It wasn't supposed to happen this way: Motorola had picked the date for its Fort Worth, Texas facility's dedication ceremony first. But then Apple went ahead to claim the date and stole the day's spotlight with its new iPhone reveals. No matter, as the gathering of press, factory workers and bold-faced names -- Google Chairman Eric Schmidt and Texas Gov. Rick Perry -- seemed minorly preoccupied with the major news of the day. We were in the midst of Nokia's old manufacturing plant, after all, now the birthplace of all custom-made Moto X's and there was the spirit of American manufacturing to celebrate.
To drive that point home, some very Springsteen-ish tunes were pumped over the loudspeakers as we all patiently awaited the end of Cupertino's product showcase and the start of Motorola's "we can too make it in the USA" toldja moment. I even half-expected Miley Cyrus to jump onstage with an assortment of teddy bears brandishing raver-hued Moto X's. She didn't and an Americana Twitter-trending hashtag moment was missed. Still there was one exceptional and unscripted highlight waiting in the wings. It wasn't CEO Dennis Woodside nose-thumbing at those unnamed rivals that said US-based production could and would never happen. Nor was it Schmidt's patriotic pledge to the Texas facility: "This is a bet we're taking on America ... on Texas [and] on this incredible workforce that's assembled here. We think this is a very, very safe bet." No. It was the moment Woodside presented Gov. Perry with a Moto X -- designed with Texan colors -- and Perry, in response, unceremoniously spiked his iPhone to the floor below. Yes, the moment is caught on tape.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Google
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