Google Totes Project Ara, Promises a Smartphone as Unique as You

Smartphone manufacturers have been hastily working to deliver a single product that appeals to the masses, but that isn't so easy when everyone has their own unique tastes and styles. Nokia had one of the most pronounced approaches to their product lineup, offering consumers their Lumia phones in a vast variety of bold colors. Apple, after years of offering only the standard black and white iPhones, readied the 5C in a number of tame, friendly, colors. Google, after purchasing Motorola, even offered consumers a phone that came with hundreds of customizable back plates (including wood paneling) through the Moto X. Now, Google is hoping to bring these customization options a step further with Project Ara, the first truly customizable smartphone.

Imagine walking into a store, ready to purchase a brand-spanking new smartphone to satiate your Flappy Bird needs. You're drawn initially to the iPhones, but you're put off from them for one reason or another; maybe it's the premium price point, or the fact that everyone and your goldfish has one. Either way, your attention is caught by a gleaming beacon of light located in the corner of the store (angelic music and all), which you promptly make your way to. There you discover Google's soon-to-be-a-thing smartphone, priced significantly lower than everything else around it. The store manager walks by, and explains the reason why the phone is so cheap is because it comes with nothing: no Wi-Fi, no 4G antenna, no camera, nada. He then gestures to a wall-filled with square-like modules, which he explains can be used to add features to the phone by plugging them into the back. You reason you'll need a higher-end camera to take over-glorified pictures of your cat, two batteries, Wi-Fi, and an antenna. You figure you'll never need NFC or SD cards, and you seldom use Bluetooth devices. You walk away with exactly what you need in a phone: no more, no less.

Kara Barker, an Administrative Assistant at Plymouth State University, explained such a product would appeal to her because of its upgradability. "I never really know what to expect when I make that initial purchase," Barker continues, "and you might find you need something different as times goes on. It would be nice to upgrade it when you have a clearer idea of what exactly you need."

In a quote by Google explaining their thought-process behind the creation of Ara, they write "The smartphone is one of the most empowering and intimate objects in our lives. Yet most of us have little say in how the device is made, what it does, and how it looks. And 5 billion of us don't have one. What if you could make thoughtful choices about exactly what your phone does, and use it as a creative canvas to tell your own story?"

Yet Google is releasing this product in a world where terms like retina display exist, highlighting technology's disconnection from the tech illiterate. One of the greatest challenges consumers may face is that people won't know what they need, and what they won't need. Most people have no idea what NFC is yet, so options like that may stumble them and drive them away. While Google will likely streamline the process, these obstacles are still very real.

Conceptually, Google's product has the opportunity to offer real change to a market that has largely remained the same since 2007. For many, it might be alluring to be able to swap out a camera for a day in exchange for an extra battery. It will remain to be seen, however, when Ara makes a release in 2015, whether it will stand among on top, or fade away into the background.