I agree, I won't be buying another Motorola phone until they come with unlocked, or at least unencrypted, bootloaders. The bootloader on many phones by other manufacturers is locked, but not encrypted, meaning that the average user won't accidently mess it up, but someone who knows what their doing can still unlock it. I would be fine with even having to register the device as unlocked and voiding the warranty, like with the HTC Dev tool. The HTC Dev tool seems like a great solution that I would think would be acceptable to Verizon, and yet they haven't allowed any HTC phones to be unlocked via this method, even though that would let them and HTC off the hook regarding the warranty. HTC devices by other carriers can be unlocked via this method, but none on Verizon, so clearly the issue here is Verizon. Verizon could let Motorola use a similar method, if they would actually allow it. When I bought my Droid X, I had the hope that the bootloader would be officially or unofficially unlocked, but look how that turned out. Sure, most devices by other manufactuers can be unlocked by the community, but I wish that was a guarantee on launch day.
gerio,
Yes, maybe only 1 percent of people actually care about locked boot loaders, however that 1% is usually those who other people turn to for tech advice.
I know, that over the past 18+ months, ever since Motorola started locking boot loaders, that I have influenced at LEAST 50 phone sales AWAY from Motorola to Samsung & HTC.
I've only helped 3 people actually USE that unlocked boot loader so far, but having the option open is ALWAYS preferable to having no recourse for the phone manufacturer/wireless provider NOT providing a needed/wanted update.
+1 Techjunkie
I'm actually more comfortable with a device that is securely configured so that I can't accidentally screw something up. I have never even tried to jailbreak an Android or use a boot loader. I don't even know how to do that. I do know that my HTC Eris, my Motorola Droid 2, and my HTC Incredible all worked just fine out of the box, from day 1, until the day I upgraded to the next one.
I have a feeling, for the few who like to rewire their phones, they will ultimately find a way to do it and also, still enjoy the challenge and satisfaction of doing it. When Verizon requests their devices be locked, in my opinion, everybody wins.
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