
Apple to give away free cases to iPhone 4 users - ssclafani
http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/16/apple-to-give-away-free-bumpers-to-iphone-4-users/
======
rriepe
I figured they would do this. Everyone claiming they'd do a full-blown recall
was nuts.

Semi-related: Nintendo is great at this stuff. When Mario Party hit for the
N64, a lot of its mini-games required rotating the control stick fast. A lot
of players would switch from using their thumbs to using their palms to rotate
it faster.

The result? Blisters and redness on the palms of kids across the nation.

What did Nintendo do? They sent out free _gloves_ to anyone that wanted one.

~~~
mikeryan
They did the same with the wii controllers when they started slipping off and
breaking big-screen tvs during a furious game of tennis.

Free rubber Wii controller wrappers.

(... having hard time not calling them controller condoms as I try to describe
them)

~~~
elai
They're too thick and have too much structure to be bag like. And now every
wii controller you buy has one of them attached to it.

------
qq66
I seriously thought that the response would have been to offer a free service
where they applied a thin clear layer of insulating material around the
phone's edge. If people start believing that "iPhone 4s must be in a case" it
greatly diminishes the fashion/status value of the phone.

~~~
afterburner
Putting an iPhone in a case is really a shame. And yet, so many do it (it
seems to me mostly women but my sample size is admittedly not large). The is
so expensive, people are afraid to drop it. Maybe it's because it looks
delicate?

In any case, I've dropped my 3GS phone about a half dozen times, twice from 3
feet. No damage so far; maybe some scratches, but I use a matte screen
protector (more easily scratched than the glass) and a custom vinyl backing
(edges and corners still exposed). There's some dust now behind the screen
from the impacts, but a case might not have prevented that anyways.

If I had to put the 3GS in a case, I probably wouldn't have bought it in the
first place. But then I prize thinness in phones over other things, since I
put the phone in my pocket.

At least the iPhone 4 bumpers are less intrusive and ugly than most 3GS cases.
Still a shame to cover the stainless steel edge when they finally brought
stainless steel back in the iPhone design.

~~~
mmorris
I'm on the same page as you. I had the original iPhone up until I just bought
the iPhone 4, and I never had a case on my old one. I just always keep my
phone with my wallet in my left pocket, and keys, coins, etc. in my right
pocket. Without a case it's thin enough. And with sharp things in the other
pocket you don't scratch the phone up.

It also helps, of course, that one's reflexes suddenly become much sharper
when one is carrying an expensive piece of hardware. I've made some incredible
catches of that phone over the years.

There should be a name for this phenomenon - "the hand of Jobs" or "the
reflexive property (of smartphones)", perhaps?

------
LarrySDonald
Physics is the problem? So like he walked into the headquarters going "Ok,
very funny guys! Who made physics apply to our products again?".

~~~
borism
it's called Reality Distortion Field for a reason!

------
noelchurchill
I'll get a case and see if I like it. Like most people I haven't really had a
problem with reception though.

~~~
thought_alarm
The people who don't have iPhones are really upset about it, though. Perhaps
Apple should send them some free stuff.

~~~
leviathant
The people who have iPhones that didn't work were upset about it. Based on
Steve's numbers, they got reports from over 16,000 people about it. The flack
they got online was completely disproportionate, but Apple didn't help things
by telling those who had real problems that they were holding it wrong, or
that they should spend another $30 to get their phone to work better.

Edit: I have an iPhone and I live in Philadelphia, where the signal is
awesome. We're renaming one of our subway stops AT&T station here, even. AT&T
has wired our subways so that I can use my bloody iPhone underground, and it's
awesome. I'm not sure why I'm getting downvoted for pointing out that the
flack was disproportionate but that 16,000 people reportedly had problems with
their phone. What do you disagree with, if you're going to downvote that?

~~~
jshen
I didn't down vote you, but a raw number like 16,000 people is meaningless.
What if I said that 16,000 google searches a day give bad results.

~~~
mirkules
There's lies, damn lies, and statistics. 0.55% sounds great, and not a big
deal. In reality, 16,000 people get dropped calls - almost statistically
insignificant. But if you're one of those 16K people, then it happens 100% of
the time to you!

(It's fun to play with statistics to alter public perception)

~~~
ericd
When you deal with many millions, tens of thousands really aren't that big a
deal, unless it's a really serious problem. Companies work at a different
scale than you or I, and it's not reasonable to apply your own feelings about
numbers to the numbers they work with.

And it doesn't happen 100% of the time for anyone, it's just very visible to
some people when they try it, hence the complaints.

~~~
JBiserkov
A _phone_ that can't make/maintain proper _calls_ IS a really serious problem.

Lying to your customers about perception (5 bars always, making the first two
bigger) IS a serious problem.

When the Uberphone that was supposed to be mega-awesome has a repeatable
hardware issue this IS a serious problem(even if the issue itself is minor,
which it's not).

~~~
ericd
Nah, if you read the ars technica report on it, the perception explanation
does turn out to be reasonable due to the way the "reception bars" graph
works. Besides that, it explains that despite the fact that the phone suffers
greater attenuation than most others, it still actually performs well due to
higher sensitivity.

See here: <http://www.anandtech.com/show/3794/the-iphone-4-review/2>

------
paul9290
I wonder if Apple is repeating history and for the sole sake of focusing on
profits over market share. There was a huge pent up demand for iPhone on other
US carriers that Apple never and has not filled. Such has opened the door for
the success and continued success of Android. I see so many people using
Android phones now and so many people bashing iPhone. These same people had
Apple fulfilled their demand most of them would not be on the Android
bandwagon, which currently the Droid X is getting a ton of buzz and promoted
as a just as good alternative to iPhone.

For me I prefer the iPhone, but it's not as cool as it use to be. This further
hurts it's luster and cool factor!

~~~
demallien
The US is not the entire world - the iPhone is available for just about every
major carrier around the world. In the US, they have AT&T, which has somewhere
around 40-45% share of the market. The decision to not make an iPhone
compatible with the rest of the US networks is a blip compared to the global
market. Which means that the rise of Android has nearly nothing to do with the
non-availability of the iPhone on Verizon, and nearly everything to do with
the fact that Android is a strong competitor to the iPhone on
capability/price.

Still, they'll pry my iPhone 4G out of my cold, dead hands... Android - fuh!
:)

------
starkfist
Now that is all cleared up, does anyone know if any stores in NYC have the
phone in stock?

~~~
rmah
No. There is currently a 2 to 3 week backlog at all NYC apple stores.

------
dotBen
I think Steve has handled this really well (I'm not a massive fan, but happy
to acknowledge some smooth PR work going on when I see it).

Taking the line that other phones have the same issue was clever, but in
reality it's actually only phones _with metal cases_ that suffer this problem.
The plastic cases on other phones (or the "bumper" outer-case in this
solution) insulate the user from the circuitry, of course.

What's interesting is that most other top phones (EVO, Nexus One, etc) don't
have metal in the cases = no problems. Perhaps Apple needs to realize metal
isn't a great material to make un-grounded, wireless, hand-held products from?

~~~
ubernostrum
_What's interesting is that most other top phones (EVO, Nexus One, etc) don't
have metal in the cases = no problems._

Except the Nexus One _does_ have this problem (to the tune of 17 dB of signal
loss, according to Anandtech).

~~~
jonknee
Holding naturally, Anandtech measured the iPhone 4 losing 19.8 dB vs the Nexus
One 10.7 dB. Keep in mind that dB is logarithmic, so the iPhone 4 performs
~10x worse than the Nexus One in that test.

<http://www.anandtech.com/show/3794/the-iphone-4-review/2>

~~~
sounddust
The reason that signal strength is measured in dB in the first place is
because it corresponds linearly to _actual performance_ based on distance. It
is originally derived from the measurement of a signal needed to sustain an
audible sound across X miles of telephone wire. Therefore, it's a bit
disingenuous to base performance on the linear strength of the signal.

~~~
varjag
Except that mobile phones are wireless and are subject to inverse square law
as far as signal is concerned.

Signal theory traditionally operates with log scale because it simplifies math
greatly and makes graphs manageable. If you say have noise floor at -30dB,
expressing it on a linear graph is not very convenient.

------
credo
Great move in acknowledging the problems and in providing free cases. This is
good news for Apple and for its customers (I haven't had any reception issues
and think it is better than my 3G iPhone, but I plan to get the case)

OTH this is very bad news for accessory companies that manufacture cases for
the iPhone. They're going to have huge unsold inventory (unless Apple buys
from them and they're able to sell to Apple with reasonable margins)

~~~
gamble
If I understood correctly, they will offer a selection of 3rd-party cases, due
to their inability to keep up with the demand for bumpers.

------
il
This is absolutely brilliant marketing by Apple. First, they increase the
perceived value of the case by selling it for $30(even though it costs them
about $1), and then decide to give it away for free.

The result is that if you don't have reception problems, you are happy to get
a free gift. If you do have reception problems, you get a passable fix or an
option to return the phone. Looks like a win win.

~~~
city41
Except the loss being your beautiful phone (and the iPhone 4 really is a
beautiful piece of phone) is now hidden inside a case. The fashion conscious
who are having reception problems won't be happy.

And if you argue these phones need cases to protect them, my 3 year old first
gen iPhone that never had a case and still looks great disagrees with that
sentiment.

~~~
aeontech
Both my 1st and 2nd gen iphone suffered a broken screen. Maybe if you've a
preternatural grasp on your phone and never ever drop it, sure. But I've had
my phone drop from a variety of heights, skate across the train platform, fly
down stairs, and more. No case = new phone every few months.

~~~
sudont
At least now without a case, you'll have a reason to upgrade to the inevitable
Rev B, then!

------
slantyyz
I'm really upset that my own "pundit prediction" of a left-handed iPhone 4 was
patently false.

------
aditya
Interestingly, they're going to give it to everyone who buys an iPhone 4
before 9/30. Does that mean there's a product refresh in the works? Might not
be a bad idea to wait another 2 months, I guess.

~~~
wmf
Or maybe they'll be shipping a case with each iPhone starting 9/30.

------
smitjel
"Left handed death-grip"? Ah those damn left-handed idiots, always screwing
stuff up for everybody else. ;)

~~~
roc
I don't understand why people keep suggesting this hits primarily lefties.

I'm right-handed and I pretty much always hold my phone in my left as that
leaves my dominant hand for doing anything useful: navigating apps, mousing,
one-hand typing, fumbling through pockets, opening doors, etc. Why tie up my
dominant hand just to hold something?

~~~
sliverstorm
Because it allows them to both point fingers somewhere else (damn you lefties,
you complicated things) and downplay the issue- i.e. pretend that because it
only affects 7% of the population, it doesn't matter.

I am left handed btw.

------
tkeller
Why don't they just start anodizing that shit going forward?

~~~
towndrunk
I thought only softer metals like aluminum could be anodized. Not sure you can
do that to stainless steel.

~~~
tkeller
Oh I didn't realize it was steel. For some reason I was thinking it actually
was aluminum.

------
borism
wait, Apple themselves called the whole thing Antennagate? WTF were they
thinking?

There are indeed amateurs working at their PR department. Good luck with
getting rid of that instant meme!

~~~
pillsy
I think after years of the press labeling every tempest in a teapot
"Teapotgate", it's a pretty good PR move.

------
est
New iphone hype on the way. Turning HN filter on.

------
awa
There's already a thread discussing the press conference
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1521752>, can we avoid having the full
front page loaded with the same press conference news

~~~
dotBen
No, because other issues were raised and discussed in the press conference.
This is just about issuing free cases.

Let 1000 flowers bloom and all that...

