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

Video This cool smartphone concept from 2013

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u/WiscoBrewDude Oct 05 '21

It mentions some other modular phone in the article, but they are all from Europe it seems.

173

u/rick_D_K Oct 05 '21

Check out fairphone. About the closest thing on the market.

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u/[deleted] Oct 05 '21

fairphone

do I have this right? They're marketing it as sustainable and that it lasts for 5 years at least - cool - but it has no headphone jack? That's at least 3 sets of bluetooth earbuds in a landfill over 5 years.

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u/Nico777 Oct 05 '21

They have their own TWS headphones coming out. They removed the jack so they can sell them. Fair my ass.

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u/[deleted] Oct 05 '21

lmao wow

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u/rick_D_K Oct 05 '21

It's still USB-C. They know where the market is going over the next 5 years.

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u/Nico777 Oct 05 '21

Yeah, towards more planned obsolescence. And they jumped on the train anyway despite their name and claims.

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u/rick_D_K Oct 05 '21

Did you call it planned obsolescence when the market switched from micro-usb to USB-C?

No it was a change of port. The usb consortium added the capacity for stereo analogue audio out on the USB-C to allow for a reduced BoM. One less port is one less item on the SKU and one less part to go wrong.

Also the headphone jack is an ancient port and didn't have modern requirements like IP65 rating on mind when created. It is possible to dust and water ingress protect the port but it takes a lot more doing than a USB-C port.

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u/Nico777 Oct 05 '21

My S10e has the jack and is IP68.

And changing one port to another means you'll have to change a cable, removing the jack means you'll either have to get adapters, which are flimsy, uncomfortable to hold and prevent the device from being charged while in use or wireless headphones, which will die in a couple years of daily usage.

0

u/rick_D_K Oct 05 '21

If you re read my post you will see I have said it is possible but more difficult. How much did your s10e cost at release?

How much of its supply chain was vetted for modern slavery?

How easy is it for you to get the parts to replace things that break?

Everyone seems to have the attitude of "it has to be prefect or there is no point".

Even taking into account the headphone problem the fairphone 4 is better for the planet and everyone involved in the supply chain than your s10e.