Jobs on iPhone 4
As announced Thursday, Apple addressed their problems biggest public relation issue in a long time: the new iPhone 4, in a special press conference that took place Friday at 7pm (CET), 10am pacific time.
Steve Jobs himself took the stage and addressed, what he dubbed ‘Antennagate’.
You can watch his whole speech at the Apple site and I encourage you to do so and then read on.
Other smartphone antenna issues
So what did Jobs do? Well, after throwing some data at the press (“3 million iPhone 4′s sold in 3 weeks”) Jobs first demonstrated how other (popular) smartphones have antenna issues as well. Jobs continued then by saying that Apple practically pointed out the problem themselves “We made it very visible. With some help from certain websites. What we did: X marks the spot”.
Next Jobs added that there is was a software glitch that makes the drop in signal look “more catastrophic than in reality it was. (iOS 4.0.1 has been released to fix this)”. Something that more less was what Anandtech had already found in their review of the iPhone: it looks worse than it is, but in low-reception areas it can and will drop your call.
Also, after explaining about Apple’s state of the art testing facilities, Jobs then confessed that Apple knew about the antenna problem: “We tested it. We knew that if you gripped it in a certain way, the bars are going to go down a little bit. Just like every smartphone”.
Jobs then continued to tell the gathered press: “We didn’t think it’ be a big problem. Every smartphone has this issue.”
He then presented some ‘hard’ data from Apple and their AppleCare program: only 0.55% of iPhone 4 owners called Apple to complain (- now, I wonder if that should not be 0,55% of iPhone 4 owners that actually have AppleCare, as I suspect not everyone has that, so it would be interesting to hear about that).
Also, the return rate to AT&T (T) was less than 1/3 of what it was for the iPhone 3GS (1.7% vs. 6%). However, according to AT&T, the iPhone drops more calls than the iPhone 3GS did. But less than one more call per 100.
In other words: the “brilliant engineered” wonder-antenna that Jobs was talking of so highly during his presentation of the iPhone, does not perform better than the iPhone 3GS.
Jobs’ personal theory: more 3GS iPhones were bought with cases.
After that Jobs started to sound like a broken record, driving home the same mantra over and over, using the data he just presented: “Smartphones have issues”.
Jobs also complained that the hard facts Apple has, do not relate to the amount of negative publicity the iPhone 4 has gotten: “We think this has been so blown out of proportion.”
Jobs continued his rant: “We take this really personally. Maybe we should have a wall of PR people keeping us away from all that, but we don’t, we take it really personally. So we’ve been working really really hard these last 22 days on this trying to solve the problem. And we think we’ve gotten to the heart of the problem here. And the heart of the problem is, smartphones have issues, and we made it easy to exploit the issue by showing people where to hold the phone to cover the antenna. But the data supports the fact that the iPhone 4 is the best smartphone in the world, and that there is no Antennagate… there is a challenge for the entire smartphone industry to improve its antenna performance so there are no weak spots.”
Apple’s fix: a free ‘bumper case’
As expected, Jobs then announced that Apple will give a free case for every iPhone 4 purchased through Sept. 30 and refund users that already bought one. And if you are still not happy with that, you can return your iPhone 4 within 30 days and Apple will give you your money back, no questions asked, no re-stocking fee (their normal policy anyway).
In other words: what everyone already knew – the problem goes away if you use a case: so just use a case.
Also: in the Q&A after the press conference (the Apple video does not show this!) Jobs did apologize for the problem – something analysts at WSJ predict was “unlikely”. He reportedly said: “To our customers who are affected by the issue, we are deeply sorry, and we are going to give you a free case or a full refund.”
So Apple did the most predictable: downplay the problem (in an odd way), apologize, and come up with the cheapest fix possible (a recall would have been way more expensive).
So: problem solved, right?
A final take on Antennagate
So what is my final take and analysis on this whole iPhone 4 ’Antennagate’ then?
Well, all said and done, I think Jobs handled this pretty smooth. Downplay, apologize, then compensate users.
However – and here is a big, fat “but” from my side: “Dear Steve: I don’t care how bad the reception with OTHER smartphones is, or how this is a GENERAL problem of smartphones.”
Pointing out the weaknesses of “other” smartphones and then saying “We’re not perfect. Phones aren’t perfect” actually means: “We’re not perfect and neither are our (i)phones.”
But that was something Jobs carefully avoided saying. No doubt he was instructed by both the legal and PR department about that.
I really think it shows a huge weakness that Jobs kept comparing the iPhone 4 problems over and over again with “other smartphones” and using the fact that “other smartphones” have the similar problems both as an explanation and an excuse for their own weakness.
Aren’t Apple products in general – and the new iPhone 4 in particular – supposed to be “superior” to competitors products?
Jobs never ever ceases to tell the world over and over how great – heck: how brilliant - their products are?
By comparison: if “other cars” have bad brakes is that an excuse for your car to have bad brakes as well? I don’t think so!
Also: they knew about the problem. Why didn’t they address it?
As many experts pointed out: if Apple just put a cheap coating on the antenna, the problem would have been a lot less or even non-noticeable!
Well: Jobs basically admitted that they flat-out underestimated the potential problem. A big mistake as well.
Jobs presented the antenna as “brilliantly engineered”. Yet data – so far – shows that it does not perform any better than the old iPhone 3GS when it comes to dropping calls. How’s that brilliant?
Pouring out date, like how many phones were sold (and I bet you anything a lot were pre-ordered), or how many few people called AppleCare to complain about it, doesn’t mean that much to me either: there is simply no way for me to verify those figures. So I just need to trust Apple is being straight-forward about it.
Let’s face it: Apple has become as main-stream as it can be.
Before they had the advantage of being sort of an underdog.
That’s over for good.
If Apple makes mistakes – no matter how small Apple themselves feel they might be – they will get scrutinized by the press. Especially if you present your products the way Apple does.
So: Apple needs to accept being flamed over things like this, just like people have been flaming Microsoft for years. Get over it. And pretty please stop complaining that things were blown out of proportion!
Bottom line: no matter how you spin this: this IS an engineering mistake!
And I bet you Apple will address it in the next-gen iPhone: it is easy to address. Just put a coating on the antenna!
And please do stop using other manufacturers problems as an excuse for your own mistakes!
My precioussss?
So what does that mean for my initial plans to buy an iPhone 4?
Personally I know that if I buy an iPhone 4, I want to have a case for it anyway. After all: who wants to scratch up a super nice phone like this?
I also know that the cases I usually buy, are the kind I wear on my belt. So it means I would be taking the phone out of the case a lot (it’s how I roll). So, unless Apple fixes the next batch of iPhone 4′s with some kind of coating, there is a chance I might have the issue myself as well – but then again: if you know about it, you will most likely avoid the problem (“Don’t hold it like that”).
Even though I have not held the new iPhone 4 in my own hands, nor having played with it, I still am convinced that Apple’s claims about the design, features, ease-of-use etc. are very much valid:
For me – currently, and subject to change – the iPhone 4 IS the best looking, most beautiful designed smartphone to date. And I would be sad having to cover up that design with an ugly “bumper case”.
And yes: it looks like a great engineering accomplishment as well. I said so in my initial article after the launch, and I have no reason to doubt that.
However, since I’m not up for a new phone until February 2011, there is a lot that can happen in 7,5 months.
Android 2.2 “Froyo” will be released soon. Other phone manufacturers might come out with models with the same kind of “retina” screen as Apple has. Maybe Apple will come out it a new version of the iPhone without this problem?
Anyway: if I had to get my new phone right now: I definitely would get the iPhone 4 (in white) – no doubt whatsoever.
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