• Phonebloks - "The Next Step" (aka it's actually happening)
    46 replies, posted
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaPf4ZIbDVM[/media] Basically looks like Motorola was already working on a similar kind of concept and they're teaming up with the Phonebloks people to make it actually happen
Fuck yes, it's happening
Somehow, Phonebloks still come across as the 'ideas guy' while Motorola does the hard work. But it looks promising, who knows. I just hope it doesn't go unheard of after a year or so of 'concept testing'
This actually blew my mind when it was confirmed a real thing, I always thought it was a good concept but it would never reach marketability, but, here we are
I hope they include a frame that keep the parts from falling out when dropped, which will happen a lot judging by people's iphones.
welp guess I look like an idiot now
[QUOTE=Judas;42688923]welp guess I look like an idiot now[/QUOTE] Why would you?
[QUOTE=MrBacon;42689311]Why would you?[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Judas;42161784]cute idea, utterly impossible[/QUOTE]
Aaaaand the price kills it.
Phonebloks made it seem like a lego baseplate, and each part of the phone could be anywhere on there and it all just works. The original video even showed them dropping out the storage module and putting in a bigger battery. This wouldn't work. Motorola's system has specific connectors, they look kinda like the same kind a sim card uses, for each module. This would allow and module to be designed and function provided it uses the same connector and can fit in the slot. This is basically the same idea, but Phonebloks was just conceptually showing it while Motorola actually made it. It will be interesting to watch this progress.
guess I called how it would work right.
[QUOTE=Gnomical;42690662]Phonebloks made it seem like a lego baseplate, and each part of the phone could be anywhere on there and it all just works. The original video even showed them dropping out the storage module and putting in a bigger battery. This wouldn't work. Motorola's system has specific connectors, they look kinda like the same kind a sim card uses, for each module. This would allow and module to be designed and function provided it uses the same connector and can fit in the slot. This is basically the same idea, but Phonebloks was just conceptually showing it while Motorola actually made it. It will be interesting to watch this progress.[/QUOTE] This. I was talking to friends about how I hope his original vision becomes a thing. Motorola's concept looks awful.
having this silly anything goes idea for the motherboard is going to be where phonebloks ultimately fails. the engineering is so extremly complicated and would just be easier to have everything with different standards than "one fits all"
I never doubted you could take the idea of a modular phone and build something around it. But it'll likely be less awesome than you imagined and there will be obvious downsides.
fuck why did i just buy a new phone
[QUOTE=cdr248;42692722]fuck why did i just buy a new phone[/QUOTE] this won't probably see the light of day until like 10+ years
Good to see its actually happening, kinda wish me and some of the other FP guys who gave a crack at the actual electrical/mech design would've been able to submit it.
interchangeable lens block
I really hope this doesn't fail.
[QUOTE=rapperkid04;42692305]This. I was talking to friends about how I hope his original vision becomes a thing. Motorola's concept looks awful.[/QUOTE] Yeah but electronics doesn't quite work like that. It'd be really hard to support moving circuits. On a normal board, every connection is dedicated. This is kinda like having wireless and wired connections. Wired works best, it is reliable, consistent. Wireless can be spotty, slow, have problems, etc. Not to mention if a connection was designated to be, say, for RAM access and you shifted the phone around and placed a battery in the same area, then all the power would go to the RAM and likely fry it. The only way this might work is if it constantly updated connections, but in reality that is a rather silly thing to do, and it might not even work or be worth it. Motorola's concept is a working concept. While we must remember it is a very early prototype, it still has a long way to go. I can see something were people manufacture the modules and the baseplate separately. So you could have a "Legion LX11" baseplate that has for example a 12x13 CPU slot, 2 5x8 RAM slots, etc. Where the baseplates are static and can have various types of modules plugged in. New CPU comes out? Requires bigger socket? Just buy a new baseplate and pop it in. New CPU comes out that is a 12x13 socket? Pop it in as a replacement. This would be a neat future for sure, but it all depends on the marketability and feasibility of the product and consumer interest. We have to keep in mind the largest part of the market is very technologically illiterate, and they might not have any interest in a modular phone system where they have to think about what they want and how it fits together and stuff.
[QUOTE=shian;42688833]Somehow, Phonebloks still come across as the 'ideas guy' while Motorola does the hard work. But it looks promising, who knows. I just hope it doesn't go unheard of after a year or so of 'concept testing'[/QUOTE] Being an "ideas guy" isn't always a bad thing. They are pretty necessary for enterprise level work. Stuff like marketing and requirements building is really important on large scale projects.
See, this right here is what I want the world to be like. Open. It's inspiring to see that the guy had an idea and actually went through with it.
I had this exact idea literally 7 years ago.
[QUOTE=Gnomical;42695269]Yeah but electronics doesn't quite work like that. It'd be really hard to support moving circuits. On a normal board, every connection is dedicated. This is kinda like having wireless and wired connections. Wired works best, it is reliable, consistent. Wireless can be spotty, slow, have problems, etc. Not to mention if a connection was designated to be, say, for RAM access and you shifted the phone around and placed a battery in the same area, then all the power would go to the RAM and likely fry it. The only way this might work is if it constantly updated connections, but in reality that is a rather silly thing to do, and it might not even work or be worth it. Motorola's concept is a working concept. While we must remember it is a very early prototype, it still has a long way to go. I can see something were people manufacture the modules and the baseplate separately. So you could have a "Legion LX11" baseplate that has for example a 12x13 CPU slot, 2 5x8 RAM slots, etc. Where the baseplates are static and can have various types of modules plugged in. New CPU comes out? Requires bigger socket? Just buy a new baseplate and pop it in. New CPU comes out that is a 12x13 socket? Pop it in as a replacement. This would be a neat future for sure, but it all depends on the marketability and feasibility of the product and consumer interest. We have to keep in mind the largest part of the market is very technologically illiterate, and they might not have any interest in a modular phone system where they have to think about what they want and how it fits together and stuff.[/QUOTE] This is true. Also even if they come out with a finished "Phonebloks" product and it sells well, what about 2 or 3 years later? Will they still be making Phonebloks parts, like upgraded cameras and whatnot? Or will this just be a one off told-you-we-could-do-it thing?
[QUOTE=shian;42688833]Somehow, Phonebloks still come across as the 'ideas guy' while Motorola does the hard work. But it looks promising, who knows. I just hope it doesn't go unheard of after a year or so of 'concept testing'[/QUOTE] Motorola was working on Project Ara since before the Phonebloks video, I don't even know why Motorola even bothered contacting these guys
[QUOTE=katbug;42695569]I had this exact idea literally 7 years ago.[/QUOTE] Yeah well I had the exact idea 7 years and 1 day ago.
[QUOTE=Laserbeams;42696091]Motorola was working on Project Ara since before the Phonebloks video, I don't even know why Motorola even bothered contacting these guys[/QUOTE] Easy marketing I guess, social media sites had a shitfit when Phonebloks was first proposed. They'll probably ditch them near the end of development.
[QUOTE=Valnar;42695385]Being an "ideas guy" isn't always a bad thing. They are pretty necessary for enterprise level work. Stuff like marketing and requirements building is really important on large scale projects.[/QUOTE] But even Sales and Marketing Departments do more shit than these guys. They have targets to meet, if they fail that, their jobs could be at risk. These guys just comes with ideas. And even the marketing people do more stuff, there's alot of coordination.
Don't beat yourself up if you said that Phonebloks was impossible, because the original concept he proposed is still very not possible in our day and age.
Remember back in the day where you would drop a phone and the battery and cover would fly off like 5 feet? Now you'd be looking for your CPU, RAM, camera, stoage, speaker, toaster, led light, can opener.....
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