Let me first begin with the fact that I look at things from a marketing perspective, and I apply the same generalizations Apple, Motorola, T-Mobile, and other PR departments of mobile/cellular companies use. Looking at the opinion article that Fandroid wrote, I feel I need to take the opposing side in defense of Motorola and Apple, of locking their handsets down and “protecting” consumers. I normally don’t agree with Motorola and Apple, but I am going to defend them because I am a child of dissent and argument, and I want to be flamed on my Twitter. So read on and Flame away.
The Motorola Atrix is indeed the current shining star of Motorola. It has all these features, like the dual-core processors, in hopes of future-proofing their device. Well, first off, the dual core processors aren’t compatible with every single app on the market (at this time). The threading processes will crash the app, limiting your Android experience to a handful of applications. As more and more phones feature and flaunt multi-core processors, the Atrix will, in time, shine brighter and brighter, and will hopefully last a year in the Android community before another company releases something bigger and better. I have to admit, Android devices have not been future-proof; something bigger and better was leaked/released/rumored every other week. Motorola is only trying to make their baby last a smidgen longer.
Now let’s look at MotoBlur. Its colorful, “pretty”, and a tad (I must admit) easier to navigate than the stock Android launcher for the average consumer. It’s not as commercially iPhone-esque as say, Samsung’s Touchwiz UI, but it’s a step towards the territory Apple staked out a few years ago when they released their iPhone. iOS is the basic of the basic, made for the everyday consumer, which is why just about anyone can pick it up and easily understand how it works. Motorola wants to dumb things down and appeal to the average consumer, not just to the typical phone geek like you and I.
Labeling the act of customizing a device as “unsafe” and attempting to prevent that in an excuse to “protect” the average consumer is proof to the fact that Motorola doesn’t want anyone to screw with their device. Motorola doesn’t want you to mess with the phone, they want it to “work” and be shiny at the same time. This applies to the iPhone as well. Apple doesn’t want you to screw around with their device, because according to them, it “detracts” from the total user experience that they’ve been advertising and flaunting around in their bleached white advertisements I see as I drive up Sunset Blvd.
We’re competing with Apple, people, a company that has a firm grip on the average person, and (apparently) 92% of the smartphone-using-employees at Clorox. And if the only way to attract the average consumer is to make a phone “pretty”, “shiny” and “easy-to-use”, then it looks like Motorola is doing the right thing.
Now the issue with Tethering is quite a black and white issue, because no one is truly right, and no one is wrong at the same time. Being a tether user myself, I can easily admit that it’s a fantastic feature that gets me Internet on my iPad 2 (flame away, nerds, I give you permission) while I’m at my grandmother’s house on the weekends. Regardless, the need for tethering is becoming lesser and lesser since WiFi-enabled areas are becoming a new trend all across the nation. Everything from coffee shops to burger joints are now offering free WiFi, so what’s the need?
One can argue that the cell phone companies are becoming exceedingly greedy when it comes to who gets the bulk of their data, and who doesn’t. T-Mobile issued a statement a few months ago saying that the top 5% of their data-enabled customers are using more than 7GB of data a month. Seven gigabytes of data, coming from upwards of 5 million users are using more than their “fair share” of data, consuming more data than a company can handle.
I’m sure you remember ATT going absolutely crazy trying to support the iPhone and all it’s data-intensive features. Back in 2007, YouTube on a cell phone was the next big thing, everyone wanted to watch Fred talk about his problems on a daily basis. It was cool, it was hip, and it was data intensive. ATT had to drop millions of dollars to try and support the new heavy data demand that the iPhone brought to the table. They weren’t able to make a profit until 2009, yes, 2 years after they started offering the first device, because they had to set up more and more radio towers with greater frequencies.
And now all the carriers are scrambling to update everything for the upcoming (so-called) 4G onslaught of phones that will be bombarding us Android fanboys this Summer 2011. Will they be able to handle the intense server strain that us users will be demanding from them? Or will everyone have intermittent data shortages due to server strain.
The carriers do have a point when they charge users a boatload who are blatantly abusing their phone’s capabilities–they are currently unable to support all this stress. Is it fair for a minority of users to hog up immense data, and everyone else suffers for it because carriers aren’t yet able to support all this data flow?
Let the masses plod on with their daily ignorance. Let them get what they paid for. Let them miss out on the loopholes that you and I have found and are mildly exploiting on a daily basis. Rules are meant to be broken by those who know how not to get caught, and loopholes are meant to be exploited by those who know how to apply common sense and logic to a set of rules. The rules were meant to have loopholes–read the fine print.
The statements I made above do NOT reflect my personal views on an open system and the current situation regarding rooting. This is merely an insight as to how these companies view us rooters, and how they function on a daily basis. Feel free to flame me on Twitter. Oh, and I typed this entire thing on my iPad while I was in class today.
