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2,000 variations?! Is this overkill? (Moto X)

This is incredible. Motorola's new phone, the Moto X, will be available with some 2,000 variations. :eek: I don't know...I think I'd spend so much time making choices, the phone would be obsolete by the time I hit 'submit' on my order.

Motorola unveils Moto X with 2,000 variations, including wood cover - latimes.com

latimes.com

Motorola unveils Moto X with 2,000 variations, including wood cover

By Salvador Rodriguez

1:27 PM PDT, August 1, 2013

After teasing it for weeks, Motorola finally unveiled its American-manufactured, customizable smartphone: the Moto X.

The Google-owned company said users will be able to customize a number of the parts on the Moto X, including various colors and materials such as wood. In total, more than 2,000 combinations can be made.

Users can choose from 18 different back covers (wood is an upcoming option, Google said) and they can choose black or white for their phone's front cover. Additionally, users can also choose the color they want for smaller parts on their phones, such as the volume buttons and the rings around the camera lens. Users can also choose between 16 and 32 gigabytes of storage, and they can also put an engraving on their device.

Aside from that, the Moto X will feature a 4.7-inch screen. It will also be responsive to voice commands, meaning users can speak an instruction and it will carry the action out without the user having to use hands.

Motorola said the phone will be available later this month and in early September on all carriers with a suggested price of $199 with a two-year contract. It will be available first to AT&T users.

Users can customize and order their phone online from a tool Motorola called the Moto Maker. After choosing the colors of their phones, users can order it, and it will ship for free and arrive within four days. To quickly ship out the Moto X, Motorola is assembling the phones in Ft. Worth.

The Moto X will also be available in black and white versions at some carrier and retail stores, including Best Buy, after it launches.

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There are a ton of combinations, but to get to that number really doesn't take much at the component level to achieve it... the permutations grow exponentially.

I haven't followed what all the customization options are, but let's say they only give you 4 things you can customize. Front color, back color, accent color, and.. some other thing. And let's say there are only 7 choices on average for each. That's pretty quick and easy to go through and pick what you want, and from a manufacturing standpoint it's not bad logistically to have to stock a handful of options for each choice.

But then you do the math. 7 front colors, each can go with any of 7 back colors = 49 choices. Then each of those choices can go with 7 accent colors.. 7 * 7 * 7 = 343 choices. Now throw in each of THOSE against some other widget, 7 * 7 * 7 * 7 = 2401.

Those numbers are all made up, obviously. But the moral of the story being the number of combinations can be huge but still a pretty quick and easy choice for the consumer to get the color or feature combination they want.
 
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"smaller parts on their phones, such as the volume buttons and the rings around the camera lens." -- Are these parts that can be changed as easily as the front and back covers? If not, dealers looking for full inventory coverage will need to stock as many versions as exist of "smaller parts" choices, times 2 for the 16/32GB.

If they can be changed as easily, then dealers need only stock two SKUs and a customization kit.

I would more describe this as the manufacturer getting into the aftermarket accessory business to provide an integrated experience for the consumers.
 
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I'm trying to imagine the wooden case. I mean, really, wood? I don't know. I certainly prefer not buying things made of plastic, because of its impact on the environment, and I'm all for wood that comes from renewable sources, such as tree farms, but I'm just having a hard time imagining a wooden phone case. :thinking: Maybe if I saw and felt one in person it'd make more sense.
 
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All I want is a deer-themed cover/case. The last time I even saw one was during the Nokia 5100-series days. And then, cell phones were too expensive. No love for us deer lovers, but tons for those who adore puppies or snow leopards, apparently.

Wooden phone ala wood veneer. Didn't that die off with those cool SoundDesign phone/radio combos from the 80s? Simulated woodgrain FTW. I'm still waiting for the Moto DynaTAC case for the Note, since it is already a brick. Would sell to anyone wanting to relive the nostalgia of the 80s, or to folks who also bought the 'retro corded handset' iPhone accessory
 
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Could just be a wood print. It wouldn't (woodn't?) be the first time I've read something like that and it turned out to be disappointing like that.

Shouldn't take too much cost to slap it together in the factory per order, but customer service could get annoying when someone doesn't get what they wanted or when the phone is defective.

To consider the original query, I don't think this level of choice is either a good thing or overkill for Android; I don't think the Android world is a major stakeholder here. However, if it's a success then it will be one more bullet point in a list of advantages for Android, described as "there's even a model that's customizable in over 2000 variations").
 
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When has Android even been about too little choice? 2,000 combinations? Could be a million, I am all for it. Wood on a phone? To me that's pretty awesome/classy. The Moto X isn't in the same market as the S4 or HTC One. It isn't in the spec race. It's going after individualism. To give you more then a choice then Blue or White (etc..), to really make it "yours". Plus its made in the USA which I like.

I will always take more choices over little choice. That's why I am still with Android.
 
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Aparently you go to a store, preorder the phone, they give you a voucher which you use on a pc to "build" your own phone. Its a really nice idea but how much is it pushing the price up on an already (rumoured to be) pretty expensive phone? id slap a nice case on it anyway tbh :)

My feelings exactly. Until they make a phone with Nextel-like durability, I'll be covering it with an Otterbox Defender, in which case anything more than 1 variation is overkill. It's a phone for crying out loud, not fashion accessory or status symbol.
 
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My feelings exactly. Until they make a phone with Nextel-like durability, I'll be covering it with an Otterbox Defender, in which case anything more than 1 variation is overkill.
I'm with you--I've written lovingly about my OtterBox Defender cases. :D

It's a phone for crying out loud, not fashion accessory or status symbol.
It's funny--I don't actually use my smartPHONE as a phone. Well, rarely. I use it for playing games, doing other non-call related stuff, always connected to my wireless network...but I get NO reception at all when I'm at home (thanks AT&T--so much for your great coverage!) so using it as an actual phone doesn't usually happen. :rolleyes:

I have to admit my curiosity has been piqued by the idea of this particular phone, what with all its options and everything. But in the end, since I'd put it in an OtterBox Defender...
 
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When has Android even been about too little choice? 2,000 combinations? Could be a million, I am all for it.
Yep, me too.

Wood on a phone? To me that's pretty awesome/classy. The Moto X isn't in the same market as the S4 or HTC One. It isn't in the spec race. It's going after individualism. To give you more then a choice then Blue or White (etc..), to really make it "yours". Plus its made in the USA which I like.
Good points, and I agree.

I will always take more choices over little choice. That's why I am still with Android.
Same here--and it's also why I only use Linux. Choice, choice, choice--and none of that proprietary, NO! you can't modify the kernel!, limited to ONE desktop (that's so 1960s), nonsense that goes with M$. :laugh:
 
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WITHOUT doing anything extra? Okay, I didn't know M$ had stolen that concept yet. After all, built-in multiple desktops have been part of *nix since its inception--DECADES ago. :D

Here's a glimpse of what we've been able to do on Linux for years; each face of the cube displays another desktop:

desktop_123112_2.png


And since I don't care enough about anything window$ does, since all they do is copy--BADLY--ideas from other OSes, I have no idea if the window$ version of 'multiple desktops' allows customization as Linux does. Such as separate wallpaper, themes, widgets, etc., per desktop.

ETA: This link is a few years old, but still pertinent; it shows some Linux stuff that window$ [probably] couldn't and [most likely] still can't do.
 
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