Slashdot Mirror
Motorola's Modular Smartphone Dream Is Too Young To Die (fastcompany.com)
harrymcc writes: Lots of people have fantasized about modular smartphones, but Motorola introduced one -- the Moto Z -- and actually created an ecosystem of useful add-ons. Now its parent company, Lenovo, has made major cuts at Moto headquarters in Chicago, throwing the future of Moto Mods into doubt. Over at Fast Company, Jared Newman talked to some of the people who have invested energy in this modular platform about why it would be such a shame if Lenovo gave up on the idea.
seriously, who wants this?
I certainly don't.
i like a solid, compact phone. No "module" bullshit. No one is going to "change the camera for a better one" or "have a high quality audio amplifier". Or even "remove the camera and give me a larger battery.
Batteries already take a lot of space in a phone. you don't get any significant improvement by adding a tiny battery module.
Also, moto-z style modules... who wants a 1" thick phone again?
Motorola conjures up the idea of Razr phones for many people and old radios for us geezers.
some of these mods are obtrusive enough to earn the owner a black eye. for example:
The JBL SoundBoost Speaker ($80): Everyone on planet earth unilaterally detests the one person on the bus, in the store, or god help us in the library or gym listening to music at full-tilt on their phone speaker. The ability to make this even more annoying is clearly not a feature.
Moto's Insta-Share Projector ($300): spend $700 on a phone, then spend $300 on a projector, then casually remind yourself the internet is a ubiquitous decentralized platform from which anyone can access the content you're attempting to "present." Road warriors will stick to the presentation system at the clients office, while assholes will use this feature to exclusively bring the drive in movie experience to your next cattle-class flight. enjoy your attempt at sleeping through Frozen while a 9 year old turns the device into a disco ball.
the Offgrid Power Pack ($60): its...a fucking battery. these are cheaper by the dozen at newegg and amazon...enjoy watching this thing collect dust on vendor shelves.
Good people go to bed earlier.
Is a stable android 5.2" system, with qi wireless charging, some basic gorilla glass, enough performance not to lag normal apps, a speaker that is loud enough, and the usual GPS.
You can get rid of pretty much everything else. I'd even consider ditching both the charging port and the headphone jack, particularly if you could get the standard level of waterproofing easier.
I also want a reasonable say $200 max cost and of course no junk ware. I haven't looked in a few months, but that combination is pretty rare from what I can tell.
I looked at the Motorola system before, and started to get it, but ended up not switching to verizon. Either way, to get the wireless charging you would have had to make your phone needlessly heavier and well that was the only mod i cared about.
On another note, I might consider an E-Ink display on a phone, if the picture is sharp and readable in all light levels. Cars should be able to just display the screen wirelessly on a main display, so that can remain fixed, while you keep updating your phone.
In short moto mods did various things, but who actually used them? Was it 5% of their customers? More? It would almost be best just to make generic devices that pair with a phone wirelessly.
On an iPhone.
Anemic extra battery
Projector (kinda cool, but a niche)
Speaker (very niche area between a phone speaker and a bigger Bluetooth one)
Camera (great in concept, but it sucked).
I bet if the camera was good, things would have been different (I was going to buy one until I read the camera review, and I know of one other person that felt the same, considering how few Moto Z's I've seen, 2 people seems relevant).
Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
LOL! dead on!
A Raspberry Pi or Arduino phone would be awesome, I'll bet! If a little bulky... ...but I'll bet chicks would dig it if you backed it up with the right attitude. Chicks dig my kickstarter e-wheel modified mtn bike.
I thought of modular systems for consoles. Guess that's the PC. But we really need to bring back cartridges because load times are bullshit. SSD is a partial solution but cartridges are literally plug 'n play. How we've moved backwards from the days of the Atari 2600 is disgusting. If a game feature is worth being in there at all it's worth committing to silicon, I say! Instant gratification for the player and built-in DRM for the publisher. Sounds like a win-win to me!
I think there was an actual Cloak & Dagger machine in the corner liquor store at one point, IIRC...
and we'll talk. Also the processor and screen. Until then it's pretty useless.
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
The problem was and is with this approach is that the add-ons are nothing exciting. If they would go beyond typical smartphone usages and think outside of the common persons daily usage and come up with something that was a bit impressive than this would fly. I can't say what that is. A small photo printer? An exceptional projector? Both of those are still inside the box though.
The market didn't ask for this. It just sounds like some engineer's wet dream that was allowed to come true because the guys in marketing were sleeping at the wheel. There is a reason there is a marketing department and engineers aren't allowed in it. Engineers' desires != Most people's desires. Lenovo is just doing what Motorola should have been doing in the first place. Can the project and tell the engineer to build another fart app that will generate billions of dollars.
Now, if Motorola produced a repairable or upgradable phone than that might be another matter entirely. Just a phone that is easily serviceable without special skill - replaceable covers, batteries, screen, main module, antenna, camera. I expect there is a market for that kind of phone especially for businesses. Since Motorola was sold to Lenovo, the nearest analogue would be Thinkpads.
i like a solid, compact phone. No "module" bullshit. No one is going to "change the camera for a better one" or "have a high quality audio amplifier". Or even "remove the camera and give me a larger battery.
It seems like they are over complicating the problem. Instead of some weird design with all sorts of modules, just offer a basic phone and then what amounts to a battery/expansion case. Want a headphone jack and SD card slot plus a bigger battery? Buy a case with those bits of hardware. Offer cases with various configurations and aesthetic designs to allow people to configure their phone to their particular needs. Then the handset maker can keep offering the paper thin phones for those who want that but people who want more can get that too. Pretty much any feature can be put into the case so why isn't this a thing?
I have Moto-Z and there is nothing modular about it. The only usable attachment is battery. I like the phone a lot BTW - long battery life.
I thought it was doomed from the start. Years ago I got burned on the PALM IPO because at the time I thought pluggable hardware was going to make their PDA's king of the world. The consumer market ultimately didn't respond then, or now.
Give me a modular battery on any decent smart phone and I'll be happy. The rest of the addons are better suited being generic to any phone. Speakers, better separate from phone. Projector, better separated from phone. The only thing I want to change on my smart phone is the battery when it gets old.