I know I'm harping about design, these past few posts, but it is a critically important subject.Major design has taken two directions: either high-falutin' über-expensive crap aimed at people in Manhattan, or watered-down, mass-market designs aimed at the lowest common denominator. That middle ground is losing out to the large profits to be had on either extreme of the spectrum.
If we could only combine the two extremes and provide fancy designs for the masses. If only! This rant is brought to you by Motorola. Yes, Motorola, a company so caught in design doldrums that there are rumors of them selling off their entire cell phone division. They made the StarTac, then they made the Razr, and have since made shit.
Well, actually, the StarTac was cool, but Motorola's phones have been shitty for some time. The Razr was a shitty phone, it's fancy design just overshadowed that. Then, after everyone tired of the design and all the immitators, everyone realized how terrible the phone actually was. High-falutin' design covering up terrible engineering. I'll give them credit, though, it was high-falutin' design for the masses. The Razr showed it can work!
All is not well, though, as it appears Motorola is planning to shutter its entire UK development and design lab.
Motorola Firing Half its Designers at a UK Facility (Gizmodo.com)
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