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Apple Holding iPhone 4 Press Conference on Friday
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And have Mel threaten to burn his house down if Steve doesn't fix the phone (while berating him with expletives?)
Great summary of what I think would be a very compelling response (short of the last paragraph!). I think they need to admit the sensitivity of the antennae, yet reiterate that they are confident that most current iPhone owners are completely satisfied. I certainly am.
Let's see:
Fix the problem with a $2.50 bumper per unit (just because they charge $30 for it, doesn't mean it costs them $30 to produce), or issue a recall at a cost of hundreds of dollars per phone.
Hmmm. I wonder what Apple will do...
The press conference will be a joke. They'll reiterate sales numbers that everyone already knows, talk about how they listen to the customer, tout their products some more, demonstrate that the problem is no where near as big a deal as everyone would apparently like it to be, and after all that announce that they're giving away free bumpers because they care so much about their customers that are having trouble.
That said - the press probably actually has blown this entirely out of proportion.
Fix the problem with a $2.50 bumper per unit (just because they charge $30 for it, doesn't mean it costs them $30 to produce), or issue a recall at a cost of hundreds of dollars per phone.
Hmmm. I wonder what Apple will do...
The press conference will be a joke. They'll reiterate sales numbers that everyone already knows, talk about how they listen to the customer, tout their products some more, demonstrate that the problem is no where near as big a deal as everyone would apparently like it to be, and after all that announce that they're giving away free bumpers because they care so much about their customers that are having trouble.
That said - the press probably actually has blown this entirely out of proportion.
Is it possible that there could be some type of mass repair instead of a full-on "everyone bring your phone back for a refund" type recall, perhaps they have found a way to replace the antenna "while you wait" and will simply have anyone who wants a fix make a special genius bar or at&t store appointment (or mail it to apple if really necessary). Has this already been theorized and I missed it? (sorry if that's the case).
It just drives me nuts when people make references to large companies like they are out to just screw their customers or there is some big conspiracy in play.
Even as much as I don't care for MS, I don't think Gates, Balmer and the Vista team conspired to put out crap... they just made some bad calls. Every company makes mistakes... it's how they respond that makes the difference. Friday is Apple's turn to show us how they handle a high profile problem... but I guess it will depend on what the real issue is. So far it's just a lot of conjecture.
Even as much as I don't care for MS, I don't think Gates, Balmer and the Vista team conspired to put out crap... they just made some bad calls. Every company makes mistakes... it's how they respond that makes the difference. Friday is Apple's turn to show us how they handle a high profile problem... but I guess it will depend on what the real issue is. So far it's just a lot of conjecture.
Good grief...
Amazing to see the hysteria over this.
This was the little video I filmed this morning before my wife took her own iphone4 away and she headed off to to work..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ7O7m6Q6oU
Thinking - my particular area has very good reception bordering on excellent.
My hands are VERY dry and lack a lot of perceivable oil due to obsessive guitar playing.
I'm not saying that this issue doesn't exist as it obviously does for some but it makes me think:
-They cranked a ton of these things out. Some of them appear to have the issue and some of them don't.
-Could it be in the zeal to crank out hundreds of thousands of these things that (gasp) corners were cut in the haste to get them out?
-Could it be that some people have oilier or moister hands than others leading to this?
-How hard could it be to coat the aluminum bar? No major redesign needed. Crimeny.
Amazing to see the hysteria over this.
This was the little video I filmed this morning before my wife took her own iphone4 away and she headed off to to work..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ7O7m6Q6oU
Thinking - my particular area has very good reception bordering on excellent.
My hands are VERY dry and lack a lot of perceivable oil due to obsessive guitar playing.
I'm not saying that this issue doesn't exist as it obviously does for some but it makes me think:
-They cranked a ton of these things out. Some of them appear to have the issue and some of them don't.
-Could it be in the zeal to crank out hundreds of thousands of these things that (gasp) corners were cut in the haste to get them out?
-Could it be that some people have oilier or moister hands than others leading to this?
-How hard could it be to coat the aluminum bar? No major redesign needed. Crimeny.
This would be the best possible thing.. Of course including an explanation of the problem and the insurance that it has been fixed and new flawless ones are already coming of the production lines.
I know what you mean. I wanted to hire Picasso to paint my garage but the high school kid down the street said he'd do it for $20. I saved about $2,500 and my wife loved the work. See what I did there?
I'm sorry but if you think Industrial Design is unskilled labor you probably have zero appreciation for *good* design and should excuse yourself from this thread.
I'm very interested to see what will happen on friday, (as we all are) I suffer from the antenna issue. While it's not a "big" problem, it does suck to have to us a bumper or case for my phone to work properly.
I dont think a full recall is needed, like many others have said, not all phones are affected. I'm sure Apple knows the serial number range of "bad" phones, and if anything those will get recalled/replaced.
I dont think a full recall is needed, like many others have said, not all phones are affected. I'm sure Apple knows the serial number range of "bad" phones, and if anything those will get recalled/replaced.
I dunno... no problems with mine, have had it for a week now. With my case off I tried to make the signal drop by gripping in every imaginable fashion and the signal does not drop at all! Even moistened my skin and did the same thing, no change.
In any case I've got an iFrogz case on it and am waiting for the Zagg screen protector while waiting for the Ballistic HC or Vapor 4 cases to start shipping in quantity.
The bumpers should be a giveaway to all who request it, or be way lower priced. They cost what I paid for a full case...
In any case I've got an iFrogz case on it and am waiting for the Zagg screen protector while waiting for the Ballistic HC or Vapor 4 cases to start shipping in quantity.
The bumpers should be a giveaway to all who request it, or be way lower priced. They cost what I paid for a full case...
If it's free bumper offering I won't be upgrading. Not only will they be acknowledging the issue, they also would be using the bumper as an answer instead of actually fixing the real culprit. Absolutely reeks of immaturity to me. Look what Toyota did. Granted, it's just a phone but I'm looking at it from strictly a business/consumer standpoint.
A product recall would be expensive, but I don't think "hundreds" of dollars per-phone... they would exchange the phones at the stores for new ones, and all the old ones would be recycled into refurbished phones I'm sure.
If the problem is big enough to need a HW fix, Apple can't afford not to recall them. The long-term PR hit would hurt them and they protect the Apple brand as much as possible.
According to David Pogue of the NY Times, it's a very small %...
http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/03/atts-capped-data-plan-could-save-you-money/
I'd be curious to know what the REAL % is of affected phones...
Coachingguy
My post got got removed form apple's discussion forum because I "discussed Apple Policies, Procedures or Decisions" well... it was bout iPhone 4 lack of support at either ATT or Apple.
I hope they announce a recall and a fix at last.
I hope they announce a recall and a fix at last.
You had better check out the news today on Toyota. The black box analysis showed no brake system failure - not software / not firmware / not hardware. They got stampeded and intimidated into a lot of unnecessary scrambling and a black eye for what turns out to be OPERATOR ERROR. The black boxes showed no brake pedal activation BUT full throttle pressure.
So - we'll see what Apple has learned and what the plan is based on engineering analysis.
All new tosh.0 on Comedy Central:
"Consuela fell off that horse faster than the reception on my new iPhone!"
Even my grandpa called today asking if my iPhone was alright. This is getting bad. I'm going to go ahead and say that the majority of the population probably knows that the iPhone has reception issues now. This is going to be difficult for them to overcome, even with a press conference.
"Consuela fell off that horse faster than the reception on my new iPhone!"
Even my grandpa called today asking if my iPhone was alright. This is getting bad. I'm going to go ahead and say that the majority of the population probably knows that the iPhone has reception issues now. This is going to be difficult for them to overcome, even with a press conference.
I don't see why everyone thinks the recall will cost Apple an incredible amount of money. Try to follow... the iPhone 4 only costs about $185 to produce, adding a small coating to the antenna isn't going to increase that cost. Anyway, Apple has secretly (come on, this is Apple we're talking about) been stocking revised iPhones for a replacement plan. All you have to do, as a consumer, is go to an Apple store and get a replacement if you have the older model, they might even give you a freebie for your trouble. Now, Apple has a large stock of slightly used iPhones so they send those back to a factory and get the antenna coated. Then, Apple can sell those as refurbs for $400-$500+ (refurb price - $185 = profit) or provide them to AT&T to sell as refurbs with a new contract like they do now. Apple could end up making money on this whole recall, albeit, not as much if this problem never existed, you get the point.