Dave Hakkens
Phonebloks
Phonebloks
Phonebloks
Phonebloks
This mobile phone exists of separate components that can be ‘clicked’ together. Every component has its own function i.e. Bluetooth,WiFi,battery,display etc. When one of these components does not work, it can be replaced with a new one. When one of these components needs upgrading, same story: replace that specific component with a new one. Choosing separate components enables you to personalize your phone to your needs. Are you into taking photos? Go for the best camera. Are you working in the ‘cloud’? Choose less storage. No need for a specific function? Go back to basic and choose a greatbattery.
2. The Brief: Summarize the problem you set out to solve. What was the context for the project, and what was the challenge posed to you?The main reason to start this project was that every year millions of mobile phones are thrown away because they are broken or obsolete. In most of these cases it is just one part that needs repairing or upgrading and all the other parts work fine. However, the entire phone will be thrown out because of one reason: mobile phones are not designed for repairs or upgrades.
3. The Intent: What point of view did you bring to the project, and were there additional criteria that you added to the brief?Having an idea and turning it into a concept is just a small part of the solution. The main challenge is to actually build this phone. Instead of pitching it to companies we did it the other way around, asking for peoples support to show the world there is a need for this phone. Companies will see there is a market for it and will start working on it.
4. The Process: Describe the rigor that informed your project. (Research, ethnography, subject matter experts, materials exploration, technology, iteration, testing, etc., as applicable.) What stakeholder interests did you consider? (Audience, business, organization, labor, manufacturing, distribution, etc., as applicable)
SUPPORT SO FAR
The support has been stunning, the YouTube video alone has generated over 16.2 million views in under two months. We gathered over 970.5540 supporters, which have a social reach of 378,987,875 people.
The goal was reached; we showed there is a need for this phone.
NEXT STEP
Thanks to your support we where able to talk to some of the biggest companies in the world. We found a developing partner, Motorola. They are recently bought by Google, which puts them in a rather unique position; experience and innovative thinking. They have been working secretly on a similar project called “project Ara”.
We decided to work together. Motorola takes care of the development and Phonebloks gets the community involved. We will make sure people can join in and help to develop this phone. Together we are going to build the ultimate phone platform.
We believe this project can:
- Reduce the amount of e-waste
- Open up the phone-market for small individual players
- Push the industry towards modular/repairable thinking.