Motorola Tells Customer to “Buy Elsewhere” if They Want Custom ROMs

[johnomaz]

And I will not buy motorola ever again. They are getting as bad as Apple. But thankfully, you aren't locked into motorola hardware to run the AndroidOS.

They believe that the phone you purchased and is in your pocket isn't actually yours and will make sure you do only what they want you to do on it.

 

[RLI3]

DROID X2, DROID 3 and Incredible 2 All in the Works, Stock Experience Coming - Droid Life: A Droid Community Blog

"We should also point out that this topic over at Moto’s Get Satisfaction page (Cheers Geran!) which refers to unlocking the DROID X’s bootloader has been flagged as “implemented” by the company."

 

[cj1896]

i have a question...how big a deal is the locked bootloader really?....i mean does the d2 and the X not have roms out for it??? how do those roms work with a locked bootloader?? that this phone couldnt?? i mean coming from an og droid i never looked too much into it but i am curious how much more restiricted are we with the locked bootloader that all hell is breaking loose?...i mean im super upset by this bc i reallllly want a bionic but i loveee to mod my phone

You can't actually replace the kernel to the phone modding voltages etc. Also these roms are bootstrapped on which I imagine is very similar to partitioning the phone. And although I am not a programmer I imagine certain builds of android will only work with the latest kernels (the droid originally launched with a 2.6.29 kernel and I believe it is now a 2.6.32 kernel stock) Either way it is mostly the principle of it all, this is the very reason I avoid apple like the plague. Soon they are going to start putting proprietary screws in your device so you can't open it, or making you take it to the "moto bar".

 

[jimboman]

LOL at the complete arrogance and childishness displayed in this thread. Not by Motorola, but by everyone in here that thinks they are owed an unlocked bootloader from a company just because. Well thats just silly. Motorola, much like any other company on this planet would do, is just trying to protect its name and its reputation going forward. Yes, being able to load custom ROMs and kernels is nice, but at the same time, its ridiculously easy to screw up your phone if you're not careful, and when you do, and the phone is truly bricked, they know you are bound to return it, blame Motorola, and get a new one. Just look at how many times its happened on here. You are cutting down on their profits because you are actively erasing everything they set up on the device, screwing up, and returning it for a new one under a warranty they cannot verify that you broke.

This community, especially the ones who root their phones and install custom kernels is just a drop of water in the toilet for them. Go ahead, threaten to go somewhere else. I guarantee you that they really just don't care. They are just making a business decision, and if you don't like it, tough toodles. I'm sure they'll really care about the couple hundred thousand who use this ability when the remaining user-base is 100x greater, if not a whole heck of a lot more.

+1

All Motorola is doing makes sense, and we should expect such. Most of us think of the ability to customize kernels as a right, when it is merely a privilege - actually, a byproduct of circumstance.

All that said, I'll be hanging on to my D1 for a while.

 

[pc747]

Droid 3 with unlocked bootloader...I dont know but that would be interesting...I highly doubt it. Lets see if they will make the droid the hackers phone. But this early in the game it could be smoke.

 

[lindel]

LOL at the complete arrogance and childishness displayed in this thread. Not by Motorola, but by everyone in here that thinks they are owed an unlocked bootloader from a company just because. Well thats just silly. Motorola, much like any other company on this planet would do, is just trying to protect its name and its reputation going forward. Yes, being able to load custom ROMs and kernels is nice, but at the same time, its ridiculously easy to screw up your phone if you're not careful, and when you do, and the phone is truly bricked, they know you are bound to return it, blame Motorola, and get a new one. Just look at how many times its happened on here. You are cutting down on their profits because you are actively erasing everything they set up on the device, screwing up, and returning it for a new one under a warranty they cannot verify that you broke.

This community, especially the ones who root their phones and install custom kernels is just a drop of water in the toilet for them. Go ahead, threaten to go somewhere else. I guarantee you that they really just don't care. They are just making a business decision, and if you don't like it, tough toodles. I'm sure they'll really care about the couple hundred thousand who use this ability when the remaining user-base is 100x greater, if not a whole heck of a lot more.

+1

All Motorola is doing makes sense, and we should expect such. Most of us think of the ability to customize kernels as a right, when it is merely a privilege - actually, a byproduct of circumstance.

All that said, I'll be hanging on to my D1 for a while.

The kernel is either open source, or it isn't. Android says it is, Motorola is telling us the opposite. It would, and perhaps will be, an interesting court battle.



Sent from my Droid using DroidForums App

 

[jroc]

^How is Moto telling you the opposite? We all have access to AOSP website. Any one of us could go there and start compiling it.

 

[Dan_08]

DROID X2, DROID 3 and Incredible 2 All in the Works, Stock Experience Coming - Droid Life: A Droid Community Blog

"We should also point out that this topic over at Moto’s Get Satisfaction page (Cheers Geran!) which refers to unlocking the DROID X’s bootloader has been flagged as “implemented” by the company."

So funny how some on this site say we have no influence on Moto's decisions...yet they drop the possibility of an unlocked droid! I'm excited the xoom will hold me over till the unlocked D3 comes out.

 

[czerdrill]

DROID X2, DROID 3 and Incredible 2 All in the Works, Stock Experience Coming - Droid Life: A Droid Community Blog

"We should also point out that this topic over at Moto’s Get Satisfaction page (Cheers Geran!) which refers to unlocking the DROID X’s bootloader has been flagged as “implemented” by the company."

So funny how some on this site say we have no influence on Moto's decisions...yet they drop the possibility of an unlocked droid! I'm excited the xoom will hold me over till the unlocked D3 comes out.

I think it's just damage control.

 

[pc747]

call me a skeptic but i will believe it when i see it. I hope its true but plan on seeing what happens.

 

[yakitori]

Bye Motorola. Not like its the only phone on market. Kinda stupid to brag about removing a feature on your flagship phone. I have no loyalty to moto....plain and simple...if they don't provide what I like buy a different brand...sales goes down for them ...so its their own problem.
What's greater fiscal burden ..few returns of bricked phones they can refurb...or decreased sales ...probably the latter

Sent from my Droid

 

[GodfatherIP]

I'm more annoyed with the arrogant tone of that Twitter message than the fact that the bootloader is going to be locked, but this still sucks.

Exactly, it sucks that they are locking down their bootloaders but it is their decision to make, however the arrogant go f*ck yourself attitude really gets me riled up. Luckily as many other users have posted there is a lot of competition in the world of Android so if I want a free open phone like my OG Droid I can look at what is available from HTC, Samsung, LG, or even straight from Google (if they release another Verizon phone at least). You can be damn sure I will not buy any Motorola products and will be advising all of my friends and family who get android phones to stay away from Motorola. Us rooters may be in the minority but we might not be as small a part of the market as we think. Plus when people are asking for advice on a new phone who do they turn to.... the cutting edge tech lovers who like rooting and who will hopefully in the future tell them to buy anything but Moto. Maybe if all the people who love the freedom of the open OS make it a point to not to buy their locked down phones we can make enough of a dent in their sales to rethink their "strategy that is working." If not at least our money will be going to the companies who give us the freedom to do what we want with products that we own and paid for.

 

[huskerkate]

^How is Moto telling you the opposite? We all have access to AOSP website. Any one of us could go there and start compiling it.

i'm not sure i understand this...?? yes, you are free to compile your own ROM from AOSP code. but what good is a ROM if the phone you bought and paid for will brick itself if you try to run it?

 

[ilikemoneygreen]

Bye Motorola. Not like its the only phone on market. Kinda stupid to brag about removing a feature on your flagship phone. I have no loyalty to moto....plain and simple...if they don't provide what I like buy a different brand...sales goes down for them ...so its their own problem.
What's greater fiscal burden ..few returns of bricked phones they can refurb...or decreased sales ...probably the latter

Sent from my Droid

Ive heard this comment several times. The comment that was made in Youtube was unprofessional, but it was made by someone that obviously gave their personal opinions. Granted the person was representing Motorola at the time, but thats just the wrong place to look for that PR. That person's job was kind of in the PR department, but are you guys really going to hold a grudge for some worker that makes a side comment? If Motorola actually made a press release and said bluntly that if hackers want an unlocked phone then head somewhere else then I'd probably have the same reaction as the quote above but this comment was made by the wrong person in the PR department and in the wrong place. The person is probably a low level employee that was in charge of going through Youtube comments and raising peoples spirits about the phone. I think this whole situation was blown out of proportion. Its kind of like if a Marine is in uniform and he gets asked a question. He is seen as representing the Marines because he is in a Marine uniform but he probably doesn't have any authority to answer the question. But if he does answer the question through his personal opinions, then the News wont care, they will post it as hey, The marines said this "blah blah".

 

[GodfatherIP]

LOL at the complete arrogance and childishness displayed in this thread. Not by Motorola, but by everyone in here that thinks they are owed an unlocked bootloader from a company just because. Well thats just silly. Motorola, much like any other company on this planet would do, is just trying to protect its name and its reputation going forward. Yes, being able to load custom ROMs and kernels is nice, but at the same time, its ridiculously easy to screw up your phone if you're not careful, and when you do, and the phone is truly bricked, they know you are bound to return it, blame Motorola, and get a new one. Just look at how many times its happened on here. You are cutting down on their profits because you are actively erasing everything they set up on the device, screwing up, and returning it for a new one under a warranty they cannot verify that you broke.

This community, especially the ones who root their phones and install custom kernels is just a drop of water in the toilet for them. Go ahead, threaten to go somewhere else. I guarantee you that they really just don't care. They are just making a business decision, and if you don't like it, tough toodles. I'm sure they'll really care about the couple hundred thousand who use this ability when the remaining user-base is 100x greater, if not a whole heck of a lot more.

+1

All Motorola is doing makes sense, and we should expect such. Most of us think of the ability to customize kernels as a right, when it is merely a privilege - actually, a byproduct of circumstance.

All that said, I'll be hanging on to my D1 for a while.

-1 haha

Motorola is a company so their only goal is to maximize profits, and pissing off many potential consumers doesn't help that. I know it isn't a right to have the ability to customize your phone (even though you own it and paid good money for it) but it sure is an appealing FEATURE that I will look for when making future purchases. Does a locked bootloader make the phone more appealing to users that don't have any interest in rooting? No, they probably don't even know what it means. It just makes the phones less appealing to people who enjoy Android's freedom. Also I highly doubt they were getting a significant number of extra repairs from rooting. My dad brother and I have had to return a total of four Droid 1's and 3 of the 4 had never been rooted. The screens on their stock phones went crazy and became unusable. The rooted one actually lasted the longest of the original 3 and only broke because I dropped it, not due to any mods I did (I even flashed it back to stock before I sent it back to them).

Taking away a feature and then saying well if you liked that feature go elsewhere is not a good business strategy. Unfortunately for them I will likely heed their advice and look elsewhere because they are moving backwards in my opinion by taking away freedom and adding more and more bloat that can't be removed. Maybe they don't care about me or all the other customers who like freedom and customization that won't be buying their products in the future but they should, and until they do I will not be giving them any more of my hard earned cash. I don't care if I'm the only one and it is just a drop of water in the toilet. I would much rather give my money to a company who at least pretends to value what I as a consumer want in a product rather than to a company that basically tells me to go f*ck myself.