The document proposes the Phonebloks concept of a modular smartphone made of interchangeable components called "bloks". The central blok contains the CPU, and additional bloks provide features like cameras or speakers. Users can customize their phone by adding or replacing bloks as desired. This modular design aims to reduce electronic waste by allowing users to upgrade individual bloks rather than replacing entire phones. It could benefit users through customization and lower costs, and benefit manufacturers through new markets and improved public image. However, successfully introducing such a disruptive concept may be challenging in a market dominated by a few major companies.

1. Phonebloks: A Phone
Worth Keeping
Charles Stephen Craun

2. Phonebloks: A Phone Worth Keeping
Phonebloks design concept
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Phonebloks features a central “blok” which is the CPU of the phone
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Component Bloks, such as a camera blok or speaker blok, are connected to the central
blok with small metal pins that transmit electric signals between them
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The entire phone is held together by two screws at the bottom of the unit
All blok components are completely interchangable

3. Phonebloks: An Interactive Innovation
Perceived Usefulness:
•Interactive design concept allows users to build phones according to
specific desires,
•Interchangable bloks allow users to actively modify their phones to
preform particular functions for particular situations.
Perceived Ease of Use:
the entire unit is held together by two
screws, which makes building and modifying the phone an easy task for
virtually anyone.

4. Phonebloks as a Catalyst for Social Change
The environmental Disaster of E-waste:
Discarded cell phones are a prime contributor to the huge amounts of toxic non-biodegradable
waste accumulating in landfills and other waste sites which poses a growing threat to both the
health of local communities and the environmental health of the earth as a whole.
Each Year: 140 million
•
discarded cell phones end up in open air landfills
Containing 80,000 lbs of lead, as well as untold amounts of Mercury,
Chlorine, Bromine, and Cadimium

5. Phonebloks as a Catalyst for Social Change
Environmental Disaster of E-waste(cont.):
•
•
•Phonebloks
Immediate Environmental Impact:
These chemicals easily leak into the soil
in/around landfills, becoming absorbed into the local ecosystem.
Health Complications: Birth defects and impaired cognitive function(among others)
: provides a foundation to initiate and facilitate social change by
providing an environmentally friendly solution to e-waste that has the potential to be beneficial
for individual users, the mobile phone industry, and the ecological integrity of the environment.

6. Phonebloks: a Catalyst for Change
Phonebloks
would be able to make a massive environmental impact by drastically
reducing the amount of discarded cell phones.Such a reduction would be possible due to
users’ ability to modify their existing phones with interchangable bloks, eliminating the
need to buy entirely new phones.
•
•
Phone manufacturers
would focus on enhancing software and blok features, rather
than constantly proliferating newer models which render older phones obsolete.
Opinion Leading Organizations: Major mobile service providers(Verizon/ect) would
adopt variations of the phonebloks platform, and their massive customer bases would help the
innovation achieve critical mass.

7. Phonebloks: Relative Advantages
Relative Advantages to Users:
•Economic Profitability:
Core “blok” is one time purchase
•users only have to buy additional feature bloks to upgrade or modify
original core blok.
•Users purchase features individually and on an as-needed basis.
•Eliminates users having to spend hundreds of dollars on entire new
phones to upgrade features or change functionality.
of
•Decreased discomfort: arraytheinterchangeablefeature bloks
allow users easily upgrade or modify
functionality of their phones
to satisfy needs/desires.
•provides a single platform with a vast array of potential features

8. Phonebloks: Relative Advantages
Relative Advantages for Industry:
Economic Profitabliity:
producing/marketing phone bloks provides
new market in preexisting mobile phone industry
•Existing manufacturers could produce “brand name” versions of
phoneblok feature bloks with specific features(ex. LG manufacturing LG
camera bloks)
Social Prestige:
manufacturers could improve public image by
reducing the amount of e-waste caused by discarded mobile devices.

9. Phonebloks: Compatibility
Digital Natives: culturally compatible with
technologically affluent U.S society
•A majority of adult U.S population uses cell/smart phones on a daily basis
•The typical U.S household of 2.6 people has an average of 24 gadgets, including at least one
smart phone(Washingtonpost.com)
•Users readily adopt new forms of digital technology
Compatibility with Existing Mobile Phone industry
•Preexisting multibillion dollar mobile device industry could facilitate adoption
•compatible with services and features offered by smartphones: 3g/4g wireless
•Compatible with Existing Mobile Device companies: major manufacturers could use R&D
departments to develop their own versions of the phonebloks platform/feature bloks

10. Phonebloks: Complexity
Brilliance in Simplicity:
•Identical to smart phones:
users familiar with smart phones
can use that knowledge to easily nagivate the phone interface
•minor technological/aesthetic differences are largely inconsequential
Design concept: 2 screws at base of
•Simplisticwhich makes process of assembly/disassemblyphone hold
unit together,
an easy task
for virtually anyone.

11. Facilitating the innovation process
Change Agency: company that developed Phonebloks
•Communication Campaign: Phonebloks designers launched Youtube video
to advocate for support of Phonebloks
•Youtube video has generated over 18 million views in previous 2 months.
•Opinion Leadership Organizations: major mobile phone
manufacturers and wireless service providers in U.S.
•Largest service providers have millions of customers/clients
•Necessary for change agents to engage in dialogue with corporations to
encourage adoption at organization level

12. Decentralized Diffusion Networks
Decentralized Diffusion Network:
Change agents representing
phoneboks could ideally colaborate with opinion leadership organizations, which in this case
are the major mobile phone manufacturers and wireless service providers in the U.S
•Incentive for adoption: change agents could sell technology to mobile phone manufacturers and
allow them to reproduce it
•Horizontal Networks: various mobile device manufacturers, such as LG/Motorola/ect could
develop their own versions of the phonebloks technology, such as separate service providers
developing specific versions of phonebloks technology
•Localized Adaptations: These mobile phone manufacturers(motorola/LG) could then develop
localized versions of the phoneblok technology that corresponds to established brands and
include particular benefits, such as developing a LG brand camera block that has a higher
resolution than its competetors.
Reaching Critical Mass: If manufacturers and service
•critical mass can be attained by marketing localized versions toproviders adopt phonebloks,
their established customer
base.

13. Discussion Question
Do you think that the concept of Phonebloks has
the potential to be successfully introduced into a
society such as the U.S, that is saturated with
dozens of different cell phone brands but
dominated by just a few corporate giants?(like
Verizon)

14. Sources
"Cell Phones All Contain Toxics: Older Ones the Most." Environmental News Service [Ann Arbor] 11 Oct
2011, n. pag. Web. 2 Dec. 2013. <
http://ens-newswire.com/2012/10/11/cell-phones-all-contain-toxics-older-ones-the-most/>
Kang, Cecilia. "Number of cellphones exceeds U.S. population: CTIA trade group." Washington Post 11 Oct
2011, n. pag. Web. 2 Dec. 2013. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-tech/post/number-of-cellphones-exceeds-us-population-ctia-trade-group/2011/10/11/gIQARNcEcL_blog.html>