In a way, current phones are disposable. Very few of us keep our phones for more than a year. And if you do, chances are you won’t keep it for more than 2 years. We have gotten used to this system, but what if we could change our mindset? What if there was a phone you could keep forever? That is exactly what Phonebloks aims to do.
What is Phoneblocks and how does it work?
To understand Phonebloks one must first understand desktop computers. We have moved into a world of mobile computing, where one can’t really upgrade a device’s components. With desktops one never really has to buy a whole new computer. You can upgrade your computer’s parts as needed. Need more power? Get a new processor. Need more storage? Get a new hard drive.
Phonebloks aims to turn your phone into a completely different type of device. One that, like a desktop computer, can be upgraded and modified to your own liking. The idea is that you would have your base (kind of like a circuit board), in which you can install little blocks that carry phone parts. Like so:
How would Phonebloks be better
It is “green”
Phonebloks’ main focus is on the device’s “greener” nature. Because you can upgrade phone parts at will, you would never have to throw away full phones. Whether they are broken or outdated, phones usually wouldn’t need much to work great. If something breaks, one would just be able to replace a block, instead of the whole phone.
We are geeks here, though. At the rate we like to upgrade, we are not sure just how much smartphone trash we could be saving the world from. We suppose in the long run it would help.
Customization at its finest
As techies we see much more than just an environmentally-friendly device, though. This would be a game-changing smartphone! A truly smart one, I would say. Phonebloks would give you the ability to make a phone truly yours. To customize it depending to your own needs.
I put a huge focus on battery life, so I would get a bigger batter and get rid of other blocks. You can also choose what kind of screen you would like; how much RAM your device would have. Really, there would be no limits. Maybe bigger “bases” could be released, allowing you to have bigger screens and even more components.
Mobile flexibility
You will often find me carrying multiple batteries, just in case my phone runs out of juice with no outlet in sight. What if you could do this with all components? I would, for example, get rid of the camera block in my phone. Then I would carry around a nice, bigger-sensor camera in my pocket just in case i want to take a shot. I could snap the LTE block while I take the shot, and put in the camera block.
The future of Phonebloks
The idea is to get support from the public, in order to get the “right companies and right people involved”. These will only work with Phonebloks if they see enough interest, but we feel like that won’t be much of a problem. Especially considering they are about to break their 100,000 supporter goal.
If it all works well, this platform would be developed as an open-source project. This means that any company would be able to develop Phoneblok components (even you, if you are up for the challenge).
We are almost sure they would use the Android OS, as it is amazingly popular. Not to mention, free! There is no word on that, though. Maybe Phonebloks is planning to make its own operating system, which would be quite interesting. Even better, maybe you will be able to buy Phonebloks with different operating systems!
How do I support Phonebloks
Phonebloks is currently trying to get as much support as possible. Think of it as a Kickstarter campaign, but without cash involved. They just want you to voice out your opinion and let the world know you would like a device like this.
One simply has to go to the website and support. You can share the project to your social networks and let all your friends know about it. Phonebloks.com is actually down right now (due to high traffic!), but you can support by going to their Thunderclap page. At least until the official site is back up.
What do you guys think? Would you be interested in supporting a project like this?
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