Comment What needs to be 'componentized' is the phone... (Score 1) 46
The thing that makes cellphones so expensive is the phone part. Why does a Nexus 7 cost less than a Nexus 5? I think it has something to do with all the (legitimate?) patents involved in making a smartphone a phone. The irony of it all, is that (for me, at least), the phone function is the one I use the least. But whenever you want a new 'personal communicator', you end up needing to buy a new cellphone, when you really don't need to upgrade the 'make a phone call' functionality. So, why not pay for that stuff once and keep it until it stops working (i.e., forever). Actually, I wonder if that's at least part of the impetus for the Ara project - getting around the patent monsters.
Anyway, I think it would be interesting if somebody made a 'cellphone' module as small as it can get that has no UI. Instead, have it tether to your pocket computer via bluetooth. Buy it once and carry it around on your key chain, purse or backpack. Then buy a new $200 pocket computer whenever the technology for the rest of the show improves to the point that you want one.