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The dream of Ara: Inside the rise and fall of Google’s most revolutionary phone

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Re: The dream of Ara: Inside the rise and fall of Google’s most revolutionary phone

#101

Post by wolfgke »

grizzles wrote: post #5

Google mgmt fake releases and then subsequently cancels unlaunched products all the time. They do it to assess market viability and also to stymie competitors. Ara is notable because of the breadth of the project, but it was really just about protecting the android cash cow's flank. The strategy has worked pretty well. Android was released as open source almost 10 years ago, and you still can't run it on any semi ope…

> Android was released as open source almost 10 years ago, and you still can't run it on any semi open hardware

Android 5.1.1 runs on Minnowboard MAX (I'd assume Minnowboard Turbot, too):

> https://01.org/android-ia/downloads/android-5.1.1-lollipop-m...

(see also http://wiki.minnowboard.org/Android)

The Minnowboard (MAX, Turbot) is open hardware:

> http://wiki.minnowboard.org/About_Us

Re: The dream of Ara: Inside the rise and fall of Google’s most revolutionary phone

#102

Post by pjc50 »

onli wrote: post #6

I don't get it. This is a IBM PC moment right here. Imagine you could standardize the smartphone. Really divide it into block, standardize the communication bus. Make it a PC. It would be huge, eat up the smartphone world, just like the PC ate up the homecomputers. I even think this is how Google would have beaten the iPhone. Android as the OS for an ever-evolving phone, where if a user needs more ram he would just a…

The standardization and cloneability of the IBM PC cost IBM a fortune. Nobody is going to make that mistake again.

Allowing interoperability on your system allows other vendors to drive down your margins. That's why we're in the mess we're in. It's part of the problem with IoT, too. It would be great to have a secure, interoperable set of home automation parts, but every manufacturer wants you locked into their cloud and buying new devices every few years to maintain the revenue stream.

Re: The dream of Ara: Inside the rise and fall of Google’s most revolutionary phone

#103

Post by hpagey »

It's interesting that the original Project Ara Moduino prototype became the Moto Z. Confirms that the Moto Z was developed under Google, because Lenovo sure as fuck wasn't throwing money at Motorola's R&D.

The split might've actually been good, for modular phones at least. The Z might've been scrapped alongside Ara, but alternatively there might be a Google Moto PiXel right now with Google Mods.

All the things that could have been...

Re: The dream of Ara: Inside the rise and fall of Google’s most revolutionary phone

#104

Post by general_ai »

Traubenfuchs wrote: post #97
general_ai wrote: post #25

Even at Google most people knew this project was stillborn. It's a combination of two factors: no one but a few geeks actually has any need for this, and the overwhelming majority of profits in the industry is taken by a company that builds the opposite of Ara, further underscoring the former point. It terms of flushing money down the drain it ranks way up there with Google Glass and Project Loon.

I am still baffled that countless intelligent people deluded themselves into thinking this could have worked well on a big scale for the longest time.

As Alexander Pushkin(a famous Russian poet) wrote in one of his poems: "Oh it is not hard to fool me, for I am eager to be fooled."

Re: The dream of Ara: Inside the rise and fall of Google’s most revolutionary phone

#105

Post by p1mrx »

WalterBright wrote: post #93
p1mrx wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For the mobo, CPU, and RAM, I would agree, but power supplies and graphics cards have been forwards and backwards compatible for roughly a decade.

Not in my experience. The disk drive power connectors have changed, the fan connections multiply, and the mobo/graphics cards sprout extra needed connections.

The SATA power connector is ~14 years old, and graphics cards often come with adapters for the PCI-E power connectors. Some GPUs (like the GTX 1050 Ti) are entirely powered by the PCI-E slot.

Re: The dream of Ara: Inside the rise and fall of Google’s most revolutionary phone

#106

Post by intoverflow2 »

hackuser wrote: post #80
femto wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did the upgradeable PC ever really work, or did the vast majority of PCs sold go to the dump with exactly the same configuration as sold? After a few years, it becomes a cascade of dependencies: Can't upgrade memory because the old motherboard won't support state of the art DIMMs, the bus used by current cards (ISA, PCI, AGP, PCIx) doesn't match the motherboard, power supply connector has different number of pins, an…

> Did the upgradeable PC ever really work, or did the vast majority of PCs sold go to the dump with exactly the same configuration as sold? IME, it never did. Except for techies, hardly anyone opened their computers. I remember seeing some system offered to corporate customers that lacked upgradability (except maybe memory). At first I objected - what a ripoff - but then I realized the truth. My impression is that PC…

>Apple has always seen it differently: You couldn't (can't?) open the cases without special tools.

FYI the Mac Pros before the trashcan had a latch and the side opened just fine for upgrades. Actually even the trashcan can be opened but I kinda get the impression it can only be opened for you to admire it not really for you to upgrade it...

Re: The dream of Ara: Inside the rise and fall of Google’s most revolutionary phone

#107

Post by grzm »

intoverflow2 wrote: post #106
hackuser wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Did the upgradeable PC ever really work, or did the vast majority of PCs sold go to the dump with exactly the same configuration as sold? IME, it never did. Except for techies, hardly anyone opened their computers. I remember seeing some system offered to corporate customers that lacked upgradability (except maybe memory). At first I objected - what a ripoff - but then I realized the truth. My impression is that PC…

>Apple has always seen it differently: You couldn't (can't?) open the cases without special tools. FYI the Mac Pros before the trashcan had a latch and the side opened just fine for upgrades. Actually even the trashcan can be opened but I kinda get the impression it can only be opened for you to admire it not really for you to upgrade it...

Not everything can be swapped, but memory and storage can be:

Upgrade memory: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205044

Upgrade storage: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202881

Re: The dream of Ara: Inside the rise and fall of Google’s most revolutionary phone

#108

Post by intoverflow2 »

autocorr wrote: post #72
sjg007 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

PCs were expensive which created the markets for upgrades and components. Phones are basically disposable.

It seems likely they only appear that way because the initial cost is amortized into the contract for most people in the US. An iPhone 7 is around $700! And flagship android phones are up there too. I guess people have a lot of disposable income or just see the sign-up price?

From what I've seem most people end up dropping and smashing them every 5 months, they're well aware of how much they cost because they'll happily slide their fingers across shards of glass to avoid paying again.

Re: The dream of Ara: Inside the rise and fall of Google’s most revolutionary phone

#109

Post by sjg007 »

toast0 wrote: post #44
sjg007 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The iPhone has a better ux and battery life. The software is also likely higher quality.

Modular hardware wouldn't improve ux or software quality. It would probably reduce battery life because there would be less space.

I said that the iPhone was better.. modular is worse I agree.
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