As I understand it, the Apple case solves the problem. So I don't really follow why they don't just give a free case to everyone that bought an iPhone, and ship them with the case from now on.

Aside of the fact that they sell the case, giving the case for free means they acknowledge that the phone itself is buggy.

They aren't too keen on that.

If you still want to buy an Iphone 4 despite the bad product reviews, being involved in four national class action lawsuits, bad cell reception, reports of IP4's catching on fire while USB recharging, and after internal Apple communications telling retailers not give customers cases to fix the problem, then you deserve what you get.

One of our very close AT&T sources just sent us in these images. Yes, it’s a fried iPhone 4. Apparently a customer brought the phone into the store to try and get help with it, although it’s pretty evident that the phone is unrepairable. It’s the first time our guy has seen this happen (us too), but the brand new iPhone 4 caught on fire while being hooked up to a computer using the Apple USB cable that accompanied the device. The customer wanted to exchange the iPhone — obviously — for a new, non-charred unit however the AT&T store in question was out of stock. An Apple Store did confirm to our AT&T connection that this did appear to be a defective USB port and not some sort of user error. Our source went onto say that the phone bezel was extremely hot (obviously), and it slightly burned the customers hand. The USB port in the phone was slightly melted and the cord was badly melted (as is apparent in the pictures).

Just to show what kind of clueless slime Apple really is, Apple is CENSORING (aka deleting) discussion threads about the Consumer Reports article [tuaw.com]:

If you were looking for a message thread on Apple's support forums pointing to Consumer Reports' article 'not recommending' the iPhone 4, it's not there any more. Apple's support forum moderators deleted the thread. Bing cached it.

So why are people rewarding this behavior with their wallets?

So why are people rewarding this behavior with their wallets?

Because:
1. it's only $200
2. not everyone is having the problem
3. not everyone cares about the issues in question
4. most people do not read tech journals or pay attention to tech related news
5. it's shiny
6. it works really, really, really well for everything else besides the phone
7. and of course, it's shiny.

8. Because it's shiny AND Apple.

But guys, we're talking about the company that used the Orwellian 1984 theme to launch the MAC claiming they were the counter-culture to that type of behavior yet here they are behaving like the very companies they once mocked with blatant CENSORSHIP of their customers!

Wouldn't a smart company simply engage those customer threads head-on?

Perhaps they learned this behavior from building iPhones in China...

So why are people rewarding this behavior with their wallets?

That's the part I don't understand.

My wife has a 3gs and hates that it won't run Flash, hates the app lock down, hates that anything you do has to run through iTunes, considers the phone part of the 3gs extremely poor in quality, and has had major issues with AT&T.

She has followed the issues with the iPhone 4 and accepts that the flaw does exist. She finds the fact that Apple has been deceptive at best when dealing with the issues disgusting, and she believes that Apple moved the proximity sensor solely to force people with old cases to buy a new incredibly over-priced case from Apple.

And yet, later this week she'll be buying a new iPhone.

I enjoyed the article on CNet today

[news.cnet.com...]

...wherein is described the potential $1.5 billion cost of an iPhone4 recall (versus the more likely puny cost of giving away a $29 case to current iPhone4 owners).

But what I most enjoyed in the article was a paragraph from Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi regarding AAPL's "emerging pattern of hubris". It's a good read if you're in the mood for a rant.

Apple was on Tuesday facing a growing backlash over poor iPhone 4 reception after the technology group blocked links on its user-support pages to a negative review by an influential US consumer watchdog.

Apple deleted references in several online discussions to the consumer group’s online posting, leading VentureBeat and investment blogs to pounce on what they described as censorship in the Apple-hosted forums.

[ft.com...]

Well I just got my iPhone 4 activated. I was convinced unwashed going to find all the flaws reported and would be returning it.

But so far I love it. Very fast. Amazing display. Camera and video capabilities are very good The antenna actually is working better than my 2g phone. I bought a case though. With my bumper on I cannot simulate any loss of signal by cupping the lower corner.

To test reception, put a fingertip exactly over the small black line at the lower left. The rest of the hand placement is irrelevant.

"Consumer Reports ranks Apple's iPhone 4 best smartphone available"

[appleinsider.com...]

"Well this is ironic," Paczkowski writes. "(According to Consumer Reports) iPhone 4 is hands-down the best smartphone available today, but Consumer Reports advises against buying it."

[tuaw.com...]

A recall would cost Apple an estimated 1.5 billion dollars. Hence, a recall will never happen. Free bumpers on request is as good as it will likely get.

Still no 3G antenna problems here. But I have found another bug. Whenever I'm on the edge of my wifi router range in my house my connection speed drops drastically, even though it shows 2 out of 3 wifi bars. Same thing happens on my iPad. But not on my old 2g phone.

So I'm hoping it is software related since both run similar versions of the new OS.

Looks like according to press reports today, Apple knowningly sold a poorly designed phone.

Apple Inc.’s senior antenna expert voiced concern to Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs in the early design phase of the iPhone 4 that the antenna design could lead to dropped calls, a person familiar with the matter said.

Last year, Ruben Caballero, a senior engineer and antenna expert, informed Apple’s management the device’s design may hurt reception, said the person, who is not authorized to speak on Apple’s behalf and asked not to be identified. A carrier partner also raised concerns about the antenna before the device’s June 24 release, according to another person familiar with the situation.

[tuaw.com...]

Looks like a press conference on Friday to address some of these issues.

The following message was cut out to new thread by engine. New thread at: pda_mobile_computing/4171569.htm [webmasterworld.com]
4:04 pm on Jul 16, 2010 (utc +1)