Motorola president Rick Osterloh has responded after Apple designer Jony Ive criticized his companyās plans to allow people to build their own phones. Apple lead designer Ive took aim at the Moto Maker scheme which is to give customers significant choice over how their handsets appeared.
Osterloh said that his company has a ādifferent philosophyā to Apple and branded Appleās prices āoutrageousā. Ive had asked New Yorker magazine not to reveal who he was talking about but itās thought that he was referring to Apple and their scheme.
Ive said: “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.”
Moto Maker offers consumers āthousands of waysā to customize their Moto X handsets. Shoppers can choose from a variety of colors, metals, leathers and finishes. Mr Osterloh said “Our belief is that the end user should be directly involved in the process of designing products. We’re making the entire product line accessible. And frankly, we’re taking a directly opposite approach to them [Apple].”
Osterloh said that, unlike Apple, he believed in āaccessible pricesā whilst offering āsimilar experiencesā, adding that a āgreat mobile experienceā shouldnāt need to be āan expensive luxuryā.