- 1. The Conference
- 2. The Case for Cases
- 3. The Passive-Aggressive Solution
1. The Conference
There’s a problem, no there isn’t. There is a problem--but it’s not bad-but in case it bothers you, we’re going to give you something free. C'mon, Apple!
After being railed by everyone from late-night comedians to tech professionals about problems with the antenna of the new iPhone 4, Apple held a press conference this morning to deliver their news. This is what Steve Jobs said: first of all, there is no problem with reception. It’s been blown out of proportion by the media. Secondly, even if there isn’t a problem, Apple will give out free a bumper or case to anyone who bought an iPhone. Jobs said the situation would be reevaluated in a few months, on September 30. This could mean a whole new iPhone for the fall.
Apple, we still have a problem.
"It's very hard to escape the conclusion that there is a problem, but the problem affects a very small percentage of users," Jobs said. He acknowledged that the iPhone 4 has reported more dropped calls than the iPhone 3GS. The iPhone 4 rate, however, is less than 1 additional call per hundred than the iPhone 3GS, Jobs said. The reason for this? Many more users of the iPhone 3GS had cases – about 80 percent used them. With the iPhone 4, only about 20 percent of users have a case.
The problem is that independent tests by Consumer Reports and others have shown that the reception problems with the iPhone 4 are actually different than the 3GS (which, let’s admit, had a lot of dropped calls). When I purchased an iPhone 4, I expected better call reception, not worse – and using cases as part of your design strategy isn’t exactly reassuring. With Jobs touting a $100 million investment in antenna research, with 17 anaechoic test facilities, and 18 PhDs who work on antenna issues, I expect more.
- 1. The Conference
- 2. The Case for Cases
- 3. The Passive-Aggressive Solution
- 4. There's A Better Way
ha ha ha i am the first to comment, lol. apple should have done more testing before putting out this phone...i am sure that they knew the phone had this problem. i will sum it up in one word...greed
I think Apple is planning to reevaluate the Iphone 4 on September 30th is because they would of phased out all the old iphone 4's with the antenna problem and replaced stock with the ones that don't. They are just doing something along the lines of a silent recall. I understand that companys do this all the time to fix bugs,but most companies apologize, and let you know whats going on, unlike Apple. Apple is doing exactly what they did back in the day, making enemies and starting wars on multiple fronts, and if we learned anything from WW2 is that you can't fight a war on multiple fronts if you don't have enough firepower.
Of all the real, persistent, problems that Apple products have, and have had for years it is extremely ironic that this little issue is the only one that makes news.
Apple's arrogant PR strategy really annoys me. Do they really think that consumers are that stupid? (...well maybe the fanboys?)
My 3GS is the last Apple phone I'll ever be buying. My company recently gave me a Blackberry & it is soooo superior.
Sorry sir but NO LOVE FOR YOU!
After listening to the news conference today I can honestly say, thank god I am no longer an iPhone user. Android rules.
If you want to avoid dropped calls, ditch AT&T. The phone can only do so much, given the network it runs on.
I love how Jobs said they were busting their asses off for the past 22 days, then on the first answer for the Q&A he said that he's been in Hawaii on vacation... what a prick
They shoud add a connector to the next iphone for an optional external antenna, problem solved.
Apple's arrogant PR strategy really annoys me. Do they really think that consumers are that stupid?...
Yes.
Face it. How do you sell some thing to a stupid?
You says "this will make you appear smarter and superior, iven if we both know that you are not!!".
"...Apple said that reported reception problems with the iPhone 4 were actually caused by an error – one that has existed since the beginning of the iPhone -- in the way the smartphone displays bars of signal strength"
ERROR???
No, buddy, that's not an error.
His purpose is to show better signal than the real one, so users compare iphones to honest made phones, and boast better signal.
Nobody says that the fruity company is honest.
Even with all these problems,Jobs' slaves will still help break record sales again, if a new iPhone were released in the fall.
Steve Jobs will never learn he wants to keep is image clean so that the fruit followers keep following.
apple is cancer on the world and the ppl are eating the proverbial apple
dont bite the apple that's why
Let's see: misrepresenting the bars of reception coupled with the known but not disclosed antennae problems. It would be naive to believe that these "glitches" aren't related.
Steve Jobs' response is shameful and did more damage than fessing up!
After watching this iCR@P... I was sickened with all the false data.
First off, I do own a HTC Droid Eris just like one of the phones in the presentation. After watching the conference video I spent over an hour testing my phone. I tried holding it the way they did in the video. I tried holding other ways ; left handed , right handed ,both hands , moving , upside down , you name it I tried it ( even starting at one bar ) at no time did I get a dropped call or a drop in the amount of bars I had. I tried my wifes Driod Eris and same result : no issues at all. I would like to find someone that has the issues. The only time ever I was able to duplicate Apple's evidence that all smart phone drop calls / bars was in a metal building. for this test I went to my uncle's metal shop. This building is made of steal , sheet metal outer walls , inside foiled back insulation , and ply-wood interior walls. I was about 10 feet away from door holding phone normally with the that door open ( all others closed). I started with 3 bars , I had my uncle shut the door, and after about 2 minutes I went to 0 bars. open the door, WOW it came back....... just like the video. Funny thing is that all phone in the building went to zero bars...Now my question is what the heck is Apple trying to pull with smearing the name other devices. the problem is clearly the iPhone 4.
Jobs' so-call pet-theory is so wrong, and it shows how little knowledge he has in this matter. The 3GS's antenna is not exposed as the 4's "advance new antenna system". So whether or not a case is used should NOT affect the antenna performance as dramatically as the iphone 4. He's just deflecting the problem and not admitting that this is a serious design flaw. Seriously, stop making up statistics and quit lying to all your customers.
The problem with the Press Conference was that Jobs think we are all idiots. First of all, the signal status software bug just addresses the display of status signals. Who cares. It's been a bug since the early Iphones and we didn't have issues then. It doesn't have an effect on the physical capabilities of the phone. It's JUST a software bug in regards to the display of signal strength. It doesn't change signal strength... Secondly, with the great information sharing capabilities of the Internet, I don't need to call Applecare to know they'll deny there's an issue. I'll just use my phone for now and wait until they address it or fix it. No need to wait on hold for nothing.. Hence, you get that low caller log data that Jobs point out... Lastly, when he is talking about the inherent issues with "ALL" smartphones, I agree with him, BUT it has nothing to do with the issue we have with their non-functional antenna design. If you have an antenna on the inside, there will be signal degradation no matter what. That's where the commonality stops. When you make that antenna on the outside, you cause a big enough degradation that it causes dropped calls. Mr Jobs, please recognize that's what we are talking about, not the fact that there shouldn't be any degradation from smartphone signals EVER! Lastly, I must say that the bumper does help tremendously, but it kinda defeats the purpose of the external antenna design.... It's simply a fix to a problem. Of course, Jobs won't admit that..
What Jobs says is actually right. There is no problem with reception. There's a problem with reception when you're holding it. Very clever choice of words Mr. Jobs. You put the faith back into 25% of your customers that are too dumb to see through your BS!
This whole this is so funny. Hence the t-shirts... http://www.zazzle.com/SteveSays*
They pretty much sum Apple's (and Steve's) response to this problem.
man i am having so much trouble with my 3GS, it drops calls it only works every other call but hey my google maps always works!
and i can get onto facebook but i cant make a phone call...
evo by sprint is looking good