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Motorola Cliq XT Won’t Get Android 2.1 Upgrade
- srik1234 16y agoTranslation: Android users are at the mercy of hardware manufacturers and carriers.
- ddlatham 16y agoSo are iPhone users. The difference being that Apple has shown a track record of updating their older phones, while Motorola is developing a track record of the opposite. There's nothing stopping a manufacturer from developing a good track record with an Android phone, but so far most haven't. Developing such a reputation could be a strong competitive advantage for someone making Android phones.
- srik1234 16y agoso, what would be the advantage of being "open"?
- ddlatham 16y agoThere are many advantages of being "open", but being "open" is not a good substitute for having the manufacturer keep the phone up to date.
- darthg0d 16y agoAgree with you. Someone should step up their game when it comes to updating their older phones. Apple can do that with the iPhone and Google can do it with their Nexus models probably because they don't release a bazillion different phone models in a year (like HTC/Motorola/etc...).
- gregable 16y agoI read it as the opposite: Android users can update their software regardless of what their manufacturer does.
- andrewljohnson 16y agoI think you missed the irony. Such a small percentage of people will ever type something into a terminal that it's irrelevant.
- lurkinggrue 16y agoEven more that command would not give you the ability to reflash your phone. You would still have to root it and get a rom that works on that model.
- gloob 16y agoAll that really means is that most people don't really care that much about the number buried way deep in their phone's Settings menus.
- cooldude127 16y agoYeah, but they do care when the app they want to use won't work on their phone because their software is too old.
- ddlatham 16y agoi.e. Don't trust Motorola to update their phones.
- pan69 16y agoWhat do you mean? We should "trust" Apple instead?
- mrsteveman1 16y agoTrust them to update the software on their own phones? Yes i trust them to do that, especially for the current model which is more than i can say for a lot of Android OEMs.
- pan69 16y agoAnd trust them to take the software away as well...
- lurkinggrue 16y agoCyanogenMod to the rescue?
- the100rabh 16y agoI am not sure what gruber achieves by such rhetorical statements. The power of Android is that user can upgrade to latest version of Androd, if they so wish to, As they say CynogenMod to the rescue :-) I think he is unaware of CynogenMod. Please if anyone of u meet him next time, talk to him about it.
- darthg0d 16y agoWhat does being open have to do with Motorola not updating one of their phones?
- ddlatham 16y agoBeing open means that someone technically proficient could then update it themselves. Gruber is arguing that most users aren't that proficient, so being open doesn't compensate well for a manufacturer, like Motorola, failing to update their phones themselves.
- TomOfTTB 16y agoI agree with you but I think you miss part of the argument. Yes there's a very small number of users who are that proficient but even those who are would have spend a monstrous amount of time to update the phone and make sure it works. Time built creating something that people will discard a year from now when they buy a new phone.
- darthg0d 16y agoI get that. But Motorola being incompetent doesn't mean being open is not advantageous - which is what the article seems to imply. Would you blame C++ if someone uses C++ incorrectly? Take for example CyanogenMod - the guys involved in the project don't get paid by any of the manufacturers, but they are able to build ROMs that can run on a host of devices while providing a consistent stock-Android user experience. How is that for being open. List of devices with nightly CM7 (Gingerbread) builds: http://mirror.teamdouche.net/?type=nightly http://mirror.teamdouche.net/?type=nightly
- yanw 16y agoWhat's his point? it's just the usual passive-aggressive dickishness, I don't understand who keeps upvoting this drivel.
- ugh 16y agoYou don’t get jokes, do you? This is definitely not HN material but it is also not drivel.
- veidr 16y agoGruber is good at this kind of snark, but I think his point backfires in this case. Sure, executing five command line operations and rooting your phone is more of a pain in the ass than doing nothing. But if I was stuck using a Cliq XT as my daily phone (certainly would never happen, but let's just suppose), then I really would be sitting there saying, in earnest and without irony, "Well, luckily Android is 'open' and I can fix this." But I'm not actually sure if rooting and upgrading your Cliq XT is really that easy, or if Gruber is just taking Andy Rubin's tweet out of context to make today's snarky little if-technologically-handicapped-people-can't-understand-it-then-it-sucks point.
- tejaswiy 16y agoThat comment came from Rubin in the context of Jobs completely botching up the definition of "open-ness". Yet another out of context reference just to be an utter douche. He's been that way ever since Google went after Apple during 2010 IO.
- rlmw 16y agoYet another straw man post. He's identified a poor update and then claimed that you need to check out the android sources in order for the advantages of openess to become apparent. In reality I know people who aren't programmers or IT people particularly install cyanogenmod on their phones. This post comes across as a fairly passive-aggressive attack, or a snarky child. I don't know why people rate Gruber's posts. I haven't found his analysis to be particularly insightful. He is usually clear in communicating his feelings about an issue and for that I'd give him credit. But whats the point in reading a clearly communicated thought if its effectively, "I dislike Android, and I intend to bad mouth anything related to Android at any possible opportunity."