• Los Angeles Times, Friday, July 16, 2010 11 AM

So ask David Sarno and Tiffany Hsu this morning, pointing out that the device has been "plagued by misfortunes -- including a suicide, two lost prototypes and a shaky debut." (Not to mention record sales, but let's not let that stand in the way of an entertaining yarn.)

In a cautionary note to other serial marketers, numerologists tell the reporters it may have to do with the unlucky number "4." Lydia Chen, associate director of the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard, says she doesn't personally subscribe to the theory (although she grew up knowing that the numeral was to be avoided like a bad penny). "Still," she says, "maybe people should avoid iPhone 13 when it gets here."

Phil Stevens, a professor at SUNY Buffalo who studies superstition, says: "To say it's cursed, you'd have to go back and find the person who cursed it," he said. "Because who would do this?" Uh, even without the screws being applied we could think of a competitor or two.

Oh, and let us not forget that New York Sen. Charles Schumer, never one to lets a media opportunity pass him by, demanded in a very open letter yesterday that Apple provide consumers with a clear explanation of the antenna problem and a free fix for all, as Chloe Albanesius reports in PC.

We'll have something less fanciful to report Monday following Apple's press conference on the matter later today. One thing that's for sure, as GigaOm editor Kevin Tofel puts it: "This tarnishes the 'it just works' mantra that people associate with their brand. "

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