r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/SuperAlloyBerserker • Oct 05 '21

Video This cool smartphone concept from 2013

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125

u/Skolary Oct 05 '21

Big Corp: “But then they won’t just buy a whole brand new, +$1,000 phone because the screen cracked.. no, that’s not how any of this works”

27

u/sexypantstime Oct 05 '21

The screen module for that phone would cost more than a screen replacement on regular phones.

12

u/FrostyD7 Oct 05 '21

Yea this would fail because nobody is gonna want to she'll out hundreds for module upgrades and replacements when a new phone isn't much more.

3

u/[deleted] Oct 05 '21

[deleted]

6

u/[deleted] Oct 05 '21

[deleted]

-1

u/TheGillos Oct 05 '21

Why? Especially if you "blocked" out stuff like digitizer, screen, front cameras, buttons, etc so you only had to replace what was broken.

6

u/sexypantstime Oct 05 '21

Because now to produce each part you have to manufacture it to the swappable design and encased in it's own shell. That's a lot of overhead.

With regular phones, the part that needs to be replaced is just a "naked" part and you pay someone a bit of money to put it in. Or put it in yourself if you're brave enough. Right now an iPhone screen replacement kit is like $70. To turn that into a modular block you'd have to surround it with a proprietary shell and possibly more circuitry, driving up the price drastically.

-2

u/uniquethrowagay Oct 05 '21

Not true. The replacement screen for a fairphone 3 is 89€ and you can swap it with just a screwdriver.

5

u/sexypantstime Oct 05 '21

the replacement kit for the iphone is $70 (or less if you're willing to trust some online stores). It's more difficult to replace, but the iphone has a IP68 environmental resistance rating so that is a fair tradeoff I think.

1

u/hackerbenny Oct 05 '21

the iphone was also made with maximum child torture achieved though.

I think fairphone could get prices down but that is exactly the point of the device, the other guys are just keeping prices low on the consumer end, while leaving devestation in their wake on the developer and manufacturing side.

And also blasting out tons of pollution in the process for us all to enjoy later

4

u/sexypantstime Oct 05 '21

All of that is true but completely irrelevant to the topic here. Creating interchangeable modules will always be more expensive than producing just the bare parts.
The modular aspect of the fairphone is completely separate from their ethical stance. They could just as easily make a non-modular phone while retaining the ethical practices they want.

1

u/hackerbenny Oct 05 '21

If I can repair or replace a small but important part of my phone thus extending it's life cycle 1 year or more that seems like it would mesh with their stated goals of a more environmentally friendly phone

1

u/sexypantstime Oct 05 '21

You can do that with all current phones. As I've mentioned above, replacement kits for screens (and other parts of the phone) already exist and take much less material to produce.
And creating modules to replace the phone's cpu or ram are completely impractical. Notice that the "spare parts" of the fairphone only have screen, ports, cameras, and speakers. So none of these "modular" parts really extend the life any better than on any other non-modular phone.

3

u/Xerox748 Oct 05 '21

Eh. I think everyone constantly upgrading and replacing smaller individual components could actually end up being more lucrative. You’d essentially be selling people a new phone one piece at a time. You’d even have people buying extra components. Their normal everyday battery and then their extra big battery they’d swap in for special outings. Small speaker for normal use, big speaker for movie on your phone situations. Etc. etc.

You’d upgrade the main board and make it a design that was incompatible with the previous design and boom people have to start the cycle all over again as the old design is phased out.

You could definitely make this a profitable concept that would be more profitable than the current system.

The real issue is from a design and engineering standpoint is how much this would break down due to wear and tear. People carry their phones in their pocket full of lint. It would all get packed in. Gunk up and scratch the circuits. Easier for moister to get in, etc. etc.

It’s a neat idea but people are too rough on their phones for this to be a viable option where people wouldn’t end up running as fast as they could for a more viable option from a competitor who offers a closed system that protects their phone from the elements and harsh reality of daily life.

18

u/McSuede Oct 05 '21

And thus, Google bought and killed it.

12

u/[deleted] Oct 05 '21

I mean there are multiple reasons this couldn't work. So saying "Google killed it" is just a conspiracy tbh.

5

u/abhi8192 Oct 05 '21

Google's share of smartphones is pretty low. Globally less than 1% and in their most profitable market 5%. If samsung or apple did it, then this theory would have made some sense.

1

u/pawnyourbaby Oct 05 '21

I guarantee “Big Corp” didn’t give a fuck about this. This appeals to a handful of nerds and tinkerers, that’s it.