E-waste is the remains of our old or unwanted electronic appliances. In 2012, Dutch designer Dave Hakkens took it upon himself to combat the problem of e-wastage. He came up with the idea of modular phones to cut down on the amount of e-waste.
In 2013, his idea of Phonebloks went online as Hakkens took to the internet to gain support for his idea. His idea was supported by almost 1 million people on Thunderclap within the first few days of the campaign. As word spread, Google's Motorola took notice and decided to bring this idea to life. This initiative was then named Project Ara. In October of 2014, the first prototype was released.
Since then major developments have taken place. Project Ara has seen great advancements, and it is certainly exciting the tech community worldwide. Google has improved the design and has made the smartphone more customizable. A developer's model is set to be released this fall, and I can't wait to see where this takes the mobile phone industry.
