Facebook patent reveals powerful shape-shifting ‘modular’ gizmo that could change the tech industry forever

DURING World War II, British people were urged to "make do and mend", but in the modern age that laudable sentiment appears to have been replaced by a call to "buy new and spend".

Now Facebook has revealed plans for a gadget which could finally save tech fans from buying new versions of their favourite gadgets each year - and perhaps even save the planet at the same time.

The social network has filed a patent for a "modular electromechanical device" which features parts that can be replaced or removed.

Facebook's gadget appears to be able to function as a speaker, computer, phone and goodness knows what else depending on what module is plugged into it.

"The device can be configured into a plurality of devices that each have a different functionality based upon the modules that are connected to it," Facebook wrote.

This flies in the face of the business model followed by pretty much every tech firm, who tend to release a slightly different version of an older gadget every year and hope people buy all of them.

A modular phone or computer would upend this tradition, giving devices a much longer lifespan by allowing the phone to be upgraded by buying and adding new modules or repaired by replacing ones that are broken.

This should save customers money, but it will also cut down on the natural resources wasted when tech firms churn out new gizmos each year.

Facebook said the trend for releasing new models every year was "expensive and wasteful".

"Conventional consumer electronics have a short life cycle," it wrote.

"Customers buy [gadgets] that use cutting edge technology only to find their electronics are outdated in the near future.

"The consumer electronics are then thrown away and replaced with the latest version of the electronics and the life cycle repeats."

So does this mean Facebook is going to be the tech firm which saves the world?Well the answer to that depends on whether Mark Zuckerberg runs for President or not.

Seeing as his firm wants to read our thought at 100 words per minute, is it really a good idea to put him in charge of the USA?