Only four months ago Google predicted to have their modular phone completely ready by 2017, and now the company has pulled the plug on Project Ara. Dutch designer Dave Hakkens, inventor of the idea of the modular phone presented as Phonebloks, is highly surprised by this move. ‘So that is that. Those naysayers must feel pretty good about themselves now,’ he writes on his website.
Apparently Google decided to do ‘a big clean-up in all their hardware products,’ Hakkens writes. Hakkens regrets the decision because of ‘the massive impact’ it could have made as part of ‘a vision to make our future electronics more modular and reduce e-waste.’ That’s why he hopes that other projects, including PuzzlePhone in Finland and Dutch Fairphone, that take modularity step by step will grow further and some day will get to this modular future.
To all who share his vision, Hakkens says: ‘The way to keep this ball rolling is simply by staying involved, join our community, pitch ideas, make connections, share news about modularity, and keep it popular. The more interest, the more research and development that companies will put into it. And the sooner there is an ultimate version.’