Motorola’s Moto Maker tool has earned a lot of praise since its debut with the original Moto X, allowing users to customize the look of their phone to suit their tastes. However, not everyone is a fan of the service.
Apple design chief Jony Ive recently criticized a rival service, saying that “Their value proposition was ‘Make it whatever you want. You can choose whatever color you want.’ And I believe that’s abdicating your responsibility as a designer.” Ive asked that the product he’s referring to not be specifically named, but many assume it is Motorola’s Moto Maker, including Mototorola president Rick Osterloh.
Speaking to the BBC, Osterloh responded to Ive’s critique by saying that Motorola has a “different philosophy.” He also fired his own shot at Apple by saying that its prices are “outrageous.” Osterloh went on to say that Motorola believes that the consumer should be involved in the design process, and that it’s taking an approach opposite to Apple’s by making its full product line accessible.
It’s not too difficult to see where each side is coming from. Jony Ive feels like he’s got the design chops to make an attractive product that people want and he wants to make sure that that product looks good for everyone. Meanwhile, Motorola wants to create a nice base product and then let people customize it in a way that may not appeal to everyone, but looks really good to one person.
What do you think of these two arguments? Do you agree more with Ive or Osterloh?