Apple Takes on Droid X With Latest Smartphone Antenna Video
macrumors.com
macrumors.com
Droid X specifically markets their phone in ads as superior to iPhone 4:
http://phandroid.com/2010/06/30/droid-x-ad-tears-into-iphone...
"And most importantly, it comes with a double antenna design. The kind that allows you to hold the phone any way you like and use it just about anywhere to make crystal clear calls."
I think they opened themselves up to fair game by advertising their antenna design in this way.
They're selling a lot of phones. No one is returning phones. The bad PR about the death grip is mostly settled (I don't hear it in the news anymore). Hell, Scott Adams wrote a very popular and widely circulated article about how good Apple's press conference strategy was. They're just going to continue to release these to make Consumer Reports look increasingly ridiculous in the eyes of the public.
Where is the desperation in all this?
P.S. Especially given that recent data suggests 77% intent-to-reup-handset among iPhone customers and only 20% intent-to-reup-handset among Android customers. (buried here: http://money.cnn.com/2010/07/23/technology/iphone_4_att/inde... )
Plus it doesn't help when "tech journalists" are willing to vilify Apple for the tiniest thing for the almighty page view. Combine with trolls and a general public that considers cell signals and RF a form of voodoo and sacrifice (you know how many people I know hold their phones to the sky to get "a better signal"), it's war to some people.
Scott Adams article was also a bit of a Rorschach test, whether you think Steve Jobs succeeded with his 'High Ground Maneuver' depends very much on your own point of view.
It makes Consumer Report's not-recommended status look increasingly irrational. If they give a recommend on the Droid X with such an obvious deathgrip problem (I actually hold my phone that way, using my thumb to interact with a pinching motion), then they're going to get called out on it hard.
“Scott Adams article was also a bit of a Rorschach test, whether you think Steve Jobs succeeded with his 'High Ground Maneuver' depends very much on your own point of view.”
This is the human condition. I see a pair of rainbows, someone else sees the hand of God.
If this is the root of Apple's concern then they can work with Consumer Report to establish whether their appraisal was unjustified against other devices. They don't have to take this approach.
It's notable that they didn't go to these lengths with the G4 Cube overheating debacle. Apple's gone from selling almost entirely to a devout fanbase to a general appliance company and I think the change in PR strategy may be giving them a shock.
But that gear is now increasingly commonplace.
Please explain to me why you believe that knowledge - regardless of its source - is bad.
Please also explain why that knowledge - again, regardless of its source - makes you a "poor sport".
RF is not magical.
OK, yes, there are some days when RF and antenna design and EMI does seem is magical, but that's not the same sort of magic. And you can learn why your receiver was getting bagged by that metal sign that was wired onto the chain-link fence actually is re-radiating spurious signal. Once you find the EMI.
Or once you realize that grabbing onto the antenna or getting into specific spots of the near-field might not be a good idea.
Again. Data. Goodness. Even the biggest idiots on the planet (and Apple is not among those folks) can get stuff right once in a while.
So. Why is data a "poor sport"?
Data would be excellent. This video provides none.
Many of these same people are totally off base being pissed at BP for not fixing the broken well faster. But, hey, the screaming makes them feel better. Also, smug and superior.
Because Consumer Reports singled out Apple's iPhone 4 as the only phone with such issue, and presented it as a dealbreaker.
In that situation levelling with others is step up for Apple.
Apple certainly didn't design the interface for placing calls on a competitor's device.
In any case, why are you so hostile to the idea that Apple was being intentionally malicious? If I were trying to discredit a competitor's product, I too would choose the most unattractive space I could to highlight it. Given that the signal strength is shown in most apps, you certainly have a wide choice.
You can tell the phone is engaged in a call by the dial button being a great big red "End Call" button, and by there being a little green call icon on the top left of the status bar.
Why this is a home-goal by Apple is that even though the bars dropped by the death grip, the phone did not drop the call.
The fundamental complaint about the iPhone 4 is that the death grip is causing dropped calls.
So Apple have gone and shown that whilst their competitors also are affected by the basic laws of science, they've managed to keep a base level of quality that avoids the consumer being affected by dropped calls.
Of course, we can over-analyze anything nowadays.
I'd rather see them report bandwidth loss when held or a video showing that some phones can't make calls when held due to dropping below a threshold (iPhone).
But I don't think most people would take to that. For the vast majority of iPhone 4 users, the death grip problem is not as significant as those "touch with one finger to kill" videos (which, I confess I am still having a hard time believing).
The complaint itself is essentially childish: “Apple does almost the same thing everyone else does! They're lame! #lolrecall!” I'm not sure a mature counter-strategy would actually be effective in the face of that. Especially given how incredibly invested into phones people seem to be getting these days.