Modular Madness

A while ago I ran into an idea called Phonebloks, and thought it was clever, that it might work, and that I really, really want one. As someone who has built their own computer, I have an appreciation for the power and price of a custom built computer  (Protip: it's cheaper and better). I love the freedom of being able to choose the hardware that goes into my computer. When I saw the opportunity for that to happen with a phone as well, I was ecstatic. At the time, realistically I considered it not very feasible. From a design and technology perspective, phones are able to be small because the hardware is arranged on top of each other, intertwined with each other, there is zero wasted space. When you separate and isolate the parts, and put room between them, the phone takes up a lot more space. Unlike PCs, phones (obviously) need to be compact to fit in pockets as such. This article explains a bunch of reasons an idea like Phonebloks probably wouldn't work. After reading it, I was mildly pessimistic about the possibility of such a phone until very recently.

On October 28th, Motorola announced Project Ara, essentially the exact same thing as Phonebloks, and I have to say, I'm excited to see them prove Colin Lecher wrong. I've even signed up for the Project Ara Dscout, the app that lets users give feedback, comments and ideas to the developers through a series of "missions" over the next few months. So for the rest of this post, I'm going to talk about my initial thoughts about Project Ara.

So like I mentioned, I'm really excited for this idea, and I really want one, but I am worried about the size of the phone since, as I also mentioned, the parts are going to be separated and there is going to be some wasted space. Hopefully, technology has advanced enough for this to be a negligible problem. I also hope they don't solve it by making the parts less complex, trading higher-end technology for the module design. Either that or made the phone the size of a Phablet or something stupid like that.

I don't remember where, but I read somewhere that specific builds of Android are required for different combinations of parts in order to have full optimization. This isn't a problem with conventional smartphones since every phone has the same parts, but with a modular phone, this is obviously a problem. I'm curious to see how that problem is solved.

I'm very curious to see what companies start developing modules for Project Ara, and for what. It'd be awesome if Nvidia, AMD and Intel made processors and things specifically for gaming. I mean that's the entire point of this right? To have phones that can be customized to fit even the most specific or obscure niches.

So yea.
I'm pretty excited.

The Man Who Rules The Universe

On January 1st, 1980, Pan Books published Douglas Adams's Restaurant at the End of the Universe, the second book in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. Chapter 29 of that book features a minor, but fascinating character: the Man who Rules the Universe. He lives with his cat in a ramshackle hut on a desolate planet hidden and protected by a field of Unprobability. The most interesting feature about this man, however, is that he believes in nothing. Absolutely nothing. Not even the things he perceives with his own eyes.

Most would call such a man insane, and that was clearly Adams's intent. But the fascinating thing about this character is that, in fact, he isn't. On the outside, the man is as he appears, weathered, rough and quite out if his mind, but underneath this facade is a sort of bemused, resigned but very perceptive intelligence. His insanity seems more like something to pass the time in the isolation on his lonely planet rather than an actual degradation of his psyche. My reasoning for this is as follows; the man seems to know exactly what is going on. With apparent awareness of the situation, he distracts Zarniwoop, allowing Trillian and Zaphod to escape unnoticed, then deliberately locks Zarniwoop out of the house and ignores him. These very calculated, specific actions lend evidence to the idea that the man who rules the universe is not only at least partially sane, but has an awareness and understanding of the world beyond his apparent doubt of everything he perceives. The way he acted, the actions he took imply that the man knows the consequences of the actions he took, and the consequences of the trio's presence on the planet.

The man's entire reality exists in a duality of doubt, and actions contradicting that doubt. His life symbolizes the somewhat bittersweet truth that every philosopher, every conspiracist, every human on this planet must face.

We are trapped by our experiences, they are inescapable, we can doubt them all we want but in the end, we must live our lives as human beings along with the rest of the world. We have no choice but to interact with the world under the assumption that it is real.

But is that such a bad thing?

Our lives, no matter how much we doubt them, are quite beautiful. Every day we have the chance to learn something new, something fantastic, to meet new people, to discover new places, to have some fun. Our lives, have the potential to be quite enjoyable. The Man who Rules the Universe can find excitement in everything he experiences, because he can experience them in a new way every time. He lives with his cat in a ramshackle hut on a desolate planet hidden and protected by a field of Unprobability, yet he can find something to do, something to enjoy every single day. What excuse do we have for stagnancy?

I say enjoy life, all of its doubts, assumptions and beauties.
After all, it's all that we got.

I bid you welcome to the Man Who Rules The Universe.