Moto explains why they locked the bootloader

[killabyte]

considering everyone here has a cell phone that is more than capable of doing what you need i have to say i find it disturbing that people can get so worked up over something that hasn't had any negative ramifications YET. as in no bricked phones/burned efuses so far.

jeez why not get pissed off over all the money the government wastes. or the fact that you get triple taxed on almost every damn thing. how about the woman i saw at the health dept the other day who was about to push out her ninth kid, on medicaid's (our) dime of course, yet medicaid wouldn't pay to have her tubes tied. so she'll just keep spitting them out and we'll keep footing the bill.

there's a lot more wrong with the world than an efuse in a dumb ass cell phone.

 

[Juggernaut]

jeez why not get pissed off over all the money the government wastes. or the fact that you get triple taxed on almost every damn thing. how about the woman i saw at the health dept the other day who was about to push out her ninth kid, on medicaid's (our) dime of course, yet medicaid wouldn't pay to have her tubes tied. so she'll just keep spitting them out and we'll keep footing the bill.

I like this dancedroid

 

[babbock]

There are a lot of issues and conflicting interests in a decision like this. I am not sure I stand 100% on either side. Here are some of the interests i see

as for hardware: things arent very regulated(generally a good thing). so there is a high degree of competition. With carriers its better then land line systems but more regulated. The problem is that the regulated less open to competition industry of the providers have enormous influence over the hardware OEMs. So competition and free market are somewhat hindered, because moto(and any other OEM) must cater to at least one major cell company(verizon, ATT, sprint, etc). IF moto is getting pressure from Verizon on this, which they very well could be, then it is SOMEWHAT more understandable and they are in a tough spot. Due to the complex nature of all the business relationships, simply "voting with your dollar" doesnt necessarily do it in this case.

Also I am not sure if leaving the bootloader unlocked increases the risk of something that could severely impact the network as a whole. Any app can be somewhat disruptive, but im sure there are limits imposed by the OS itself. A custom rom MIGHT be able to circimvent some of the safeguards. So this could be part of there rational.

I love the ability to modify and customize. I have done some tweaking on my droid(granted im pretty much a noob at droid hacking). But I can see both sides. I certianly understand why the community really really wants to be able to modify the core of the device, by rooting, custm roms, etc. I also can see the benefits to the power user commumity and the industry as a whole. However, I can also see some legitimate concerns OEMs might have with phones being open. I am also a little weary of where things could go if a successful legal challange was made. It could have a very chilling long term unintended impact if the courts got involved and basically told motorola they "had" to unlock the boot loaders.

Having said all this, I am not sure if I can pick one side or the other. Both sides of this issue have merit imo.

 

[trevorx3]

Sorry to bump a dead thread but I find it ridiculous that someone thinks that over 10% of Droids are rooted. Excuse me? That's 1 in 10!

I'd say the percentage is well under 5% and I think around 1-3% (or below 1%) is far far more likely.

10%? Not a chance, not even close.

 

[brian67t]

Here is the opinion of one of those "Noobs w/ a rooted Droid"... The customization/personalization of the Andriod OS is exactly why I bought this phone. I harbor NO ill will toward Apple or Motorola, I simply want to be able to use my device however I want to use it. I have enjoyed the freedom my rooted D1 offers me, I am in love with "Blacked Out Market" and being able to ramp up/overclock my device as I see fit is what I thought this OS was all about. (although I do have to admit I got a bit of an lemon device... it temp spikes to above 135F if I take it to 700Mhz, so I'm stuck at 600) If none of these things will be available on future Moto droid devices then I might as well buy the Apple iPhone 5G when it is released (feels like heresy to say that! and I am NOT excited about it). Im just saying that in a locked/ non customizable form andriod doesnt have a chance in a competition with apple's dev's. Motorola simply cant compete with that kind of market share and the number of 3rd party PROFESSIONAL developers at the iTunes market. Guess I am proly stating what is obvious to everyome that is on here, but this is the 1st time I have ever been able to get full control of a device and I like it the way Charlie Sheen Likes Drugs and Women! If Im gonna go through withdraws regardless of which device I buy next, then ... Well I need a new iPOD anyway... ya know?

 

[piquat]

Here is the opinion of one of those "Noobs w/ a rooted Droid"... The customization/personalization of the Andriod OS is exactly why I bought this phone. I harbor NO ill will toward Apple or Motorola, I simply want to be able to use my device however I want to use it. I have enjoyed the freedom my rooted D1 offers me, I am in love with "Blacked Out Market" and being able to ramp up/overclock my device as I see fit is what I thought this OS was all about. (although I do have to admit I got a bit of an lemon device... it temp spikes to above 135F if I take it to 700Mhz, so I'm stuck at 600) If none of these things will be available on future Moto droid devices then I might as well buy the Apple iPhone 5G when it is released (feels like heresy to say that! and I am NOT excited about it). Im just saying that in a locked/ non customizable form andriod doesnt have a chance in a competition with apple's dev's. Motorola simply cant compete with that kind of market share and the number of 3rd party PROFESSIONAL developers at the iTunes market. Guess I am proly stating what is obvious to everyome that is on here, but this is the 1st time I have ever been able to get full control of a device and I like it the way Charlie Sheen Likes Drugs and Women! If Im gonna go through withdraws regardless of which device I buy next, then ... Well I need a new iPOD anyway... ya know?

DING DING DING!!! We have a winner.

If I can't mod the crap out of the phone, I might as well get an iPhone and have a phone that looks just like everybody else's.

 

[MrKleen]

Even though this is an old thread and the bootloader issue has been beat to death....

Because of Motorola's policy I am about to leave the "Droid" brand for the HTC Thunderbolt.

Bye Bye Motorola.