Component based re-engineering

I just came across a Wired article which elaborated on some nerds in silicon valley who attempt to revolutionize the mobile phone market by composing a phone with standard components. These entrepreneurs are inspired by the Personal Computer revolution, which was jump-started by some folks in a silicon valley garage who called themselves the Homebrew Computer Club. Back then engineers met to prove that computes don't have to be the enormous room-size mainframe terminals but can be constructed to fit on a desktop.

For mobile phones the revolution could be repeated not in size but in standardization of the components which brought consumers greatly reduced prices and a multitude of choices on the heterogenous PC components market. Right now mobile phones are still produced in industrial pruduct lines, but it doesn't take much to imagine Nokia (the IBM of the phone market) to wake up one morning and realize that a highly personalized standard component based mobile phone sold via a Dell business model is highly attractive to consumers. I will watch these guys and report on their progress.