IDEA: Affordable, customizable PDAs for all

So, even though I have no official training in business procedures, I'm thinking that the personal electronics industry doesn't have enough personalization available for consumers. When you consider the customer base for personal electronics, there are a lot of brainy people in there, and many of them are capable of at least some tech knowhow.

So, the idea is to create a line of personal electronics that allows people to either:

a.) buy the personal electronics and use the default settings and construction; or
b.) start with a base product, then personalize to their heart's content

And when I speak of personalization, I don't just mean hardware, but software as well.

Let's start with the hardware. In my opinion, parts for these personal electronics should either be:

a.) really cheap and easy to produce; or
b.) really long lasting, with the cost passed on to the consumer

If we can't do long lasting, cheap and easy to produce is the way to go.

Fore example, if the screen for a pda can't last longer than a couple of years, then make damn sure it can be replaced easily by the consumer, even at the cost of further lifetime of the screen. If the screen only lasts 6 months, but is very affordable and easy to procure and replace, then it's not such a pain for consumers, now is it?

As far as software goes, some tech consumers are obviously brainy enough to handle whatever programming language you use for the personal electronics. Hell, give 'em free reign over the product, if they want. Think of the possibilities if Nintendo allowed its touch-screen DS portable game unit to accept user programs. Think of the useful applications!

There are three main types of consumer out there: the simple consumer, who just wants to use the product; the tinkerer, who likes to play around with things, but not get too serious; and the "power user" who loves to dig deep and find out what makes things tick, and possibly use it for other purposes.

Right now, the simple consumers rule the market; companies in the tech sector are generally producing products that can't be tinkered with very easily. Especially in the tech sector, there are tons of people dying to dig in and get their electronics to really take off, and the companies seem to be too preoccupied with proprietary technology and bottom lines to realize the potential. This is not the way to advance technology! There aren't enough enterprising companies to cover the wide human spectrum.

The internet is a prime example of this. Look at the HUGE variety of web sites out there. Even in social web communities like MySpace, the variety is unbelievable. Now, think of what would happen if you turned these personal electronics over to the brainy masses.

I've written all this, and it occurs to me that this stuff might be available already, and I simply haven't gone looking for it yet, which is true enough. But you would think I would see something at the local Fry's or on the web by now.