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Comment by blhack | Hacker News Reader

Could you imagine buying a brand new Mercedes CL550, finding out that if you grip the steering wheel with your left hand it will shut the car down, and then having Mercedes insist that there is no problem and that you should buy a steering wheel cover?

This is so far beyond unacceptable for apple. I cannot believe (well yes, actually, I can) that they're not doing a recall on this or, at the very least, providing users with a free case.

The other tragedy of this whole thing (or maybe it's just brilliance on behalf of apple) is that the stories about the antenna issue are all overpowering the issue that 3G users are having with iOS4. V4 renders the phone slow and buggy. Opening SMS messages will sometimes crash the SMS program. Things are slow, opening the ipod function can take upwards of 10 seconds sometimes.

Really really really really bad form apple. The last 6 months have been terrible for them.

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"The last 6 months have been terrible for them."

They've sold a million IPads a month, are on track to sell that many Iphone 4s, untold millions of Ipods, etc. and the press is gushing over them like they're the newest teen idol sensation. I want to have a terrible 6 months like that!

Ha. I guess I should have said it has been a terrible month for their consumers (since that is what I actually meant; terrible 6 months as in they've been terrible).

I've been a happy Apple consumer over the past 6 months (actually, far longer). Remind me why I'm upset? I have an iPad, an iPhone, and a Macbook Pro.

Because the most recent update for the iPhone rendered it slow and crashy, apple banned cross compilation from flash to objective C for iOS apps (for no identifiable reason), apple bans anything from their app store that competes with their business model (like grooveshark), and now their flagship product has a major engineering flaw and they don't seem to care.

Maybe you're still happy after the company has treated you like crap, but a lot of other people aren't.

I swear to god I'm not saying this to pick a fight with you or take a side in some Internet sharks/jets thing: I couldn't be happier with how Apple is handling me.

I'm not an iOS dev though. Are you? It may be a different story if you want to get in bed with them. I don't.

I bought an iPhone 4. It hasn't shipped yet (I'm not crazy enough to sit in line for a phone). But if I had just found out about the yellowy thing and the antenna thing? I would STILL be tempted to wait in line for one, and I would certainly still be shelling out for it.

I think I speak for the vast silent majority of technology customers here.

In this example the Mercedes also costs the same as a Honda, right?

Look, Apple sets expectations super high, and to a certain extent that's their fault. But they're also innovating like crazy and, unfortunately, there are bound to be some missteps. Would you rather they slow things down a bit? I wouldn't.

>In this example the Mercedes also costs the same as a Honda, right?

Well...I can buy a bare-bones AT&T go phone for $15 outright...so no, not at all.

Howabout this: the BMW that costs the same amount of money not only doesn't have the problem, but doesn't have the restriction where only other people with mercedes are allowed to ride in your car.

Ah yes, good point. A Honda that shut down if you touched the steering wheel would of course be met with relaxed shrugs from owners.

Because that's what happens when you touch an iPhone? The phone equivalent of what would happen if, hypothetically, Honda shipped a car that "shut down" when you touched the steering wheel?

No, but apparently according to the original apologist comment, a faulty Mercedes is okay if it costs the same as a Honda. Do you agree?

I think 'lalalalala omg not listening - nerrds!' would be a more credible, mature response than some of the fallout from this antenna issue.

I've had no problems with iOS4 on my 3G. Definitely a better experience than 3.0 a year ago so far.

My 3G is getting really slow, can't wait until they start selling the iPhone 4 over here so I can upgrade. I've heard the 3G gets bogged down when keeping a gazillion SMS messages on it, though, so maybe it's more to do with that than iOS4.

I heard Mercedes said to solve the left hand issue is to just not steer using your left hand. Using the left hand for steering has serious side-effects such as not looking as cool, limited window waving abilities, and inability to ash a cigarette out the window while driving.

> limited window waving abilities

Only on the continent. On the isle you need your left hand for the stick shift anyway.

Actually, when the Mercedes A-class showed up, and the motor press were able to tip it over, Mercedes did pretty much exactly the same thing. Of course, the A-class isn't a CL550, but then again, it still cost a whole lot more to buy than an iPhone. :)

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