

Apple Takes on Droid X With Latest Smartphone Antenna Video - thomas
http://www.macrumors.com/2010/07/23/apple-takes-on-droid-x-with-latest-smartphone-video/

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illumin8
Apple is selling iPhone 4s faster than they can make them. I hardly think that
qualifies as desperate.

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...](http://phandroid.com/2010/06/30/droid-x-ad-tears-into-
iphone-4s-grip-of-death-signal-issues/)

"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.

~~~
illumin8
Relevant and informative comment instantly downvoted by Droid fans. Nice.

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KirinDave
I'm not sure how I feel about this video campaign, but I am confused why
geek.com lists Apple as “desperate”.

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...](http://money.cnn.com/2010/07/23/technology/iphone_4_att/index.htm?section=money_latest)
)

~~~
edderly
I'm no advertising expert, but I can't think of too many situations where you
advertise your competitors products even in a negative light without saying
something very positive about your product.

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.

~~~
KirinDave
“I'm no advertising expert, but I can't think of too many situations where you
advertise your competitors products even in a negative light without saying
something very positive about your product.”

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.

~~~
edderly
"It makes Consumer Report's not-recommended status look increasingly
irrational..."

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.

~~~
KirinDave
You're certain of this? I can't imagine Consumer Reports is amenable to
negotiation on their product reviews. If they are, then that's a scandal in
and of itself.

~~~
sp332
Consumer Reports originally recommended the iPhone4. They retracted the
recommendation when they heard about the death grip. They confirmed the
problem on the iPhone4, but apparently they didn't check other phones the same
way.

------
petercooper
Apple's behavior reminds me of someone who's voted down on a site like HN on
Reddit and then pulls out links to people who said similar things but were
voted up. We get it logically, but for some reason we interpret it as childish
and petty.

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.

------
olsonjeffery
Someone please explain to me how this campaign is going to lead to Apple being
portrayed as anything other than a bunch of poor sports.

~~~
Hoff
Most folks wandering around the planet have no clue about RF and near-field
effects, but then most folks wandering around haven't had much experience with
carrying around RF devices or with gear operating at picowatt sensitivities.

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"?

~~~
jat850
There's no "data" provided here. There is no context, explanation, or insight
into what is going, or why. If accompanying the video there was audio or
discussion explaining how the person's grip of a phone impacts RF signal, then
it would be less open to (mis)interpretation.

Data would be excellent. This video provides none.

------
dman
Apple taking the position that theyre only as good as everyone else?

~~~
sp332
Apple's position is that they're educating people about RF & cell phones. You
can't fix physics with a software update.

~~~
stcredzero
From where I'm sitting, it seems like several large swathes of the American
public do not understand what scientific laws are about. Many people seem to
operate on the notion that if you feel strongly enough and shout enough, you
can make whatever you want to be true, so long as enough others back you up.

~~~
sachinag
Many people are rightfully pissed at BP for cutting corners and creating a
huge clusterfuck in the Gulf.

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.

~~~
stcredzero
I do think some of the preparation BP did after the disaster should be
prepared ahead of time to be standing by for a future disaster.

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defrex
I like how they had the dialpad open to make the phone look more complex and
less attractive. Nice touch.

~~~
hexley
I like how you implied malicious intent over a totally pedestrian point to
support your obvious biases (as if somebody using the dial pad could be
interested in signal strength!) Nice try.

~~~
sprout
It's marketing designed to make the Droid X look bad. It's by definition
malicious.

~~~
jonhohle
Honest question: is that not the app used to make calls on the Droid X? If it
looks overcomplicated, how is that anyone's fault but Motorola/Google?

Apple certainly didn't design the interface for placing calls on a
competitor's device.

~~~
sprout
All one would ordinarily do to check call strength is look at the home screen.
For me the dialpad is a very infrequently used app, and I rarely use it to
make calls.

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.

~~~
jonhohle
That is the app where (for most people) signal strength matters most. To me,
it seems contextually relevant.

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watty
I think it's informative to know that all phones lose signal when held certain
ways but their method just seems childish.

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).

~~~
KirinDave
I would too.

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.

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handler
i've noticed that on verizon, bars don't matter. as long as you get a signal,
the sound quality is perfect.

