6 ms·

It looks pretty on paper, but it can't ever compete with a properly designed and executed product in the real world. The reason Apple can get their devices so s

by nwh 13y ago

It looks pretty on paper, but it can't ever compete with a properly designed and executed product in the real world. The reason Apple can get their devices so small is the complete omission of connectors and other internal padding. This thing (whatever it is) will just be a mess of connectors and other supporting hardware- a monolith of extendability that will never be used by an end user. Any extendability it has will be stunted by the bus abatable to it; you won't get an external screen or upgraded processor on a flimsy usb-alike connector. I would wager that almost every "reconfigurable" device or product just ends up in a single setting, which would have been better off being found during product testing and the rest of the configurations ignored.

51Cards 13y ago
Let me give you an alternate use case beyond the upgrade-ability. I see the advantages of this more-so in day to day use. I use my phone in several different environments and to that end right now I have multiple phones because of the limitations. Typical days I want a full featured general use device... well rounded. I carry my Nexus 4. My job requires me to spend several days a month "on-site" where I will be on my feet moving for 12-14 hours a day. I need battery life as I can't stop at a charger. I carry my Nexus One (yes, it still goes a 12 hour day under solid use) Lastly, when I travel I'd like to have a phone with a better camera so I wouldn't have to carry one. The Nexus 4 is good but if there was a better option I'd take it. I would like to see a device like this give me the option to reconfigure on the fly. When I'm on-site I'll pop in 2 battery modules... when I travel I'll put in the better (yet maybe bulkier) camera... day to day I'll use a more general set of components. Through it all I don't have to sync data or worry about what is on each device. Additionally this would easily allow swappable batteries (and if they permit more than one... hot swappable) I don't think they have the design nailed yet... but I also don't think this is something that should be discounted at all. Those who research this early despite the nay-sayers are the ones who just might be holding the next great thing in the end.
- kolinko 13y ago
  Two questions: 1. why not just carry a battery case for your Nexus 4? 2. keep in mind that modular = bigger. Would you still like to carry the phone if it meant that in Nexus 4 configuration it would be 2 times bigger and weight two times as much as your regular Nexus 4?
dgregd 13y ago
> it can't ever compete with a properly designed and executed product in the real world Apple isn't going to create a GPS tracking module for a truck. The goal of Ara is to provide small factor computer platform for new applications.
DominikR 13y ago
> This thing (whatever it is) will just be a mess of connectors and other supporting hardware- a monolith of extendability that will never be used by an end user. Yes, it probably would be a mess compared to an iPhone - just like the PC vs Mac. I wouldn't be so fast to dismiss this, you might be surprised how many users would prefer the ability to customize their devices over one-size-fits-all solutions. Just ask yourself why there are so many people buying all those high end Android devices.
- thedrbrian 13y ago
  They aren't all buying android to run a nightly build of x. People are buying them because the screen is so big, it looks nice , my mum bought the same one , the salesman said this was the best phone. Tech sites overestimate how many people want to mess with the innards of anything.
  - idm 13y ago
    That's the thought process for purchasing a phone. Think about purchasing a general purpose computer. Think about replacing your game console. Motorola may have been a phone company, but this thing isn't a phone by any stretch of the imagination. A true convergence technology could stand to support a little modularity.
- GFischer 13y ago
  "Just ask yourself why there are so many people buying all those high end Android devices." Over here (Uruguay), it's the network effect, and Android being cheaper (both perceived and in app availability). Apple makes no efforts to cater to some particulars of Third World countries (like, no credit card even having enough income, and a strong dislike to tying it to anything). I wonder how they manage to be apparently strong in China. Android dominates in Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East App availability is much better for Android here. Microsoft made many of Apple's screw-ups as well. So, if you plan to buy a high end phone in Uruguay, 97% will end up buying an Android (and most of those will end up with a Samsung Galaxy, which is what the official carrier pushes). Apple does have a lot of signalling value though :) and and iPhone is perceived as a luxury product too, but it's way more impractical here.
terhechte 13y ago
True, but at some point in the not too distant future, electronics will have shrunk so much, that this shouldn't matter any more. Phones can only become so small before they become unusable. So development is on their side.
JoachimSchipper 13y ago
It's not going to beat "dedicated smartphone"; think "hardware for low-volume product" or "add a nice touch UI to an existing product".
vidarh 13y ago
The Android trend is for larger devices, while the electronics keeps shrinking. The last generation PCB for my last 7" tablet would easily fit into my current 4.3" phone. > you won't get an external screen or upgraded processor on a flimsy usb-alike connector. Current screens are already connected by flimsy connectors. Have you tried changing screen on a phone in recent years?
gutnor 13y ago
I just noticed http://www.dscout.com/ara http://www.dscout.com/ara Maybe I'm paranoid, but it seems more a way for motorolla to leverage a community on the cheap. I really doubt the ARA will exist in a way that makes it really usable. IMO it seems like the technology is moving faster in a direction where you can produce a cheap small batch of custom build hardware (or an infinite variety of models like Samsung) rather than going back in the old school lego model. However, I can see the scout data from the community being incredibly useful for a company to create devices dedicated to various markets.

by nwh 13y ago

51Cards 13y ago

Let me give you an alternate use case beyond the upgrade-ability. I see the advantages of this more-so in day to day use. I use my phone in several different environments and to that end right now I have multiple phones because of the limitations. Typical days I want a full featured general use device... well rounded. I carry my Nexus 4. My job requires me to spend several days a month "on-site" where I will be on my feet moving for 12-14 hours a day. I need battery life as I can't stop at a charger. I carry my Nexus One (yes, it still goes a 12 hour day under solid use) Lastly, when I travel I'd like to have a phone with a better camera so I wouldn't have to carry one. The Nexus 4 is good but if there was a better option I'd take it. I would like to see a device like this give me the option to reconfigure on the fly. When I'm on-site I'll pop in 2 battery modules... when I travel I'll put in the better (yet maybe bulkier) camera... day to day I'll use a more general set of components. Through it all I don't have to sync data or worry about what is on each device. Additionally this would easily allow swappable batteries (and if they permit more than one... hot swappable) I don't think they have the design nailed yet... but I also don't think this is something that should be discounted at all. Those who research this early despite the nay-sayers are the ones who just might be holding the next great thing in the end.

kolinko 13y ago
Two questions: 1. why not just carry a battery case for your Nexus 4? 2. keep in mind that modular = bigger. Would you still like to carry the phone if it meant that in Nexus 4 configuration it would be 2 times bigger and weight two times as much as your regular Nexus 4?

dgregd 13y ago

> it can't ever compete with a properly designed and executed product in the real world Apple isn't going to create a GPS tracking module for a truck. The goal of Ara is to provide small factor computer platform for new applications.

DominikR 13y ago

> This thing (whatever it is) will just be a mess of connectors and other supporting hardware- a monolith of extendability that will never be used by an end user. Yes, it probably would be a mess compared to an iPhone - just like the PC vs Mac. I wouldn't be so fast to dismiss this, you might be surprised how many users would prefer the ability to customize their devices over one-size-fits-all solutions. Just ask yourself why there are so many people buying all those high end Android devices.

thedrbrian 13y ago
They aren't all buying android to run a nightly build of x. People are buying them because the screen is so big, it looks nice , my mum bought the same one , the salesman said this was the best phone. Tech sites overestimate how many people want to mess with the innards of anything.
- idm 13y ago
  That's the thought process for purchasing a phone. Think about purchasing a general purpose computer. Think about replacing your game console. Motorola may have been a phone company, but this thing isn't a phone by any stretch of the imagination. A true convergence technology could stand to support a little modularity.
GFischer 13y ago
"Just ask yourself why there are so many people buying all those high end Android devices." Over here (Uruguay), it's the network effect, and Android being cheaper (both perceived and in app availability). Apple makes no efforts to cater to some particulars of Third World countries (like, no credit card even having enough income, and a strong dislike to tying it to anything). I wonder how they manage to be apparently strong in China. Android dominates in Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East App availability is much better for Android here. Microsoft made many of Apple's screw-ups as well. So, if you plan to buy a high end phone in Uruguay, 97% will end up buying an Android (and most of those will end up with a Samsung Galaxy, which is what the official carrier pushes). Apple does have a lot of signalling value though :) and and iPhone is perceived as a luxury product too, but it's way more impractical here.

terhechte 13y ago

True, but at some point in the not too distant future, electronics will have shrunk so much, that this shouldn't matter any more. Phones can only become so small before they become unusable. So development is on their side.

JoachimSchipper 13y ago

It's not going to beat "dedicated smartphone"; think "hardware for low-volume product" or "add a nice touch UI to an existing product".

vidarh 13y ago

The Android trend is for larger devices, while the electronics keeps shrinking. The last generation PCB for my last 7" tablet would easily fit into my current 4.3" phone. > you won't get an external screen or upgraded processor on a flimsy usb-alike connector. Current screens are already connected by flimsy connectors. Have you tried changing screen on a phone in recent years?

gutnor 13y ago

I just noticed http://www.dscout.com/ara http://www.dscout.com/ara Maybe I'm paranoid, but it seems more a way for motorolla to leverage a community on the cheap. I really doubt the ARA will exist in a way that makes it really usable. IMO it seems like the technology is moving faster in a direction where you can produce a cheap small batch of custom build hardware (or an infinite variety of models like Samsung) rather than going back in the old school lego model. However, I can see the scout data from the community being incredibly useful for a company to create devices dedicated to various markets.