Apple Ends 'Antennagate' With App-roval
It looks like Apple finally got something right in connection with Antennagate. The company came under loud and withering criticism for weeks for its response to complaints about reception problems with the iPhone 4 when the device is held a certain way.
Apple initially reacted to the "death grip" controversy by telling people to hold the phone a different way or buy a case to protect the external antenna from direct contact with hands and fingers. That amounted to telling customers to just deal with it. A week later Apple said the problem really stemmed from a software glitch that caused the iPhone to overstate signal strength. It was merely an optical illusion!
When that explanation didn't quell the mounting furor and Consumer Reports called bullshit on the software excuse, Steve Jobs himself was forced to don the black turtleneck and jeans and confront the angry masses. The storied Apple CEO shockingly admitted the iPhone 4 wasn't perfect and proposed the bumper giveaway as a solution to the reception problem.
But Jobs' defensive, combative performance during last week's press conference, in which he accused competitors like HTC, Research in Motion and Nokia of having similar antenna issues, was far from the satisfying mea culpa some had hoped for.
With the release of a free iPhone app today allowing iPhone owners to order their free bumper from Apple or cases from other manufactures, however, the company seems to have offered a solution that's actually won approval. The app has earned a rating of 4 out of 5 stars in the App Store so far, albeit based on only about a dozen responses.
"Thanks Apple for your commitment to fix an issue that may or may not exist. The app was a simple download and easy to navigate. Just get it and move on," read one review posted by "Barry." "iPhone 4 users are finally being compensated. Thanks Apple," read another from "GreyHeretik." Other comments also sounded like they could've been posted by Jobs himself.
Maybe this proves there really is an app for everything. But it's not all sunlight and cheer in Appleland. The company also announced Friday that white models of the iPhone 4 won't be available until later this year because the alternate version has been "more challenging to manufacture than we originally expected." Sounds like the start of a new scandal.
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"Jobs himself was forced to don the black turtleneck and jeans and confront the angry masses"??
Hmmmmm. According to Apple, less than 0.55% of calls to Apple Care from iPhone 4 owners were associated with possible antenna problems. In this case, the angry masses are really just a bunch of self-appointed media types claiming to speak for the masses, but really don't. Most of the bloggers/media critics were and are not iPhone 4 owners or users, and typically have their own preferred platform (Google Android, RIM, Palm, Microsoft).