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Jul
19
Fall Out
Filed Under Apple News, Tech News, Views, iPhone
I’ve been asked to comment further by a number of readers on Apple’s response to the iPhone 4 antenna issue. This is a device that is currently unavailable in Canada and I’ve yet to actually see or hold one to test out the problem causing all hoopla. However, my feeling is that Apple, like Google with it’s street view project privacy issues, would have loved for this to have gone under the radar. They totally underestimated their client base and felt the pressure to respond. The idea of a recall was already partially addressed with the extension of a return policy – a kind of voluntary recall. They’re going to give away free bumpers/cases to anyone who bought an iPhone and is going to buy one until September 30th. I suspect a slight redesign after that. They also tried to dilute and deflect the issue by pointing out signal weaknesses in their competitors devices. Perhaps valid, but I somehow expected a higher road to be taken. The press conference began with the video song below – quite catchy and fun – about the iPhone 4. The chorus of the song goes:
If you don’t want an iPhone 4 don’t buy it
If you bought one and you don’t like it bring it back
(but you won’t)
This is the jist of Apple’s response. For some this will strike as arrogance. Others may see this as Apple poking fun at itself. I tend to side with the former. For Apple I think this is still a non-issue that has gotten totally blown out of proportion. As they tried to point out – most of the 3 million people using the phone aren’t experiencing this as a problem in day to day usage. The return rate is much lower than was the case following the release of the iPhone 3GS. I think the Consumers Report recommendation retraction really hit the folks behind the Apple veil. Throughout the Friday event it seemed to me that Steve Jobs was irritated – Apple hasn’t gotten bad press like this in a while and this device is another one of his babies. I’m not concerned about the lack of a recall as the problem can be worked around and from reports in the field even if it is held in the ‘death grip’ position calls are not dropped per se unless one is in a very weak cellular zone. They have been forced to address this, admit it and will probably fix the design. The important issue here is transparency. Apple got called out and is responding because the information got out. People wrote about their experiences.The press broadcasted it to the world and change is coming.
For me I’m disappointed with Apple’s handling of the whole affair and in a way they’re not really admitting to anything. I’ve written it before – not everything Apple does is good. They’re a company, a corporation, with shareholders to please. They’re not the underdogs anymore. They don’t operate out of a garage. They are an industry leader and as a leader I hope for more. The good news is this is a company that can evolve. I hope lessons are being learned.
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