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Apple Launches Free iPhone 4 Case Program

Tufflaw said:
I'm confused - several people are complaining about the lack of color selection, claiming that they want their case for aesthetic purposes. If the whole reason for the free case is a UTILITARIAN purpose, that is, to correct a design flaw, then this free case program serves that purpose.

If you want a case for AESTHETIC purposes, that is to make your iPhone look nicer/cuter/sexier/whatever, then wouldn't you be the type of person to buy one anyway, even without the antenna issue? Meaning that you are not the type of customer being targeted by the free case deal, and you weren't having any problems anyway (since you already had a case or were getting one to make your phone look nicer).

Many pages ago someone suggested an analogy to a car purchase, saying that what Apple was doing was like a car manufacturer having a door handle problem, and you go to get your blue car fixed and they only have a red handle. That's a spurious analogy. A better one would be to describe what you want as this - you bring your blue car in, they offer you a free blue handle, and you want a chrome handle and get all upset when you can't get one.

At the end of the day, it's FREE, and for many people honestly unnecessary. I tried to affect my reception with the death grip, and I did notice a drop in bars, although never to zero or one, and never to the extent that reception was affected. In my regular usage I never have any problem.

Anyway, enjoy your free case.
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I have purchased 2g, 3g, 3gs, 4.
And, I have never used a case in any of those. Maybe invisible shield some of those.

iPhone 4 broke my record. I ordered one before Apple announce the free case because I DO RECEIVE DROP CALL. Yes, way too much.
Apple gave me a refund, but, I wanted it WITHOUT a case.
I cannot return it. its too late! i have already sold my 3gs.
i still love my iPhone 4. I just think Apple should have announce things earlier.

If I have to use a case to make my phone work, at least let me pick some color...
 
SFStateStudent said:
Yup, been trying for about 2 hours and I'm falling asleep...:eek:
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Wow, I downloaded it a few minutes ago (just took about 30 seconds on my home wireless connection), and was able to log in, order the Speck Pixelskin in just another couple of minutes. That's weird that others are having such a problem. Are you using wireless or 3G?

BTW, I got a "6 to 8 weeks" ETA for mine. No biggie, I already have a Speck Fitted that I bought the day I got my phone. I'll probably put this one away for a back up in case my Fitted case gets messed up somehow.
 
Tufflaw said:
I'm confused - several people are complaining about the lack of color selection, claiming that they want their case for aesthetic purposes. If the whole reason for the free case is a UTILITARIAN purpose, that is, to correct a design flaw, then this free case program serves that purpose.
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But most of the Apple fans say that the Iphone 4 is not defective - that there is no design flaw.
 
kb0616 said:
But will he cancel the request for the free case, once he realized he'd be getting a refund? Stay tuned...
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Apple should of thought of this before they started doing refunds, identify serial numbers and addresses of people who are refunded and not allow them a free case. I'm sure they did think of this, so how is it cheating if they're offering it?
 
metron said:
Apple should of thought of this before they started doing refunds, identify serial numbers and addresses of people who are refunded and not allow them a free case. I'm sure they did think of this, so how is it cheating if they're offering it?
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I don't think it's "cheating" - at least I didn't see anything in the terms and conditions on the app suggesting that you weren't allowed to order a case if you received a refund for a bumper.

And even if this were a condition, I don't think it would be easy to enforce - there are sure to be lots of people who bought bumpers for kids, spouses, etc.

Plus, since apple is basically just giving the bumpers away at cost, imposing and enforcing additional restrictions could end up costing more than the cost of the bumper itself.

Plus, Apple gets a lot more goodwill (which, remember, is the purpose of this whole exercise) if they just automatically process your refund and send you an e-mail about it, rather than having you jump through hoops to apply for it.

(And using an app for the free cases makes things really easy, too - much easier than any equivalent system with the same amount of fraud protection.)
 
Black is the new...[whatever]

As Henry Ford once said, "You can have any colour you like, as long as it's black"

Of course, just offering one colour is good way to: A: Easily produce the numbers they are going to need and B: Ensure all the other case manufacturers are happy too [including Apple]. Imagine if you ran a case company, you'd be thinking, 'oh great, Apple are giving away cases, there go my profits for this year!'

And if you don't like black, you can still "buy" another colour.

As Apple have said, in their eyes, there is no real problem with the phone and this case program is just and olive branch. So you should really only be ordering one if you find you have signal issues.
 
Xenc said:
You can't purchase a different coloured bumper, at least not from the online store. It directs you to the free case program.
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They have probably put most, if not all, production lines to work on the black bumper.
 
Ordered PixelSkin HD at around 4PM ET yesterday, got a confirmation it ships September 20th.
 
Ryeno said:
They have probably put most, if not all, production lines to work on the black bumper.
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You might be right. It's a shame as all of the colours were available to buy up until yesterday (the cost of which could have then been rebated). I wonder if there are any other colours in stock at retail locations.
 
No stock in stores

I've heard that they are not selling the bumpers in Apple stores at the moment, they have taken them off the shelves. I guess they will start selling them again once they begin to see the orders tailing off from the app.

I guess you may still be able to get one in a 3rd party reseller [if they were able to stock them?].

But don't worry, Apple will start selling them again once all this fuss has died down.
 
MrMinor said:
What they really should have done is given a $30 credit to everyone so they could use it to get any case they wanted. That way if they wanted a more expensive case they would have that option and would just have to pay the difference.
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No, because that would cost Apple a lot more than what they pay for the case or bumper. If they offered a credit for the price they pay, everyone would complain it didn't cover the cost of a case.
 
AidenShaw said:
But most of the Apple fans say that the Iphone 4 is not defective - that there is no design flaw.
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PPL will almost always jump on something that's free.

jlc1978 said:
No, because that would cost Apple a lot more than what they pay for the case or bumper. If they offered a credit for the price they pay, everyone would complain it didn't cover the cost of a case.
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Exactly. Anyone who works with numbers and has common sense would know this.
 
MrMinor said:
Sorry, but I do not buy this. There are enough people experiencing this problem to qualify it as a design flaw. As for non-iPhones experiencing the same issue, I have not heard of a single person who has had a problem with non-iPhones unless you count Steve. Sure you can find a way to make it happen if you really try, but that is not what happens in reality.
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A law of physics is not a design flaw. If the phone overheated and shut down whne you gripped it, that would be a design flaw because that is not a normal behavior of an antenna system. However, signals attenuate when the antenna gets covered , shorted, or modified. Just because a number of people experience signal attenuation does not make it a design flaw; rather it is simply the way antennas work.

You can argue that Apple could have made a different design, but there would be trade offs for that as well. At any rate, it's not, IMHO, a design flaw and the whole issue is blown out of proportion. It was a PR mistake, and at least Apple is trying to offer a solution.
 
MrMinor said:
You can make percentages say whatever you want. 40,000 people experiencing a problem is....a problem. And not an insignificant one.
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No, 40,000 people experience something is data; not a problem. Analysis reveals whether it is a problem.
 
MrMinor said:
Of course they know. the bumpers had already been on the market for a while before they pulled them. They have plenty of stats to determine which were selling well and which were not.



They have more than one facility producing these bumpers. It would not be difficult to do what they were already doing. they could even pick two or three colors and dedicate each facility to that color. If you've got even the slightest business sense you would choose to do what you know will make your customers happy instead of doing something that will upset many who are already upset.
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Or, you simply ignore the few idiots who, if you sent out $100 bills would complain they can't get five twenty's...
 
Ordered the Griffin Reveal Etch which will take 6-8 weeks :rolleyes:

Good thing i don't need/want a case anyway.
 
MrMinor said:
You obviously chose not to read the multiple times that I said I have no issue whatsoever with whatever case they want to give me. I am speaking my mind for those that it DOES affect.
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Man, chill. We get your "opinion" and acknowledge your valiant effort to look out for those small few who actually care. When it's time to present awards we'll make sure to contact you.
 
tivoboy said:
I found some pretty good alternatives for some friends who are keeping their phones. more than 50% did the return, but others couldn't

http://www.handhelditems.com/looperband-case-packs-black-white-p-140172.html

only 1.99$ for a pair of "bumper" 2.85$ shipping

code iphone4bandcases


I have no affiliation with this site but have ordered from them before
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Looking at those prices makes me wonder whether some cases similar to the ones being offered for free will be steeply discounted. I mean, if you can get a case for free, who would pay full price for a very similar case?
 
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