There's still a long way ahead, but Google is showing us how project Ara is doing, and reminding us that they're truly committed in turning the concept of having a modular smartphone where every user can simply swap block to add/change/remove features... a reality.
For now, the swappable blocks are simply 3D printed mock-ups of things to be, but it seems they've already solved one of the critical issues of such a design: how to make the blocks "stick". You wouldn't want a phone that lets its components fall down at every bump. For that, Google is using a magnetic system that will keep everything in place, but that can also be electrically controlled whenever you want to remove a block, so you don't have a hard time doing so. Using permanent electro-magnets, the block can stay in place without using any electric power, but its polarity can be reversed electrically, making the block easily "eject" from their place.
Yes... it still sound like "science-fiction" but, precisely because it does, I thing this Ara might be the beginning of a very big revolution that might change how electronic devices are in the future. Just imagine, you swap out your smartphone octa-core CPU for a new hexa-core block. But instead of throwing it away, you simply plug it into your TV, replacing its own old dual-core CPU (for example). Who wouldn't like that?
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