Motorola to Customers: Buy Somewhere Else


01/20/2011 12:32 PM - Permalink

So it seems that Motorola is in trouble with a few of its customers. 

Most of you know about the locked bootloader in Motorola devices, a system dubbed e-fuse combining hardware and software technology to prevent unauthorized ROMs from being installed to the phone.  What does that actually mean, anyway?  It means that if you have the know-how (or a friend that does), you can install a third party ROM on your phone, which could provide you with system updates, different themes, new software, or bug fixes which have not been issued by Motorola.  Now, some ROMs do exist for devices like the Droid X, but even these ROMs have to be built on the Motorola system.  If there’s a bug there, you’re still hosed, and if they don’t update it, too bad.  I’ve written on this beforeThere is plenty of evidence supporting my point all over the Internet.  

I did end up breaking down and buying the Droid X a few months ago.  I had written in my last post on the issue about my temptation to do so, but the decision was expedited as a result of some hardware failure in my original Motorola Droid, only 3 days out of warrantee.  I can't begin to describe the frustration I have with Motorola's software on the Droid X.  If it hadn't been for rubix Focused (an AOSP ROM on top of Motorola's proprietary software -- the closest to a custom ROM the Droid X can get), I would have taken the phone back to Verizon straight-away and purchased a used Droid from eBay.  

Well it seems that a social media representative of Motorola has made a blunder, specifically from their YouTube account. I quote:
 

@tdcrooks if you want to do? custom roms, then buy elsewhere, we'll continue with our strategy that is working thanks.


Sadly, this isn't the first time Motorola has made this statement -- its just the first time they've made it so rudely.  


So I posted some comments and decided to take my opinion to Motorola's facebook page.  Below is an image of the comment I posted:
 

(Click to enlarge.)


I then decided to go take a look at some of the other comments.  What I found amazed me.  I didn't modify the order of these posts at all, I simply scrolled up a page from my own comment, and placed a red arrow to the left of any comment that echo'd my sentiments.  There wasn't one that I read that didn't:
 

(Click to enlarge.)


My response to all this, and Motorola?  I call foul, and happily await the date of the launch of the HTC Thunderbolt.  Yeah, I bought the Droid X with my upgrade pricing a few months ago.  No, I don't have another upgrade waiting in the wings of other lines on my account.  I'm going to pay full retail for the device.  That's how much I can't wait to get away from Motorola.


UPDATE: It seems Motorola has attempted to patch this blunder on their Facebook page.  My thoughts?  Why should I trust them now?  HTC Thunderbolt, here I come.  If the Droid Bionic has a confirmed-free bootloader, maybe I'll switch then.  In the meantime, I'm going to take my freedom by the force of a newly-emptied wallet.

Jay Baldwin is a follower of Jesus Christ residing in Columbus, Ohio with his wife and daughter. Jay is an Executive Director and Software Engineer (Web Ninja!), a self-proclaimed scriptural scholar, and a pilot. He's also an avid gamer, loves tennis, and has a black belt in Korean martial art Tang Soo Do.