Don’t Buy Into Acer’s LEGO-Like Modular Computer

Acer just debuted this adorable computer. Called the Revo, it’s tiny and modular and cute and a waste of your money.

The thought process is that owners can easily upgrade their systems with different components that snap into place. It’s a series of stackable blocks. Want more storage than the base 32GB? Throw a 500GB hard drive block on the top. How quaint.

This sort of concept has long been a pipe dream in the computing world. Several companies have strived to allow consumers to more easily upgrade their computer. HP once sold an external hard drive that slid into a bay under the CD-ROM drive. Razer showed off last year a crazy concept with an insane amount of customizable options. Even Intel once tried to offer easy upgrades by selling underclocked CPUs that could be unlocked for a price to run at full speed.

But these schemes never last and the consumer ends up losing when the manufacturer pulls the plug.

This sort of product comes to market when a company is trying something. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Companies must try new things to survive. They have to throw things against the wall to see what sticks. Sometimes these things flop (like the Microsoft Surface RT) and other times they survive (like the Microsoft Surface Pro).

The key is waiting until it’s clear the company is committed to supporting the product. And it’s way too early to tell if Acer will continue making Revo parts in the future.