Project Ara put to sleep - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Ice-Tea
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2016, 11:25:36 am
content: Beat the dead horse if you are not surprised.

author: JPortici
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2016, 11:48:24 am
content: what if i was surprised google actually sponsored that in the first place?

author: Ice-Tea
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2016, 12:29:31 pm
content: In my opinion, modularity makes sense if:- space is not at a premium- quantities are low- margins are highSo, not mobile phones. Not ever.What I understood even less is that, if they had to give this a go, that they tried with phones and not with tablets. There's a little more space there at least, or so it seems...

author: dannyf
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2016, 12:55:03 pm
content: a perfect example of engineering for the sake of engineering.it was dead before it was launched.

author: TheWelly888
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2016, 01:40:07 pm
content: Never heard of it so Googled it and found an article about it - what is the point of a modular mobile phone?

author: rob77
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2016, 03:32:53 pm
content: just because i find the dead horse emoticon funnyand regarding ara... it would be highly impractical...back in the days when you accidentally dropped your phone, you picked up the phone, the back cover, the battery, put it together and started the damn thing upnowadays if you drop your phone, you pick up the phone, the back cover, the battery... order a new display and that's it...if you would drop the ara.... you would spend half an hour searching for all the partsand how the hell did they planned to keep the parts together ? magnets would be impractical and not providing enough force... and mechanical locks of such minuscule sizes would be way too expensive and still not providing the force needed ... probably that's why they switched to fixed battery + display + cpu ?and i really like that emoticon

author: System Error Message
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2016, 03:44:40 pm
content: i would've liked that project, it got killed because manufacturers like to keep you in the cycle of buying rather than recycling so they'd rather have more waste and take more of your money. Best way is to teach them a lesson by holding on to your old phones and giving it new life with different firmwares and tweaks, and perhaps a change of battery. If battery is soldered on the board shouldnt be a problem as this is a forum of EEEs.

author: Cyberdragon
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2016, 03:56:52 pm
content: They destroyed it themselves. The modular idea was somewhat OK but the fact that they forced you to keep the same processor, memory, and battery ruined it, as those are things that would need upgrading/replacing.They should have put the screen, GPS, mobile coms, bluetooth, and memory+simcard slots in the frame, as those won't change for a long time. They also should have put a plastic clip-on ring around the edge to keep the parts from falling off.EPIC FAIL! Bad Google! ->

author: janoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2016, 04:05:19 pm
content: Quote from: System Error Message on September 03, 2016, 03:44:40 pmSorry, but Ara was a complete nonstarter from the economy point of view and it was obvious to anyone who has actually tried to build and sell anything before.But facts shall never get in the way of a good conspiracy theory, right?

author: babysitter
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2016, 04:29:34 pm
content: It's not dead, it's resting.

author: Dave
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2016, 04:45:54 pm
content: Knew this would be a flop before they even started. Finding out that Google would be funding this idiocy did surprise me back when it was announced, but it doesn't surprise me that they figured out that it was a stupid idea and decided to cut their losses.

author: System Error Message
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2016, 06:38:27 pm
content: i thought the whole idea was to be able to change processor, battery and stuff as shown in their video. This means i wont be forced to have 4k display when i want to get top of the line snapdragon and suffer stuttering and unplayable frame rates for games.I know higher res displays are nicer but the impact on battery and performance is another.

author: Ice-Tea
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2016, 06:44:01 pm
content: Quote from: System Error Message on September 03, 2016, 06:38:27 pmBut... you arenotforced to do that?? Plenty of "regular" screens and SD820?

author: electr_peter
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 03, 2016, 09:08:09 pm
content: Modular phones were discussed on this forum 3 years ago (phonebloks-modular-smartphone/).General concencus was that modular phones are not the way to go for myriad of reasons. Discontinuation of project "Ara" is both unsurprising and expected.

author: edy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2016, 09:30:30 pm
content: And I suspect the same will be true of modular wristwatches. Like...https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2106691934/blocks-the-worlds-first-modular-smartwatch/comments

author: NottheDan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2016, 09:37:18 pm
content: Was it ever actually supposed to produce a commercial product or was it all just a project to develop the technology wrapped in hype and PR?

author: zapta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 04, 2016, 12:10:56 am
content: The first phone component I would modularize is that easy to break glass screen, or just make them non unbreakable.

author: Ice-Tea
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 04, 2016, 05:40:20 am
content: Quote from: zapta on September 04, 2016, 12:10:56 amIf you manage that you'll be richer than Warren Buffet.

author: LabSpokane
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 04, 2016, 07:01:46 am
content: Quote from: Dave on September 03, 2016, 04:45:54 pmLook harder at Google's acquisition disasters: Nest, Makani Wind power, Boston Dynamics...and on and on...Every one is a complete train wreck. Google is totally clueless at acquisitions. They should stick to organic software development: web, mapping, and maybe Android. That's what they're good at.

author: BravoV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 04, 2016, 07:25:57 am
content: Actually they failed to see one simple thing bout today's cellphone, its not a phone, its not even a portable computation/communication device anymore ... its a lifestyle product.Fact ... just one example of the queuing crowd on a new phone launch .. and this happen globally.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 04, 2016, 10:19:30 am
content: Quote from: System Error Message on September 03, 2016, 03:44:40 pmseparating one tiny PCB into multiple modules is already a lot of waste, as well adding individual case for each module. As well making multiple points of entry for dirt and moisture. Have you seen how small is PCB inside modern smartphones? The most of space is taken by battery, not electronics. Now try to separating this PCB into the modules:(You would need interconnect board or at least FPC larger than main board in normal smartphones)

author: zapta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 04, 2016, 12:34:46 pm
content: Quote from: Ice-Tea on September 04, 2016, 05:40:20 amI meant unbreakable. Non unbreakable phone screens are easy to do.

author: janoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 04, 2016, 01:34:38 pm
content: Quote from: LabSpokane on September 04, 2016, 07:01:46 amI think that is both oversimplified and a bit unfair. Here you are lumping together something like Ara where the world has never seen more than an unfinished prototype with at best a dubious business case to back it up with something like Nest or Boston Dynamics which both had solid products before their acquisition and things went south mainly because of mismanagement later, not because they were trying to build an unrealistic product.You are also conveniently neglecting to mention that on the software side they have shuttered way more projects/products than they have ever acquired in the hw business - Google Reader, Orkut, Google Buzz, Picasa, Google Wave to name just a few. It is also telling that most of their sw never goes out of beta. Even GMail was still in beta until one or two years ago - after a decade of development!

author: LabSpokane
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 04, 2016, 03:18:58 pm
content: Quote from: janoc on September 04, 2016, 01:34:38 pmOversimplified, perhaps. Unfair, not so sure about that. Based on what I am seeing in the news, Google appears to be radically overspending on good ideas and bad - mismanaging them all - and now we are seeing management realize that this spending orgy is killing Google. I would expect to see a lot more projects axed soon.Oh, and I left out project 'Loon. Internet by balloon...

author: janoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 04, 2016, 10:13:55 pm
content: Killing Google? Hardly - they have plenty of cash to burn from their advertising business cash cow. That projects get killed off is normal, especially with a company the size of Google and the number of activities they are involved in.Finances of the entire Alphabet holding:https://www.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ:GOOGL&fstype=iiGross profits of 13,370.00 million USD, just the first 6 months of 2016 and up from 2015. Hardly a company in dire straits that needs to start to save heavily.

author: LabSpokane
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 05, 2016, 01:38:50 pm
content: Quote from: janoc on September 04, 2016, 10:13:55 pmTrue net is $4.877B if that's a GAAP report.The way I read that statement, Google could easily increase its cash flow by over 50% by simply shedding a bunch of "throw it at the wall and see if it sticks" projects/businesses. If I was Carl Ichan, I'd try to buy up an annoying amount of Google and do exactly what he did to Apple and force dividends. There's a lot to be made.Oh, and I forgot the Motorola debacle too...

author: janoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 05, 2016, 04:41:09 pm
content: Quote from: LabSpokane on September 05, 2016, 01:38:50 pmWell, yes, but they have obviously other priorities. And they seem to be keen to invest in R&D to diversify, so that they aren't solely dependent on the advertising profits. To me that sounds like a sound strategy, even though it is bound to produce a lot of flops and high profile failures.Apple has been mostly sitting on its billions of untaxed dollars and not really using them for much (when was it last time they have actually introduced a successful new product?) - in that case forcing the dividends makes more sense.

author: LabSpokane
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 05, 2016, 07:26:12 pm
content: Quote from: janoc on September 05, 2016, 04:41:09 pmAgreed. They must diversify or wither away eventually. I just wish the cash was more prudently spent on projects with productive outcomes. What Google throws away in a year could be the most amazing small business loan program in history. And it could earn a return on the investment instead of being frittered away.

author: janoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 05, 2016, 08:18:59 pm
content: Quote from: LabSpokane on September 05, 2016, 07:26:12 pmWell, hindsight is always 20/20. Also, Google is actually investing in startups and providing some angel cash, AFAIK, so they are doing that in a way already. However, there are other, much larger companies sitting on untaxed billions that have provision of loans in their job description - *cough* banks *cough* ...

author: zapta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 06, 2016, 04:46:00 am
content: Quote from: janoc on September 05, 2016, 04:41:09 pmAlmost all of google services are a result of diversification from the original search business. Also, many of them were based or highly affected by acquisitions, e.g. maps/local/streetview, android/Play, picasa, analytics, firebase, doubleclick, youtube, docs/spreadsheet and more.Wiki has a list of Google acquisitions and the projects they affectedhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitions_by_AlphabetBTW, according to some reports, one of the less successful projects was developed in Sidney Australia and had the code name 'Walkabout'http://edtech-insights.blogspot.com/2009/05/walkabout-becomes-new-google-wave.html

author: LabSpokane
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 06, 2016, 07:25:10 am
content: Quote from: janoc on September 05, 2016, 08:18:59 pmI just don't think hindsight should have been required for things like Nest. It was a stupid price to pay for what by all accounts was a mediocre product. Of course, I suspect a substantial sum of these purchases actually round robins back to the deal makers, so from a greed perspective such acquisitions make "sense" to the staff.

author: Ice-Tea
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 06, 2016, 08:48:59 am
content: They were not just paying for the product. Not even for the company or engineers. They were paying for momentum. Could they make a better product for a fraction of the price? Sure. But it doesn't work like that. Look at Google+. If the boat has sailed, it doesn't matter how good your product is, you'll never catch up to the front runners.