It wasn’t very long ago that news had come out from Google’s den that they are working on a “modular” phone – where you could swap out the different components of the phone (like the display, the camera, the processor, etc.) and simply replace them with another one. This modular phone was code named “Ara“. You can read more about that here.
I personally had thought that was an exciting idea. It could have been a game changer. Your old phone is getting slow? Just upgrade the processor, add some memory. Why pay for a new phone which comes with better processor and memory, but also with larger screen and higher battery capacity, for example, and which you are forced to pay for, even though you are totally cool with the configuration that you already have on your old device?
But not every good idea gets to thrive in this world – it has now come to light that Google will no longer be working on this project. Reasons being reported for the discontinuation include “technical” and “organizational” challenges. More information here.
Whatever be the reasons, it’s rare to see Google try their hand at something and fail, or give up. But maybe it’s not the end of the idea itself, given that, as reported by the article, other companies may pick it up.
And that, for me, is the takeaway here – if you think an idea is good, pursue it, irrespective of how many others, and no matter how big, have tried and not succeeded at it. Learn from their mistake, of course. But keep at it – an idea only needs to work once.
Space & Time 