I commend them for dedicating the resources, and if nothing else I see value in some of the challenges they’ll solve along the way which may lead to innovations in other areas.
With that said, their own admission that they’re a long way from integrating the 6+ antennas most phones have, the giant battery packs or many other issues makes this more of a high end Arduino-like solution rather than a smart phone.
I can see a point where a hybrid approach of adding an expansion module or two to something like the traditional smart phone or Google Glass will be a benefit. Someone with a $50 smartphone base may want to add a high res camera or a 3D scanner or some other future tech that doesn’t make sense for a unique device but makes sense for an add on.