asked 2014-12-01 17:31:07 +0300
Please let this thread be an early Petition to show Jolla how much (or not) we would like them to design upcoming phones to be compatible with our already bought or hacked "The Other Half"s, while it is still possible to influence the design and production of such devices.
Thanks for participating!
Update: shortend down the text to save us livetime and added diagram:
answered 2014-12-01 19:08:36 +0300
Considering the success of the TOH KBD kickstarter I think it would be a huge mistake not to support the TOH concept on subsequent Jolla devices ! There is even already a request for having the TOH electrical interface available on the Jolla tablet.
But as long as the electrical interface stays the same, the physical size and shape dons not necessarily need to! Most of currently available TOHs are 3D printed and as long as the pins are the same the printed parts can be easily replaced by other models compatible with the new interface.
This should make it possible for Jolla to change the physical dimensions of their next device while still retaining a "source" compatibility with the existing TOH projects - just "recompile" your 3D model and your TOH should fit again. :)
@MartinK: Perfect answer. May I just add that even those who design the currently most popular other halves are very relaxed about this topic, stating basically what you said: Making it bigger, wider, smaller, whatever... will not be a problem as long as the basic electrical interfaces stay the same.
Of course, in a purrfect world, a consumer could re-use all the other halves bought in 2014 for the brand new 6th Jolla model launched in 2018. I've had 47 years to learn that this world is far from perfect, and I can live with it. It will be good enough if hardware developers needn't start from zero again but only have to slightly adapt the physical size of existing models.
ossi1967 ( 2014-12-01 19:15:47 +0300 )editThis, pretty much. I would like them to keep the TOH concept alive with the next phone they release. But they shouldn't be forced to use the same dimensions just because the TOHs out there have those dimensions. If Jolla can make an even better looking phone with different physical dimensions, I say we shouldn't discourage them from doing so.
Vinyl ( 2014-12-01 20:21:33 +0300 )editI dream of a third party commercial TOH manufacturer designing their TOHs as upgradeable. In such case existing Jolla phone owner could buy just an upgrade of her TOH and swap the TOH electronics to a new "piece of plastic" which would fit the new Jolla phone model and will cost a fragment of the full new TOH. Such approach would make the Jolla ecosystem truely unlike (think of Apple´s accessories incompatibility between iPhone models)
strnous ( 2014-12-07 10:42:19 +0300 )editAsked: 2014-12-01 17:31:07 +0300
Seen: 1,245 times
Last updated: Dec 14 '14
Judging by the comments and activities of a couple of Jolla staff, the TOH almost certainly won't be retained in its current fit / capacity for the second and subsequent phones ... and that's a good thing, it'd be hugely restrictive.
meowmeow ( 2014-12-01 17:41:05 +0300 )editThe concept of TOH is fundamentally sound & useful, not just in consumer space but also in commercial like medical industries, as some from that field have even ideas of using their specialised devices into the TOH of a Jolla device to meet their client needs etc.
So far the potential of TOH have still been hugely undeveloped..i don't want to see the 6 connection pins on the inside of the front half of the Jolla phone 'wasted away'..so this can be seen as a Jolla unique selling expansion feature which must be put to good use ! Ideally, the modular phone concept from others seems at present to be too far fetched in terms of implementation & cost-benefit, so therefore while Jolla is not a full modular device, the TOH concept can go some way towards there while minimising the disadvantages of a full modular device. Overall TOH deserves to be gradually continously further developed !
Hseochin ( 2014-12-01 18:02:04 +0300 )editOn the contrary, I think fully modular devices are the future and soon to be the present.
meowmeow ( 2014-12-01 18:18:22 +0300 )editideally, i would like the front half of the device to house components of a longer design life i.e. longer time before being obsolete, hopefully parts like mainboard, display, microphone, speakers etc. while those which change more often like chipset, CPU, GPU, memory, camera put there in the rear TOH portion of the device so that as far as feasible, people can upgrade their device in a more cost-benefit effective manner without changing the entire device. This is also more enviromentally friendly as less unwanted wastage. The device maker can thus offer a range of hardware configurations somewhat like a modular device inside while from the outside the unique Jolla identity is preserved in the form of a consistent external appearance & stylistic appeal.
Hseochin ( 2014-12-01 19:10:10 +0300 )editit's fine to keep the i2c connector but they should think about some more convenient way to connect halves.
6 to 8 pins with magnets and one screw for example, not small clip on borders that can easily wear and are hard to print with home and kitchen 3d printers.
vandersmash ( 2014-12-01 20:35:34 +0300 )edit