less anyway.

 

[unstoppablekem]

I said I don't really care because phones are something that most people don't keep very long anyway. People keep PCs a lot longer, and PCs can be easily upgraded. I wouldn't be that interested in customizing a phone, when I'd probably get rid of it after 2 years or less anyway.

Well the whole point of this is that you can "upgrade" it without the need to buy a new phone.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Well the whole point of this is that you can "upgrade" it without the need to buy a new phone.

But I don't see myself being able to swap out tiny parts on a phone, and I wouldn't pay someone else to do that. The cost of the service wouldn't make it worthwhile to upgrade a phone, when a new one (with warranty) would not be that much more expensive. Upgrading PC components is not that difficult, but the parts are a lot bigger and easier to work with as a DIY project.

 

[unstoppablekem]

But I don't myself being able to swap out tiny parts on a phone, and I wouldn't pay someone else to do that. The cost of the service wouldn't make it worthwhile to upgrade a phone, when a new one (with warranty) would not be that much more expensive. Upgrading PC components is not that difficult, but the parts are a lot bigger and easier to work with as a DIY project.

Maybe we'll be surprised and it will be easy? I guess we'll find out soon!

 

[taymur]

We always think of ourselves when it comes to new inventions (tech hungry people) which i think is a little bit wrong, I totally see how I can start playing with this toy, but on the other hand, from my modest observation to the tech market, we can see that everything is moving towards being a one part - one life cycle - throw away product, changing this is very difficult.

One more thing to consider, even when it comes to computes, back in the day of PCs, you didnt see that many people playing around with their hardware ( I know I did, I loved computes, but non of my family did, so we will most probably see this working for retailers more than users, taking the advantage of creating mobile variations, were consumes will just buy the end product.

I vote no for this one.

 

[WanderingTraveler]

This will simply commoditize the smartphone market.

My problem with this is the same reason customizable laptops didn't take off - they were too clunky, too expensive, and simply too inefficient to work out.

Mark my words, should this happen, the smartphone market will go the way of the PC market: a never-ending spec race, with effects only seen by those who really need raw power.

 

[jmshub]

I think it's a dumb idea. I said the same thing when PhoneBloks threads started popping up. On paper, it's a neat idea. In practice, this idea just doesn't work. The phone will be thicker and larger than a non-modular phone, and I think the extra interconnects will make the phone less reliable and durable. In the end, few of us break our phones and need to replace one part (other than the screen that isn't too difficult in most phones). We get bored with our phones and want the new hotness. Even with the ability to upgrade components, I just don't see how long people would keep the core components of a phone like this before eventually switching out to a more standard design.