What ever. Apple presented that number as a representation of their customer's satisfcation. If they get a fix, then replacing 0.55% of phones should be no problem. Apple should stand by its own statistics.
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Unhappy People, what do you want?
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What ever. Apple presented that number as a representation of their customer's satisfcation. If they get a fix, then replacing 0.55% of phones should be no problem. Apple should stand by its own statistics.
At the end of the day - whether you liked the press conference or not and whether you think your phone is defective or not - Apple was already tried in the media. The press conference was damage control and pretty transparent to most who were watching and understand remotely how PR and marketing work.
In other words - the damage has been done. While Apple is still a great company - to many, they have a "ding" against them. How big of a ding - who can say. And I'm not being pro or con here - but objective.
At the end of day - only the future will decide whether this issue was bad or had no affect on Apple in terms of customer loyalty, brand image, etc.
In other words - the damage has been done. While Apple is still a great company - to many, they have a "ding" against them. How big of a ding - who can say. And I'm not being pro or con here - but objective.
At the end of day - only the future will decide whether this issue was bad or had no affect on Apple in terms of customer loyalty, brand image, etc.
This is all true, but let's look at who are making the biggest fuss out of this:
*Gizmodo - who are now obviously anti-apple
*"Antenna Expert" Bloggers - who's apple loyalty is suspect at best
*The Press - "The media loves a failure in a string of successes" pretty much sums that up
*People in low coverage areas - I don't live in the states but I'm willing to bet that places like NY, Washington, California and Illinois get decent coverage so these are mainly people in the less wealthy states. Not exactly great potential to be long term Apple customers.
Now let's look at who is NOT making a big fuss out of this:
*AnandTech - arguably unbiased about anything and the best resource for hardware review and analysis
*Slashgear
*Consumer Reports - again, arguably unbiased but this one is a bit confusing:
Initially, they gave the iPhone 4 a great review but couldn't "recommend it" due to the antenna problem. Afterward, they said "The Bumper solves the signal-strength problem. ... But these options all put the onus on consumers to solve or pay for a fix. We're still calling on Apple to provide an acceptable free solution to the iPhone 4's signal-loss problem."
Interestingly Apple did just that but strangely CR still isn't happy (I guess their website is getting more hits these days?). Nonetheless, if they weren't to go against their word, they would fit perfectly in this category as well.
*Not the 0.55 (or whatever large majority) percent who don't have a problem with their iPhone
So tell me, does the future of the iPhone still seem so bleak?
Anandtech has a few articles pertaining to the antenna issue.
And I can see where CR is coming from. Apple basically said this: "We know that if you touch the phone in a certain area, signal strength is diminished. So, we are giving away free bumpers until October. After that, you're on your own..." So how can you honestly expect CR to recommend this product? There needs to be a permanent fix in place before they change their stance.
And I can see where CR is coming from. Apple basically said this: "We know that if you touch the phone in a certain area, signal strength is diminished. So, we are giving away free bumpers until October. After that, you're on your own..." So how can you honestly expect CR to recommend this product? There needs to be a permanent fix in place before they change their stance.
That's not what they said at all. Businesses need to have dates in order to reassess situations. Its a pretty general practice.
Seeing how there is a permanent fix until October, wouldn't you agree CR could at least recommend the product in the mean time? I'm sure if Apple decides to turn on everyone and stop giving away free cases in October, CR's reputation won't be on anyone's mind. And guess what there doesn't exist a permanent fix for anything phone related: warranties generally only last 1 year. After that, if the company is nice, they'll still warrant some repairs. Revise your point of argument, then reply back.
Neither of which is a permanent solution that would warrant a CR recommendation. A case just hides the problem, it doesn't fix it.
Right. And until Apple "reassesses" the situation and puts a permanent solution in place, they don't deserve a recommendation.
No. Why would CR recommend a defective product just because there is a fix on the way? That makes no sense. The recommendation happens AFTER a fix, not before. That's how it usually works.
Strange, CR essentially said it would fix it if it were free as quoted earlier.
You didn't read what I wrote about warranties which was relevant but I'll dumb it down a little further:
Apple said that they are low on Bumpers so even if they wanted, they can't magically (
) ramp up production to accompany every iPhone so they couldn't promise free Bumpers for everyone forever as they would never be able to deliver on that. On the other hand, if they do find a non-conductive coating which works when applied to the gate, who's to say they couldn't have people with current iPhones bring theirs in to get them "repaired". Of course, this is only one of infinite possible scenarios. Hence the need for a reassessment date. Seriously... try to run a business without setting dates. *sigh* I should have trusted my gut and not included CR. I'll just leave you with this: http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/consumerreports.org
Strange, CR essentially said it would fix it if it were free as quoted earlier.
Let's discuss what CR actually said, shall we?
"But Apple needs to come up with a permanent—and free—fix for the antenna problem before we can recommend the iPhone 4."
"The Bumper solves the signal-strength problem. So does a piece of duct tape, as we reported earlier, or just being careful how you hold the phone. But these options all put the onus on consumers to solve or pay for a fix. We're still calling on Apple to provide an acceptable free solution to the iPhone 4's signal-loss problem."
And I agree with them. Tape, DIY clear-coat, or a bumper is not a permanent, acceptable solution. The phone needs to work as it should out of the box, without the necessary addition of an accessory or any other end-user activity.
"The Bumper solves the signal-strength problem.-A- So does a piece of duct tape, as we reported earlier, or just being careful how you hold the phone. But these options all put the onus on consumers to solve or pay for a fix.-B- We're still calling on Apple to provide an acceptable free solution-C- to the iPhone 4's signal-loss problem."
If A and (not)B then C. Since A and (not)B is true, C is true. Foundations of logic.
And again, this should be self-explanatory: http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/consumerreports.org
Actually, I think he's quite right about that one. He's not saying they support jailbreaking now. It's just that not all jailbreakers are competent enough to self-diagnose problems on their iPhones. And, as a jailbreaker you know problems can arise. So they call AppleCare, go into the Genius Bar, swap their phone etc. which are all free services to the end user that cost Apple money. If they supported firmware hacks they would be obligated to cover any issues that arose due to poorly written jailbreak apps or mods that go deep into the OS. Eliminating those warranty claims saves a ton of money and doesn't alienate the majority of their audience who doesn't care about jailbreaking.
But, I think you are also right and that app and music piracy is the biggest reason they fight jailbreaking and always will. Plus the fact that in order to unlock the phone, you must jailbreak. Of course they would fight that. I'm sure, at least ethically, they are obligated to according to their terms with carriers. I don't think you have to worry about being prosecuted as a criminal for j/bing your phone though. Apple has bigger fish to fry. Maybe a veiled threat here or there, but I highly doubt they would take action.
And yes, I've been jailbroken since the 1.x.x days. Eagerly awaiting the 4.x jailbreak to arrive...
"The Bumper solves the signal-strength problem.-A- So does a piece of duct tape, as we reported earlier, or just being careful how you hold the phone. But these options all put the onus on consumers to solve or pay for a fix.-B- We're still calling on Apple to provide an acceptable free solution-C- to the iPhone 4's signal-loss problem."
If A and (not)B then C. Since A and (not)B is true, C is true. Foundations of logic.
And again, this should be self-explanatory: http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/consumerreports.org
You may have missed the part of my post quoting a CR article requesting a permanent fix before they are willing to recommend it. Allow me to re-post it:
"But Apple needs to come up with a permanent—and free—fix for the antenna problem before we can recommend the iPhone 4."
Tell me, in what universe is a bumper a permanent fix? As soon as you take it off, you have reception issues again. That isn't permanent, nor is it technically a fix. It just (literally) hides the problem and requires action on the part of the end-user which is a big no-no.
You missed my point where nothing is permanent. Sure it'd be nice if nothing broke and everything worked every time. Also, Apple is a business with standard business practices which utilize dates etc etc... Now we're talking in circles.
Edit: Had to add, OP, that's an amazing thread title. I was instantly drawn to it.
A redesigned antenna, or the application of an insulating clear coat, would be a permanent solution by anyone's standards. A bumper is not.
And you're assuming that I'm merely expressing an opinion. A permanent fix for a problematic antenna design is to change the design of the antenna. This is a rather simple logical underpinning that doesn't rely on subjective thoughts or observations. What if I told you that a permanent solution to pet stains is to cover them with newspaper? That would be ridiculous. But this is essentially what you're arguing.
No. That's just a bad analogy.
I'm saying CR aren't true to their word.
Also, changing the design of the antenna is impractical.
These are not opinions.
Gotta bow to logic.
Despite how you are all feeling, if you look at the FACTS. I don't mean statistics presented by the company in question (of course they are going to try to present themselves in the best light). But the fact is that the above poster is correct.
Bumper/case are band aid solutions. If people are good with that and choose to buy the product anyways that is fine, really it is. Take off the bumper and case and even though the percentage quoted by SJ in the press conference is low, if you do the math with even 2 million phones sold .55 is still a huge number.
Can you direct me to where CR stated that if Apple offered free bumpers, they would recommend the phone? I don't remember them ever publishing such a proposal. From the beginning, they wanted a permanent fix (which would likely amount to some design alteration for future customers, and a recall/exchange program for existing customers).
Reactionary design changes are never practical. It isn't practical for BP to be spending billions to clean up oil either. But companies do what they have to do. Inaction is usually not an option.
wat?
3 million phones sold, but at 2 million phones it is like 10,000 people, which is not a huge number.
10,000 people would be a huge number if they sold 25,000 or even 50,000 phones, but with 2 million, no it is not so large.
But there has not been an iPhone 4. People can't complain about having a broken iPhone 4 and having spent $100s of dollars on apps for it because either they are dumb for buying apps before even testing the phone out, or they bought the apps for another device in the first place. In either case it has no bearing on them returning their iPhone 4, unless they are simply too much of a fan boy to do it.
Read post 10580966. I never said CR said they would recommend the phone. I said that they said a free bumper would fix the issue.
Which is, again, your opinion. Why does Apple needs to change the design on a product they are already mass producing?
They also said duct tape would fix the issue. What is your point? CR clearly stated that they wouldn't recommend the phone until a permanent fix is in place. I don't understand how you feel they aren't being true to their word? Unless, of course, you think a free bumper is a permanent fix. If that's the case, I'm afraid we'll never be able to come to an agreement.
Because it requires an aftermarket addition, free or otherwise, to perform as it should out of the box. This goes against the standard and accepted model for a successful product, and also goes against Apple's core philosophy of "it just works".
About CR, do you understand this? http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/consumerreports.org
And? It also requires electricity and appendages in order to function. I don't understand your point.
The last "smart" phone I owned prior to the iPhone was a Motorola Q.
It was buggy and crashed routinely with reboots lasting at least a minute or two. It would drop calls with terrible voice quality for the 1/2 hour or so that the battery lasted during which time I could easily fry an egg on it.
Motorola never sent me anything for free.
This has been an epic non-story, hyped it would seen by Gizmodo who seem to have an agenda of their own that has nothing to do with making their readers happy. Perhaps deflecting the fact that they aren't journalists but bloggers and that they were somehow justified, in their own universe where laws shouldn't apply to them, in receiving stolen goods? In short, whipping their readers into a frenzy as a smokescreen to misdirect the public and draw attention away from their own ethical misconduct has served only Gizmodo.
That some in the press have latched on to these journalist posers who, as bloggers, are completely unaccountable to journalistic standards is utterly lame.
Yeah, the iPhone isn't perfect. What phone or product is? And what's the point in taking glee at pointing out and stomping that fact to death? Do any iPhone users really have that expectation and have these stories been in any way anything other than an exercise in reiterating, to exhaustion, the obvious?
It was buggy and crashed routinely with reboots lasting at least a minute or two. It would drop calls with terrible voice quality for the 1/2 hour or so that the battery lasted during which time I could easily fry an egg on it.
Motorola never sent me anything for free.
This has been an epic non-story, hyped it would seen by Gizmodo who seem to have an agenda of their own that has nothing to do with making their readers happy. Perhaps deflecting the fact that they aren't journalists but bloggers and that they were somehow justified, in their own universe where laws shouldn't apply to them, in receiving stolen goods? In short, whipping their readers into a frenzy as a smokescreen to misdirect the public and draw attention away from their own ethical misconduct has served only Gizmodo.
That some in the press have latched on to these journalist posers who, as bloggers, are completely unaccountable to journalistic standards is utterly lame.
Yeah, the iPhone isn't perfect. What phone or product is? And what's the point in taking glee at pointing out and stomping that fact to death? Do any iPhone users really have that expectation and have these stories been in any way anything other than an exercise in reiterating, to exhaustion, the obvious?