Motorola loses consumer products chief after four months on the job
By Chris Ziegler 
posted Aug 21st 2008 12:08PM
posted Aug 21st 2008 12:08PM
It's just a rollercoaster of emotions for these guys lately, isn't it? Executive musical chairs are getting to be old hat for Moto these days, and the very latest to sign his walking papers is Rob Shaddock, head of the handset division's consumer products group (in other words, the group all of the interesting hardware comes from). Oh, and yeah, he was only on the job for four months, having replaced Stu Reed back in April. For what it's worth, Motorola claims that Shaddock's departure was a foregone conclusion even before new co-CEO Sanjay Jha took the reigns, but really, that just makes things even more confusing since it means he really decided to leave (or was told to) after just three months and change. Whatever -- meanwhile, 30-year battle-tested Moto vet John Cipolla steps into the role, which should inject some nice, stale, inside thinking into the team's R&D.
Shaddock had only been in his current role at Motorola for four months. He led the technology group within mobile devices for a couple years before that.
I worked for John as a temp about 12 years ago. He was a great guy who seemed to know how to get things done but I have to agree with Chris's sentiment that a veteran insider might not be the best candidate.
I like how my comment got deleted. Can't take the heat, Chris? You guys need to be a little more responsible and a lot fairer in your postings.
You know exactly why your comment was deleted. We encourage healthy debate and criticism of our viewpoints, but there is a line, and we won't hesitate to nix comments that cross it.
But you fail to address your irresponsible commentary. It's a shame when bloggers think that they're authorities on things without performing the requisite background work.
You and your fellow Engadgeteers have taken a highly critical tone against Motorola recently without basing your comments in any sort of fact-based thought.
I'm not saying they're without fault, because I know that they are. I'm saying that you and your team need to act quite a bit more responsibly than you have in how you comment on their issues.
One finds it very difficult to take a site seriously when they're constantly talking about things with an air unfounded of 'know-it-all'ism, especially when you've been presented with a clear and concise rationale for how some of the negatives that exist came about by one of the "competitor" sites.
I can understand the commenters being immature, as most of them are far from industry insiders and hardly understand the prerequisites, but I don't expect it or respect it when it comes from the writers themselves.
Please don't delete my comment, just read it and absorb it. I really used to enjoy reading this site - until the past few weeks brought about this haughtiness. You can even feel free to email me personally if you want to talk about it further. I am very much a part of the industry and will wager that I have quite a bit more insight than any of the commenters I've seen comment on these posts in the past few weeks.
You can reach me at the email address in my profile. I look forward to hearing from you.
And if you do, keep in mind that I'm under an NDA and will solely be speaking to you about your journalistic integrity. :)