Project Ara's next prototype will stand equal to a top-tier smartphone | Hacker News Reader

Project Ara's next prototype will stand equal to a top-tier smartphone

engadget.com

30 pointsakashtndn15 comments

Project Ara is a very interesting project and I know they have a lot of very smart people working on it, but I can't help but think that it's an evolutionary dead end. To my eye, the future isn't modules integrated with the phone itself, but modules out there, self-contained and communicating wirelessly. Who's going to put a fitness tracker module in their phone instead of having one built into their shoe or watch? Who's going to put an environmental sensor there, where it'll track their pocket humidity? Customizing is good, and people should be able to, say, upgrade the camera for an extra $30 or what have you — that's limited by manufacturing processes, alas.

I just feel Ara is going to end up in the "curiosities" pile of tech history, having looked years into the wrong future.

It's possible - but you can't get anywhere without taking risks, right?

I think the really exciting part about this will be the ability to upgrade components of your phone quicker. Or put in components you care about (or don't care about).

Don't want a camera in your phone? you don't have to have one! Fill that up with battery instead. For the first time ever you'll actually be able to tailor your mobile to your needs - and then when they change you shell out just a fraction of the cost of a new phone in order to swap out modules.

That's very cool. I'm very excited about the possiblity of custom-making a phone with just the items and features I want.

I'm not looking forward to dropping my phone and having to pick up and re-insert 10 parts instead of just the device and battery like now.`

It would be fairly easy to design an inexpensive removable bumper that wraps around the outside edge of the Ara, holding all the things in, and protecting against damage.

It seems like a neat idea, but I would have three big concerns (personally.)

1. If the modules are expensive or not interesting enough, the swappable parts becomes a problem, not a feature. If I just buy the modules I want and never change them, then why do I want interchangeable modules? This means I _have_ to want a phone that does weird things. (And if enough people want weird-thing-having phones, they become standard features, and then swappable modules looks bad again.)

2. I want the simplest phone that does everything I want. Not the most complex phone that does everything everybody else wants. Where does this phone fit?

3. Version issues. If this thing breaks backward compatibility or needs an updated core component, you might be buying a whole new phone anyway. In which case, the gimmick doesn't add value, it adds cost. The phone has to feel like an upgrade, not something that will hold you back because the module vendors can't upgrade at reasonable cost.

I see this more as a customized secondary phone for a particular purpose.

My interest in a project Ara phone is if I can buy one configured without baseband (Wi-Fi only) and GPS modules. Using the right apps, one could possibly have a "secure" communication device.

A big use case is people who want privacy. Modern phones have back doors that can be activated remotely by the manufacturer. Don't want to be tracked for a while? Disconnect the baseband. Don't want to be watched? Disconnect the camera. I can see a lot of people wanting a phone that's under their control.

That phone will never exist.

That phone exists already if you’re willing to compromise on looks and weight: http://www.raspberrypi.org/piphone-home-made-raspberry-pi-sm...

One advantage that hard interconnects have over wireless is that the modules can all share the same battery and recharging episode.

Adding this as a separate reply addressing some of the other comments here.

Here is what I see to be the big use case for someone like me. Adapting your phone on a daily basis. I have days where battery life is everything, so I put in more battery. Maybe I'm traveling so I swap in the high end camera. Maybe I'm out hiking and I want the compass or what-ever. Maybe I'm diabetic and I want a blood meter in my phone if I'm out all day. And I can do all of this without having multiple devices... just one I adapt to what I'll need that day. Repairs, etc. are the extra niceties.. but I see adaptability as the main feature.

I think the real use case here will be phone repairs:

Camera lens or screen cracked? Just swap in a new one.

Button dead or jammed? Just switch in a new one.

Apart from the novel idea of being able to customize/personalize your phone, this has to be the biggest advantage Project Ara will have in the eyes of the average consumer. But as pointed out in some of the comments, backward compatibility and cost would be crucial, and hopefully, they won't offset the advantages.

Can you hot-swap the battery? (e.g. when you have another, perhaps smaller battery in the phone) Are the component connection points water-resistant? Irrespective of the contemporary answers to those questions, I believe this undoubtedly is the future of computing, not just the future of smartphones.

The endoskeleton contains a tiny power supply that can run the phone in a low-power, emergency mode long enough for a battery swap.

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