Make a modular phone body with space for internal parts that can be user-updated as technology improves. Let users chose to install the headphone jack module (for example). Make it so the camera module is interchangeable for the next model up. Stop contributing to the idea that the design must change every time. Create a choice of sizes, and make modules to fit inside them. Make covers that fit around them. Make it ALL user installable like puzzle pieces. You can! Why don’t you?!
Welcome to the Fairphone community.
This is a great idea, but I doubt it is feasible. There are no standard parts or interfaces for a mobile phone, everything is custom made. And making all parts upgradeable might create a huge pile of electronic waste, as parts are changed only because the new ones are slightly better and the old ones are dumped.
If there is a complete new phone, if you want to upgrade, your old one will get a second live, a bag full of single modules can’t.
Welcome to the forum!
What you’re asking for has been tried at least once - by Google no less, see Project Ara. And as you can see: Even they did not manage to make this work in the end.
Knowing Fairphone for a while, I’m pretty sure that they do everything they can and will try to improve on it. But what you’re asking for is extremely far out at this point. That may or may not get better with future developments, but I wouldn’t get my expectations up too much.
Also: This is a user forum. If you want to address Fairphone directly, you’ll have to go through their official contact options/support (contactsupport).
The reason for this could be because Google did see that the profits (in comparsion to normal phones) are too low.
This doesn’t necessarily means, that it was impossible to create and sell such a phone.
Just remember what General Motors did in Detroit:
Their profits were not a high as they wanted and because of this (even though there still was a small profit and no losses) they closed all factories in Detroit.
I don’t know if this was the reason for Google, but I’d still say:
Even if someone can’t or doesn’t want to do it, it doesn’t mean, that nobody else can.
If the bumblebee would have human knowledge about aerodynamics she would not fly
Still I guess we are far away from the desired phone, as Qualcomm and Co. need to be in as well…
I think, as soon as the technological development for consumer electronics slows down a bit (meaning the hardware is good and fast enough so that the software development doesn’t make new hardware cycles every few years necessary. I think this will happen in 15 - 25 years. About the same slow development like with cars before the new trend to electromobility), the rate of buying and throwing away will go down a bit. And there will be more room for companies like Fairphone - at least if the big players don’t block the marked with their patents and forced contracts.
So, yeah. I’m already happy about that maybe 5% less waste we get in some years by “natural processes” since I don’t believe the general industry will do enough to protect our environment.
You can already see this in other areas, where leasing (instead of buying) gets more and more popular for products which don’t get fast developments anymore. At some point the producers for electronic applications will do the same.