Dave Hakkens was the brilliant mind behind
what many are calling ‘the lego phone’. Dave came up with the idea when a
single component in his favourite camera was damaged and he was advised that it
would be cheaper and easier to just buy a new camera than it would be to buy
the single component and replace it. He wanted to create a device where this
would no longer be the case, where buying and replacing damaged or less
desirable components became so easy that your grandmother could do it.

The concept was called Phonebloks. When
Dave first announced the idea he set up a website, a prototype and a plan – he
wanted to find 500 supporters of the idea, but by the 29th of
October had more than 381,000,000 supporters. The project was of course seen as
valuable with so many people willing to get behind it, now it is no surprise
that Motorola, one of the Google owned mobile phone production companies, has
taken up the project with the full intention of producing the modular phone,
which will be called Ara.
So – how come Motorola can just take this
fantastic idea and make a phone? There are a surprising number of people
looking at the Project Ara news and thinking ‘that looks just like phonebloks’;
that would be because it is. Ara is not a similar idea, it’s the same idea,
using the same concept, plans and designer. Yes; Phonbloks’ Dave Hakkens has
teamed up with Motorola to product this fantastic device, with one simple goal
in mind – to make a phone that will last a lifetime. There are many people who
would consider this impossible, but the amazing fact of the matter is that
technology is now ready to produce this and Dave Hakkens has made it possible
with his simple but revolutionary idea.
The problem with technology at current is
that it becomes outdated; new versions are released and when something more
suitable for you comes along or your needs increase your old device just
doesn’t hack it any more. Five years ago the phone you had was probably one you
had owned for three years, at least, it may have been repaired a few times,
some bigger memory cards and a new battery perhaps but it had been the singular
device on which you had relied for quite some time. Today things are a little
different; the average phone lasts 10 months before being replaced. Either
because it was damaged (and replacing it was just easier than repairing it) or
because something better came along.
With the Ara this wouldn’t be considered as
great a problem; first of all Motorola would not be producing the phone itself,
but rather the components for it. Cameras, batteries, clocks, storage,
connectivity units; everything would be available separately and in multiple
variations (such as bigger or smaller units to suit your individual needs). You
build the phone yourself to include everything that you want it to and exclude
the components that don’t matter to you, you select the components to be the
size and capacity you need them to be and you worry only about the factors that
actually matter to you individually. Each part, including the screen might I
add, can be removed, upgraded and replaced later as new components are released
and the technology itself improves, while you maintain the same device and
other components.
Essentially this is evolutionary
technology; you help it to evolve and change to meet your own needs and in turn
the device will grow and adapt while still being the same device. The mass
production of individual parts means that finding and purchasing a replacement
part need never be a difficult or hugely costly task and is demonstrated as
being very simple. Personally, after the disappointments that have come from
some of the recent iOS updates, I am looking forward to seeing this highly
flexible and adaptable smartphone, which is likely to be seen running Android
when it is released though this has not been directly confirmed it has been
said that the phone will “do for hardware what the Android platform has done
for software”.
Kate Critchlow has a keen interest in
technology, in particular technology news such as Motorola’s Project Ara.