Why do some hate Motorolla?

[RW-1]

Moto- Advantage - great solid hardware.
Disadvantage - Locked bootloaders.

This is a company that likes to rest on its laurels. The Droid saved them from mobile extinction, and yet, afterwards, they didn't keep on making terrific handsets like the D1, it's back to cost saving measures, plasticky schtick, etc. Keep watching, the core HW may still be great, but the cost, and build materials will do them in yet again.

While HTC and others inovate, Moto will continue to pump out variations of the d1 and the X. (not counting the Atrix, because it didn't go to VZ, and I'm not going to the death star either)

Because google will now begin stating they cannot place blur on 3.0 until they say so or it is reviewed for device installation, they now want to begin designing their own OS, which will fail for the same reason Nokia is basically done.

I'll be seriously weighing what I want in a phone, what I want to do on said phone, performance, and looks/build quality and materials used before I settle on my next unit. All manufacturers are fair game at this point, but I will say it kinda comes down to moto or HTC.

 

[Oxymoron]

I have been tweaking my D1 ever since I got it. Sometimes out of necessity, sometimes just for preference. The necessity was for kernels/ROMs to OPTIMIZE the D1 hardware, and get the most out of what the device has to offer... and root access for permissions. The preferences were themes and whatnot.

That being said, if I bought a device with software already optimized for hardware I wouldn't need to use custom ROMs or kernels. I will pretty much always root though.

I don't trust manufacturers to develop optimized software, and this is why... they can't. What I mean by that is technology advances so fast, they are just trying to get there device out to market before it outdated. The development community gets a device, and spends a lot of time with it... and we reap the benefits if we indeed are tuned in to the modding community. The manufacturers are already using their resouces to get the next device ready. Is this right? Or could they allot more resources to support existing devices? No, and yes. This is the way it is, however.

This is why I believe there will always be a place for "aftermarket development". I do want to be able to reap the benefits of it. Unlocked bootloaders are a big part of it. Besides that, as has been said... this is ANDROID. It's supposed to be open. A collaborative effort.

Will it stop me from purchasing Moto products? No. Will it increase the chances that I look at alternatives? Yes. I believe Motorola products are built better. If they couple that with fair development, I see no reason they couldn't be the leading manufacturer of handheld devices. In the meantime, they should keep their Android based devices open, and lock down the ones with their own proprietary OS they are coming up with.... if that's what they're into.

I'm an automation technician. Its in my nature to tinker with things, and "improve" the way they operate. I usually stop modifying something when I come to a point that I believe there is nothing left to improve or make more efficient... apart from rebuilding it completely... or building something different.

I think that's what the dev community is all about. Let's see what we can do with this thing, and have some fun. I'm all about that too.

Sorry about the tangents. ADD... a blessing and a curse.

 

[terroh8er]

As others have said, the bootloader is a big issue. They are really turning their back on the Android community, so we will turn our backs on them. It is, after all, the technology geeks who have made Android what it is. When Apple fanboys say Android really isn't open, they are proven right what by what Motorola does. It really isn't in the spirit of Android to lock down the hardware, and any such attempt is heading the OS is the wrong direction. Many of us look further into the future, and we see smartphones, or whatever technology it may be, as playing an even bigger role in our lives than they do today. Imagine what the personal computer *wouldn't* be today if all programs and websites needed to be approved by Apple, and all computers needed to be sent back to Apple instead of being able to repair them yourself. Motorola is looking like Apple more and more every day. I know I would be very disappointed in a world where technology has lost its identity as a free and open tool.

Besides that, I sometimes feel like Motorola's engineers are in the third grade. The keyboard on the D1 was garbage and it just made it clunky. It was a pretty good phone otherwise. The DX and others have the locked bootloader and hard buttons. They are all pretty ugly devices. BLUR just ruins the experience of every phone it touches. Did anyone at Motorola even use the phone before they started selling it? Their flagship phones are nice, especially on paper, but they just aren't designed very well. Every Motorola phone I've used leaves something to be desired. There's a reason why Google's phones aren't made by Motorola I think.

And this is probably common to all manufacturers, but they are slow at putting out updates and phase out support too quickly. If they are going to lock down their phones, they could at least put out updates immediately after they are released by Google. I will be upset if my DX loses the ability to receive updates because I won't even be able to do it myself. How obselete a phone is is determined by Motorola's laziness and ridiculous fragmentation, not by new technology.

People need to stop buying Motorola phones so they either change their ways or go to hell. They do not represent the future of Android.

Sent from my DROIDX using DroidForums

 

[Martin030908]

I think Moto is making a mistake by attempting to design their own OS. It will fail. No question. It would have to compete against Apple, which is a monster in the mobile phone market obviously, Android, which is the only true competitor Apple has ever seen, Windows phone, which is barely hanging on, and RIM, established yet falling.

4 arguable giants for Moto to face if they proceed with their own OS. A recipe for failure if you ask me. Look at Nokia right now...

Google wanting to eliminate mfg's from interlacing their UI's into the OS and instead wanting to have a hand in approving them is not a bad thing IMO. Android needs a solid base if it truly wants to succeed. Fragmentation is a word that has been floating around as long as Android, but it's a reality and it's nice to see Google finally attempting to address it. For Moto to take this as a reason to branch out on their own is foolish, well at least I believe it is.

Does this mean Moto doesn't make a good product? Absolutely not... my D1 is a tank and it's hardware has thoroughly impressed me. But the direction the company is taking does not appeal to me.