Apple iPhone 4,nothing to see here,move along
I have listened to the positves and the negatives from the iPhone 4 debacle for the last few weeks and I seriously can’t believe how this non story is still running.
I am obviously not an Apple Fanboy however I do use the iPhone, I am also an Android user.
Job’s frustration is easy to see in the below video and the Q&A
So lets at least look at the facts
1. 3 million iPhone 4 sold in 3 weeks.
2. .55% or around 15,000 people have called to complain about their device.
3. iPhone 4 returns are running at 1.7% for the period its been on sale.
4. iPhone 3GS returns for the same period were 6%
5. Average returns in the phone industry for all manufacturers are around 6%
6. Testing is paramount at Apple.
This is gone beyond a joke at this stage, I have used the iPhone 4, its reception is no different to any other phone I use including The Nexus One.
Like Scoble I would be of the opinion that its a great device, could Apple be better in the online community? I think so, I think with the correct media management this “story” could have easily been dealt with. Attacking your competitors and showing they also have faults was certainly not a good move and I was shocked at Apple would head down this avenue.
I think its time to kill this story.
Get a bumper, hand it back if you don’t like it but thats it.
What do you think?
I agree, the bumper is the right thing to do. Slaming the competion, Wrong!
But really, an exposed antena, foolish, and very bad design.
I am most decidedly not a fanboy and I think it is fair they are at the receiving end. Here are my reasons:
They not only are attacking competitors with lies; up to now, they were claiming that they did the correct way or not at all. Remember that is why they will never build a netbook.
After the complaints became public, Apple told its users that they were not holding the phone correct. How do we counter the hubris?
If I have to hear all the exaggerated adoration, standing in line that is blocks deep, then why shouldn’t they hear the criticisms.
I think all the statistics you list are irrelevant because Apple have claimed that they are different and better. Jobs can say that they are not perfect, but that is not how they have portrayed themselves.
I think it’s priceless publicity for Apple. Even though it is negative, everyone seems to know there is a new iPhone and as soon as they hear from friends that have bought iPhone 4 that it is a non-issue they’ll be looking to buy one themselves.
Regarding criticising the competition, it’s unfortunate but necessary to show that attenuation occurs in all mobile phones.
If only it is true …
It’s amazing this story has been blown so far out of proportion, must be a slow news month eh?
Seems to me a lot of journos are taking great delight in thinking they’re finally seeing a chink in Apple’s armour. Of course Apple are a prime target for hostile tech journalism, mostly from their own success, I believe, but also from that awful business trait of wanting to see one of the ‘big boys’ crash and burn.
Meanwhile, in the real world, iPhone 4 is selling in staggering quantities. Thankfully customers are not as gullible as some tech journos would like to believe and are voting with their feet.
Finances permitting (and if I hadn’t recently bought an iPad) I’d buy an iPhone in a heartbeat, there are just so many excellent improvements, over an already brilliant computer, that they easily negate the relatively minor antenna issue (for me).
I’m currently using an iPhone 3GS and I love using it.
This is important: I don’t just put up with it, or suffer it’s failings, or make an effort to use it’s features – I REALLY enjoy using the device, how it works, how it feels and how it looks. And how it has become so seamlessly embedded into almost everything I do, particularly for my work.
I am indeed a fan of Apple’s products and culture, I’ve used their products since before they were mainstream and they have rarely let me down. Apple are one of the few (maybe only) tech companies that successfully remove the pain of having to use very complex computing devices for everyday (non-geek) folk. That’s no mean feat and I am a fan of any company that can achieve that.
I realise that any mention of supporting Apple is likely to result in a ‘Fanboy’ label, but let me end with this:
These are MY opinions from years of MY OWN experience, anyone else trying to tell me my choice of technology is somehow wrong is simply not qualified to comment – it works well for me and I’m happy with it.
Likewise I’m in no position to tell someone else that their Windows PC/Android smartphone/Netbook, etc. is rubbish – if it serves their needs well.
Personal computing really has become very personalised at this point (and will do even further) so get over the tools you’re using and get on with doing whatever it is you bought them for in the first place.
OK, getting off the soapbox now…
Jobs is reacting because he knows there is a big problem, and wants to keep selling the defective Iphone Here is how he downplays the problem
2. .55% or around 15,000 people have called to complain about their device.
When you have reception problems you call AT&T not
apple care. like he said
they should disclose the att&t reception complains and see what happens.
3. iPhone 4 returns are running at 1.7% for the period its been on sale
Prior to the conference you coudn’t return the Iphone 4 without a big restocking fee , besides apple has always blamed the reception problems on at&t including Iphone 4, so when you go to return the iphone 4 you are told , “that’s the way technology is, including their competitors get signal attenuation, or dropped calls” So mainstream people end up putting up with reception problems.
- it should also be told that Jobs says that dropping calls is normal, he doesn’t mention how many calls are unable to be made because of reception problems, give us that metric Steve.
- Last but not least, all the new features in Iphone 4 HD video streaming, iphone to iphone video conference are NOT available on the ATT network, because it is slow in big cities, name Washington DC, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles
I think they have screwed up on a lower visibility issue, the second Gen iPhone 3G which is close to unusable with io4 loaded.
Grand if you were told that and ignored the warning. Not so good when there was no flag of issues in advance and when it is irreversible without a hack.
They are displaying a we do not give a **** on this.
Keith
Well said Pat.
I think that Apple make some really good products but there are a lot of people just waiting on them to trip up.
We had the same ridiculous stuff with macs and pcs and most negative comments came from people who had not tested both platforms.
This same stupid media frenzy will start again when the Mac gets a virus or the next Mac laptop doesn’t have as good a battery as the last version.
If you want one buy it. If you don’t then shut up.
I’ve yet to buy a smartphone that works perfectly. Buggy firmware, dodgy WiFi, poor speech quality, poor UI. None of them are perfect. Bit like most tech gadgets! You just find the best you can for what you need. Yes, a non story.
Jobs stats were misleading. He quoted a stat that “less than 1 more call per hundred than the 3GS” was being dropped. That’s clearly designed to make people think its a “1%” problem. Take statistics. Call drop rates are already very low, typically under 2% (2 per hundred). An increase of 1 per hundred would thus be a 50% increase over the 3GS. And, we have to assume that due to Apple’s brilliance, the 3GS drop rates were better than average, right? In that case the difference would be even more severe.
We’re never really going to get a balanced view on anything Apple now are we? Fanbois on one side, and the haters on totally the other end of the spectrum. And both shouting as loud as each other. Noisy conflict ….
But the bigger issues as far as I can see are:-
- Apple producing a less-than-functionally-robust design that gives intermittent signal drop in some handsets, in low-signal strength areas. There’s nothing worse than random failures – they’re far worse than something going wrong all the time …
- Apple then trying to pawn off the problem as the network alone, and nothing to do with their h/w
- The usual condescending, arrogant response to customers by Apple. Designed to polarise opinion and mask the real problem. Anyone that has bought it already will be a fanboi / early adopter and is hardly likely to return the handset, particularly with random/intermittent failures and now a bumper to mask the issue when it could occur :-/
- Finally, Apples attempt to drag other manufacturers into the mire of their own making was reprehensible, but not totally unexpected. The so-called “death grip” rarely happens in normal use for handsets, particularly as you need to really grasp the phone to achieve the desired effect. The Apple issue can apparently happen just by touching the area where the antenna bands join, which can easily happen in normal use.
So, the issue won’t change anything really – fanbois will still love Apple products and haters will still hate them. The middle-ground consumer may be slightly affected by the controversy, but Apple have muddied the waters sufficiently to null any negative effect, and will have sorted the issue by rev 2 of the hardware, I’m sure …