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>The point of the article isn't really "this can't be done"; but "if this is done, it's inferior to a non-modular phone". And it's only inferior if you choose
by regularfry 13y ago
>The point of the article isn't really "this can't be done"; but "if this is done, it's inferior to a non-modular phone".
And it's only inferior if you choose to look at it through that lens. As far as I can see, the idea is that modularity brings its own benefits, which, for some people, might outweigh the perceived disadvantages. If someone's already decided they'd never be in the market for a modular phone because they don't want that inherent tradeoff, what point is there in being negative about how that modularity is achieved?
> even for laptops we're seeing that people tend to prefer a bit of size/weight/battery life rather than modularity.
Applied to phones, size? Maybe. There's a place in the world for a Samsung Note, so I wouldn't write it off on those grounds. Weight? Arguably. Battery life? Beyond a threshold of about 18 hours, a vast number of people demonstrably don't care.
If I were to pick an obvious problem point, it's simply that the hardware is bound to be more expensive for a given set of functionality.
> Modularity imposes a cost, it's a tradeoff
Yes. That's exactly it. It's a tradeoff which some people may find it worth making.
- marcosdumay 13y agoIt's gonna be more expensive, bigger, slower, and have a smaller battery life. What's in it to like? For less than the price of the modular version, you can get a non-modular one with all the functionality included.
- icoder 13y ago> ..with all functionality included Well, except for the modularity. And 'more expensive' is debatable over time, since the user should get away with replacing only parts for a while and competition, standardization and partial reuse of components could result in lower prices over time. Functionality is also debatable, over time. Since bloks users can (ideally) replace a small part to upgrade to NFC, while regular phone users need a complete new phone.
- lgg 13y agoThat is a great example of why this idea is completely infeasible. You can't replace a small component to get NFC. NFC requires a large antenna (think roughly the size of a credit card). That has RF implications with other emitters ont he device (BT, Wifi, LTE). Also, all the RF modules in a PhoneBloks phone would require individual shielding to pass regulatory compliance (since the phone will never be tested as a whole the individual parts have to be certified), which will significantly increase their size and cost.
- auctiontheory 13y agoGood point. A modern phone (or any complex device) is more than a collection of swappable components - it is an integrated system.