Motorola mobile looks like in deeper waters then it seems...read in Economic Times(India) that their senior most software guy(responsible for all mobile softwares)quit along with many others in R&D of Motorola India.
Their UI was crap and they relied too much on the thin flips...
If their UI was crap, is it really a bad thing that the people responsible for it quit? Anyway, it's a sad day when the suits drive a cool tech company into the ground.
You obviously aren't an Engineer or you would know that in most companies, the ultimate responsibilities for new product ideas and development are usually above Engineering. I'm a design engineer and there are lots of things I would like to do to improve the product I work on but it would never be approved due to the cost increases they would bring. This guy wasn't fired, he quit. He probably understood the problems with their OS but couldn't do anything about it because the suits were too resistant to change or investment of time/money.
Actually, I am an engineer. The difference is that we're making different assumptions. For instance, you're assuming that because "he quit", he was an excellent engineer who was misunderstood by management. Personally, I don't know either way. However, I have seen a BOATLOAD of crappy engineers in my time who would much rather have "I quit" on their resume than "I was fired".
I have no doubt that the reason Motorola is folding is because of management. No matter how great or how crappy the UI was, Motorola would still be dying.
But, regarding the UI, we're talking about a UI for a freakin cellphone. This isn't some great new feat of engineering. It didn't have to be the next best thing after the iPhone. It didn't even have to be anything new. It just had to be not crap. If your engineering team can't take the crap out of such a simple product while trying to convince management about your wondrous new ideas, you probably should just hang up your hat.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
quxjox @ Mar 26th 2008 8:21AM
Motorola mobile looks like in deeper waters then it seems...read in Economic Times(India) that their senior most software guy(responsible for all mobile softwares)quit along with many others in R&D of Motorola India.
Their UI was crap and they relied too much on the thin flips...
Hello Moto...Goodbye Moto!!
yoshi @ Mar 26th 2008 9:22AM
If their UI was crap, is it really a bad thing that the people responsible for it quit? Anyway, it's a sad day when the suits drive a cool tech company into the ground.
Chris @ Mar 26th 2008 1:01PM
You obviously aren't an Engineer or you would know that in most companies, the ultimate responsibilities for new product ideas and development are usually above Engineering. I'm a design engineer and there are lots of things I would like to do to improve the product I work on but it would never be approved due to the cost increases they would bring. This guy wasn't fired, he quit. He probably understood the problems with their OS but couldn't do anything about it because the suits were too resistant to change or investment of time/money.
yoshi @ Mar 27th 2008 12:10AM
Actually, I am an engineer. The difference is that we're making different assumptions. For instance, you're assuming that because "he quit", he was an excellent engineer who was misunderstood by management. Personally, I don't know either way. However, I have seen a BOATLOAD of crappy engineers in my time who would much rather have "I quit" on their resume than "I was fired".
I have no doubt that the reason Motorola is folding is because of management. No matter how great or how crappy the UI was, Motorola would still be dying.
But, regarding the UI, we're talking about a UI for a freakin cellphone. This isn't some great new feat of engineering. It didn't have to be the next best thing after the iPhone. It didn't even have to be anything new. It just had to be not crap. If your engineering team can't take the crap out of such a simple product while trying to convince management about your wondrous new ideas, you probably should just hang up your hat.