Free bumpers for everyone!

Aw, no iNtenna.

Although more seriously: I still think Jobs is manipulating people with his presentation of the numbers. His 0.55% of people reporting problems still comes out to 15,000 people reporting problems - which is pretty significant. And then I'm sure there are at least 3-4 times more people experiencing problems who simply aren't reporting it. It feels like he's dismissing and downplaying the problem...

I'm also a bit suspicious of how he reported the "delta" of dropped calls from 3gs->4. It seemed needlessly confusing..

My other problem with the presentation was when he responded to a question about if they were going to change the antenna design on the next phone, and he replied "Steve: We're happy with the antenna design of iPhone 4... it's better than 3gs in every way."

Uh.. no? He admitted the phone drops more calls than the 3GS. So isn't it, inherently, not better in every way?

Here's some fun info from it:

A. Apple's claim is basically: "All phones have this issue!". Except other phones place the antenna near the top and don't have it external so as not to be easily attenuated. They were called out on it in the presentation. Their examples of other phones included them being gripped entirely covering the whole phone, and couldn't even be replicated by members of the audience.
B. The phone doesn't have problems with dropped calls, but we'll give you a free case anyway! Just make sure you /apply/ for it on our website and pick whatever cases happen to be available (yes, you are not guaranteed a bumper). Offer ends September, wherein Apple will apparently make a phone capable of calls when being held in the left hand.
C. The phone drops slightly more calls than the 3GS. So much for that fancy antenna design?

Seems like a non-issue to me. Don't like the phone, send it back.

Unfortunately for a lot of people that's not an easy option (contracts). Combine that with the fact that alternatives on AT&T are pathetic, and yeah.

There's a lot of good Android phones out on AT&T.

The only one I can think of is the Nexus One, which you have to buy unlocked IIRC.

Here's a solution... Dump Apple, Dump AT&T. Goto Sprint or Verizon. Problems solved.

HTC Aria doesn't seem too bad.

Although for the record, I definitely thought there were more.

I think it's more about Apple's reputation and their response. They keep trying to save face and make excuses instead of just apologizing. "Oh, it doesn't affect that many people... [100% of phones are defective by design]" "Oh, it happens on other phones [not physically possible]." Good customer support isn't denying the problem, it's recognizing it, apologizing then doing everything you can to make sure the customer's needs are still met. They ultimately did this with the free bumpers, but it was pretty insulting to customers.

It's more effective for the company's reputation in the long run to own up to the problem and fix it as soon as possible. For example, with the Wii's release a few years back, Nintendo furiously apologized for the Wiimote straps breaking, and sent out new straps for free to everyone. Further, they sent out silicone covers to further reduce the possibility of damage even though it was entirely unnecessary. They basically said, "****, we ****ed up, but we'll fix it even if it costs a lot of money [millions]."

Are people just now figuring out that Apple is a terrible company?

Apple is crap hardware. I'd rather buy a phone made by Dell.

No, Apple is crap engineering. Their hardware is fine: Intel processors, Intel motherboards, Balda AG capacitance sensors, Marvell wifi, LG display in the iPhone 4, Sharp and Sanyo for the older ones. Apple doesn't have engineers.

Putting the antenna in a band around the outside is no more (or less) stupid than building a laptop out of a machinable aluminum alloy.

Yeah, I think apple should at least have an appearance of being a little more on top of this but, hey. If they start having crappy customer service it will come back to bite the In the butt. I just really hope chuck schumer and the rest of those jack****es can leave well enough alone.

I think the bumpers look crap. Suppose it's a good job that the signal problem is manageable for me (as in I picked my network based on their signal strength in my area). I'll apply for a free case though, I'd rather have one then eBay it for a few quid after Sept 30th than not. I may even use it I suppose. I prefer the look of them bareback.

Matty - I thought the FCC pretty much force every phone manufacturer to put the antenna at the bottom (i.e. far from your head).

Well, considering they have a 30 return policy, pretty simple to box it up and give it back. They can use their old phone or get another. Whatever. Also, consider that the vast majority of people aren't having any problem and couldn't care less about the issue. And, really, who the hell has any sympathy for people that so can't wait for a few simple hands on reports after a product is released that they buy sight unseen and commit to multi-year contracts? This whole issue is dumb and that's why all anybody is going to get is a stupid case.

I think a lot of the outcry might be a result of Apple followers suddenly realizing Apple isn't actually perfect.

:|

I don't think it's fair to say that they don't have engineers. It seems to me that their engineers are quite capable. They're merely attempting to engineer something w/in the "constraints" (for lack of a better term) that are given to them from executives. For instance there were several reports that at least one engineer w/in the company warned Steve Jobs in the early design phase that the antenna design could lead to dropped calls.

To be fair, an engineer DID warn executives about the design flaw of the antenna.

This is how it works everywhere. The engineers don't (or rarely) call the shots, which is unfortunate because they're the ones who know what's really going on.

Agreed. I don't believe for a second that they weren't aware of this issue before launch. I can't fathom why if the reports are true & there were predictions of problems during the early stages of development why they failed to address them then. They better get their act together because if not there's likely to be a problem in the future that they can't talk their way out of.

http://arstechnica.com/staff/fatbits/2010/07/unanswered-questions-unearned-trust.ars

It's funny because Steve Jobs said that it was "total bull****" about them knowing beforehand. That's some harsh words haha

I don't appreciate his potty mouth. I thought Iphones were supposed to protect me from that.

The Aria is actually extremely disappointing. Read Engadget's review.



Yeah, what's next? Porn on the iPhone?

Samsung Captivate! Comes out officially tomorrow but I got mine yesterday. It is freaking fantastic.

Also the Aria is a pretty solid midrange.

+1 to RIM and Nokia for not putting up with Steve's bull****.

http://gizmodo.com/5589639/rim-and-nokia-respond-to-apples-antennagate-press-conference

The Aria is a low-end smartphone, really. Has a 320x480 screen with an older qualcomm CPU.

Anyway the Captivate looks like a super-nerfed Galaxy S. They look out the flash and the front-facing camera? Does it have the ability to load apps from SD card/etc, or can you only get them from the market? AT&T loves to lock that down for some stupid reason.

I think Nokia's response highlights what's important. I love the design of Apple products but it appears that in this instance (& others) that they've put design over functionality &/or performance. If they were idiotic enough to ignore the warning from their engineer then they should've included the fix as a stock part of the phone & included a warning against removing it w/in the included documentation. They would've still taken flack but it may have been reduced.

None of the US Galaxy S models have FFC except Sprint's because it's on WiMax. I admit I was a little disappointed that this was the case but I can live with it since video calling over 3G is still whack anyways. Flash is only present on two of the four (Verizon's and Sprint's). It's not that important to me since I feel like if I were in a situation taking low-light photos I'd want to take them discreetly anyways (the night mode is pretty good too)

AT&T does have their stupid sideloading restriction in place but the Captivate (and other Galaxy S variants) is already rooted / if you use the SDK and developer tools you don't need to root to sideload.

And the Aria despite being lower-end in specs is solidly built and generally very smooth (meaning polished, not necessarily fast) which i think is right for most people (hence those that buy iPhones -- not so much about what it can do or how powerful it is but how it feels doing what it can do)

I used one and I was like "huh. If I weren't getting a captivate I could be pretty happy with this for a while"

Which is why I love the Captivate too. I haven't been able to put it down. It's soo smoooooth. It's iPhone smooth / polished-feeling (especially web browsing) but it's Android!

That's pretty much Apple's mantra

So did Dieter Rams when he designed them back in the 1960s.

I think there's been a good balance for many of their products (e.g: MacBooks).

You're entitled to your opinion

I dunno bout macbooks. It's basically an extra $500-1000 to get an apple logo on a laptop.

I think that if you'll really look in to the design & engineering behind that line of products you'll change your mind. There's a reason that more than just fanboys purchased MacBooks & MacBook Pro's & it's not just an Apple logo. Comparing most other laptops to that line is like comparing IKEA to Walmart. A piece of furniture from Walmart may be functional but the attention to design/detail doesn't compare to something that you'd get at IKEA.

Look at the design-design, like the industrial design? Sure. They look good and they're functional for many people. If this is exclusively what you mean by "design & engineering" there isn't much to debate.

They're nothing special if you look at Apple's engineering-engineering, like the software, the electrical, the thermal, the mechanical and - hey, how topical - the antenna engineering, from actual engineering standpoints with actual engineering knowledge from at least one of those fields. At best they're unexceptional, and at worst their products are crippled by engineering flaws. The only difference with the iPhone 4 is that you don't have to be a programmer to find most of them.

The part about this that is most grating is that the bumpers (originally) cost $30.

30 ****ing dollars for a piece of molded rubber plastic ****. The packaging it comes in costs more to make than the product itself.