Pretty much bang on with that statement. The iP4 is no longer the prestigious item it was intended to be, everyone's instant reaction to it is "oh, you got one of those, do you have the signal problem?" - to which I have to respond "Well, yeah, but it's not so bad as long as you're careful how you hold it..." (they can probably tell I'm disappointed with that and trying to put a positive spin on it) and then they give you the look of "you're an idiot, why would you buy something that doesn't work". Great.
Almost all my friends have iPhones (3G or 3GS) and they are always rather unimpressed the the 4, I guess because it's an evolution rather than revolution. Always the same response, 10 seconds playing with it, hand it back - "screen's ok", don't like the shape as much as the old one, it's bigger" (even though it's not).
I have two friends who were on the fence and have bought HTC Desire's in the last couple of weeks and they are extremely happy with them - my only trump card is the better screen, to be honest those phones do a lot more well than the iP4 (widgets and proper Facebook/mail/photo integration are very nice and I can't deny it when they show me), the whole "smooth, easy, interface" thing is no longer as impressive as it used to be.
The one time I tried to show off the speed of the iP4, myself and one of said friends (who have been bantering over our respective phones for a few weeks) hooked up to the wireless at another friends place and got Youtube fired up with Toy Story HD (I knew this to look very impressive as I'd been trying it out previously) - phones held next to each other and... his starts playing the video almost instantly, mine sits there - no bar loading, nothing, I was even being careful not to touch the "danger zone", nothing... I just went into settings saying I must have done something wrong, I hadn't, no idea what the problem was but that was the end of the "who's phone is better" argument. I felt like Steve Jobs at the keynote - does the iP4 have an issue with other phones being on the same wireless?? Disappointed.
I later got to say my battery is far better, which he admitted but added the disclaimer (with a smug smirk) - "well it would be if you can't make calls or watch video though wouldn't it?" Bleh. Safe to say all my other friends are not wishing to "upgrade" any time soon, and there will be much more consideration of other, cheaper and in many ways better, phones for them. The whole point about dropped signal IS a huge PR problem for Apple because prospective new purchasers of the phone are already on the back foot when they go to look at it, unless it blows them away they are going to be far more willing to look at alternatives - the design doesn't seem to be wowing anyone who had the older phones and the elephant-in-the-room antenna issue takes away the "it just works" ethos.
