
Steve Jobs Responds To The Antenna Issue: Hold It Different Or Use A Case - dwynings
http://techcrunch.com/2010/06/24/iphone-4-antenna-issue/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29&utm_content=FaceBook
======
siglesias
"There's no right or wrong way of holding it. [Close up] I don't have to
change myself to fit the product. It fits me." --Jony Ive, iPad intro video
(1:12)

I suppose this is a trivial feature of iPad's design, since it clearly doesn't
apply to iPhone 4, which is beginning to epitomize form over function--no
design ought to sacrifice usability, no matter how beautiful. It becomes
simply bad, sub-optimal design.

I'm not happy at all about how Apple is responding to this.

~~~
jrockway
_I'm not happy at all about how Apple is responding to this._

Admitting that they fucked up will cut into their profits. Convincing people
that the phone is fine and that the user is the problem moves more units.

Apple has investors like any other company. This move is good for the
investors.

~~~
whichdokta
> Apple has investors like any other company. This move is good for the
> investors.

Any move that is bad for the customers won't be good for investors.

There is no short term vs long term thinking once you reached profitability
and have cash reserves. The short term will inevitably become the long term.

The _responsible_ thing to do for your investors is to solve problems before
they get any more expensive to solve. i.e. solve your problems _now_

You have to simultaneously satisfy customers, investors, employees and the
community you operate within. If you cannot wrap your head around that you
cannot be trusted by anyone because you will always be sacrificing one for the
other to save your incompetent ass.

Sheesh. This is not rocket science.

~~~
whichdokta
It's a shame you feel that way, but down-voting the truth is not going to fix
your economy, un-pollute your oceans nor end your wars.

Feel free to shout once you've had enough and want the beatings to stop.

:-)

------
philwelch
Apple's design has never been especially humanistic (in the sense that things
are shaped to the peculiarities of the human body)--the sharp right angles on
the MacBooks that cut into your wrists at certain typing angles, or the old
undersized puck mouse, or some of the awkwardness for some people using the
Mighty Mouse, for instance--so this isn't a very surprising flaw. Add to that
Steve's stubbornness in terms of admitting mistakes, and this happens. It's a
pretty awesome idea making the structural part of the phone the antenna, but
obviously doesn't work if you hold it the "wrong" way.

~~~
ZeroGravitas
I think using structural elements as part of the antenna is quite common, it's
making them visible and touchable by the user that's new.

------
fraXis
Apple is simply trying to revolutionize the way we hold our phones

~~~
karteek
I was expecting to read this on Daring Fireball.

~~~
Hagelin
Gruber's actual comment: "I don’t know if this signal-degradation-in-left-hand
thing is really a widespread problem or not yet, but it’s not reasonable to
tell people not to hold the phone this way."

<http://daringfireball.net/linked/2010/06/24/iphone-hold>

~~~
bad_user
Wow, Gruber's comments are really terse when he's disagreeing with Apple.

Kind of disappointed since I expected some kind of ass-pulled argument about
what Apple wants.

~~~
tjogin
He's mentioned that neither himself or anyone of a number or friends he's
asked has been able to reproduce the problem. How could he _possibly_ write
exhaustively on the topic at this point, given the lack of information and
personal experience of it?

~~~
bad_user
> _has been able to reproduce the problem_

Are you talking about the lost signal on iPhones, or are you talking about
Apple's response? ... because the later is the real problem for me.

Will the next iPhone have a working antenna in the list of features?

~~~
jodrellblank
What's your ideal Apple response?

~~~
bad_user
If it's true, we fucked up, sorry, we'll try not to do it again.

~~~
tjogin
You are assuming that it is a big fuck up that affects a lot of units and/or
people, and that the way a phone is held usually doesn't affect its reception.
You are also implying that the iPhone 4 antenna has worse performance than its
predecessors. Neither of these things are conclusive, and some reports suggest
the opposite.

Hypothetically, what if these things aren't true, then what would be the
appropriate Apple response?

~~~
bad_user
"We have reasons to believe these reports aren't true and that in fact the
antenna is better than in the previous versions; nevertheless we are taking
steps to investigate this issue"

There, is that so hard? ... No, telling a customer to not hold it like that is
not acceptable ... WTF is Jobs smoking? Fortunately for him these news have a
closed circuit, as only technically inclined people have an interest in such
things; nevertheless ... what if it's a real problem with those phones and it
turns out to upset lots of regular people?

------
InclinedPlane
Apple: Hold Different.

------
jlmendezbonini
Maybe Jobs needed to hold the iPhone4 differently during the keynote instead
of telling everyone to turn off their MiFi, laptops, etc.

------
MrFoof
Masking tape over the lower left corner has been demonstrated to solve the
problem. I'm wondering if clear nail polish might also do the job.

Anyone have any idea as to why the human body might be causing attenuation
whereas other materials don't?

~~~
copper
The human body is conductive, so the masking tape acts as an insulator. I'm
wondering at exactly what shape the antenna inside the phone is, if it can be
affected that easily.

If you've ever played around with short-wave radio (I suppose people do need
to be older than a certain age to have done that :) ) it's possible to improve
reception if you touch the antenna.

~~~
doron
Buy a device for $200+ and fix it with duct tape.

Every man should be able to fix something with a hammer, a screwdriver, and
some duct tape.

I kick my tower computer good and regular, it silences that pesky yammering
fan, and keeps it from showing me attitude.

Occasionally i just glare at it menacingly, by now it learned.

------
sliverstorm
I usually approve of Jobs's candid replies, but not this time.

I mean, holding it a different way isn't necessarily that tall of an order,
but if anything is _wrong_ here it's not the user's hand position- it's the
antenna, and the user is being asked to compensate for Apple.

~~~
jodrellblank
The user is being asked to compensate for the laws of reality.

It's a hand sized device that you hold in your hand. Some holding positions
will shield the antenna. As various people and videos show, this is also the
case with iPhone 3Gs, iPhone originals and other phone makes and models.

And anyway, they're not being forced to tolerate the intolerable, they can
always return the phone and buy a different one.

~~~
electromagnetic
> The user is being asked to compensate for the laws of reality.

No the user is being asked to compensate for shitty design. I've yet to have a
phone that dramatically loses signal when holding it, and all my phones have
had internal antennas. If Apple can't do one of the basics of phone design
(you know, making the cellular phone _work_ ) it is only and will forever only
be their fault.

I stick my motorola phone under my leg (I'm saying literally under my fat ass)
whilst in the company truck so I can feel it vibrate and still seem to get
enough reception, even in dead zones, to receive texts and calls. If my phone
can work through about a foot of flesh, then an iPhone should easily be
working through an inch of flesh.

~~~
jstevens85
Engineering is about trade-offs. Pro - Better reception and less dropped calls
than previous iPhones, Thinnest Smartphone on the market. Con - some people
are experiencing diminished reception when the phone is held in a certain way.
If you think the cons outweigh the benefits, don't buy it or return it, it's
as simple as that. Apple doesn't give a shit, there will be 10s of millions of
people this year who will perceive the benefits of the external antenna design
as easily compensating for its negatives.

~~~
knarf_navillus
False choice. Why not have a phone with better reception and fewer dropped
calls AND good reception no matter how the phone is held? If this a problem
that can be solved with a 0.4" strip of tape, then obviously Apple had the
option. They simply overlooked it.

Also, the issue isn't whether or not we're forced to purchase a product we
don't like. That is a subtle straw man. The issue is whether or not Apple made
wise engineering decisions, and whether or not Jobs is exhibiting the
appropriate attitude towards Apple's customers, who WANT to spend their money
on a nice iPhone, but are having trouble with Apple's shitty design.

------
noonespecial
I seems Jobs has started falling back on "change the way _you_ do things, not
that big a deal", a little too often these days.

One of these days it will be that big a deal.

~~~
jodrellblank
I know he suggested a company rename and now using your device in a way that
doesn't stop it working - when else?

~~~
noonespecial
How about wait in line for 10 hours even though you have a reservation and
it'd be trivial for us to get you your device in minutes just so we can have a
photo-op. Not that big a deal.

It used to be Apple fit the we wanted to live, now they want us to go out of
our way to conform to them.

~~~
jodrellblank
Where did he say that?

------
sasidharm
Now I am really starting to feel for ATT. I can't help but feel that it might
be the iPhone(3G and 3GS) that should be blamed for all the dropped calls and
not ATT :P

------
dieterrams
Change how you hold the phone. Not that big of a deal.

~~~
nijikunai
+1 for sarcasm

------
dandrews
A man stopped at Murray the Tailor's shop to pick up his new suit. Trying it
on, he noticed that one sleeve was longer than the other. Murray waved it off:
"Just pull your right shoulder back and bend your elbow a bit." The man did
this, and was pleased with the look of the sleeve.

"It also looks like one pant leg is longer than the other" the man continued.
Murray the Tailor shrugged. "No problem. Lean to your left a little bit, and
don't bend that knee so much when you walk." The man pulled his shoulder back,
bent his elbow, leaned to his left and strolled in front of the mirror with
one leg stiffened. The suit was perfect... except...

"Should this collar ride up so high?" Murray the Tailor smiled indulgently,
and chided "You shouldn't let your head droop so low. Push it back so people
can see you!" He guided the man's chin up, up, far enough so that the back of
the man's head just closed the distance to the collar.

The man studied himself in the mirror and was satisfied. He left the shop
wearing the suit and strode happily down the sidewalk, leaning left, stiff
legged, one arm held at an odd angle and head back with chin pointing straight
ahead. He was noticed by a pair of bystanders, and one of them remarked:

"Murray must be one damn good tailor. Look how he managed to fit that
cripple."

------
mmorris
This is a ridiculous response to a serious issue, but what confuses me is how
some iPhones seem to be affected while others aren't. If it's just a matter of
a short between the antennas due to a bad design decision, shouldn't it be
universal? (I've tried and tried to replicate the issue with mine, but I
haven't been able to.)

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out, but it seems obvious
that "hold it differently" is not a viable option.

------
ekanes
Relevant image: <http://i.imgur.com/zAJ0y.jpg>

------
obelix
Apple people are Bastiat fans. Who knew? :)

<http://goo.gl/5jEe>

------
praptak
Here's what I think Jobs really meant:
[http://funnyfailpictures.com/2008/12/cell-phone-fail-
picture...](http://funnyfailpictures.com/2008/12/cell-phone-fail-picture.html)

------
jgg
Aaaand we've come full circle again, where people start to realize that Apple
is, like Microsoft, a gigantic company that doesn't care about anyone.

Maybe we can all move to open-source platforms, so that we can fill the
Blogosphere (tm) with self-righteous bullshit about Ubuntu before being swept
up by the next commercial trend. Gee, it took a shiny user interface and a
meticulously-engineered corporate image to sucker in that last batch, how low
can be set the bar this time?

I hate humanity.

~~~
po
If a comment from Jobs about the latest release of Apple's product leads you
to hate humanity… well let's just say you're going to have trouble with
society in general. There is far worse.

Oh, on a second reading I guess it's the people getting suckered in without
learning that makes you feel that way… Like this classic xkcd comic:
<http://xkcd.com/743/>

I would say this: Cheer up! The vocal minority of shiny-chasing blogoshpere
complainers is not representative of humanity in any way! Most people are
quite happy with their iPhones and Steve Jobs knows it.

~~~
jgg
_If a comment from Jobs about the latest release of Apple's product leads you
to hate humanity… well let's just say you're going to have trouble with
society in general. There is far worse._

It wasn't that particular comment I was referring to. But thanks for being
patronizing!

------
bsiemon
Is $29 for a case really that expensive if you just bought an iphone?

~~~
ori_b
$29 for what amounts to a repair module for your phone does seem a bit pricy,
considering it's broken from the factory.

~~~
edge17
It's $29 because that's what the market said it's willing to pay for a piece
of rubber and plastic. Basic market economics. If the market's not willing to
pay, then the market will adjust the price. Apparently the market's willing to
pay $29.

~~~
loewenskind
Talk about sweeping statements. There is a hell of a lot more to "Basic market
economics" than "If the market's not willing to pay, then the market will
adjust the price" but thanks for ridiculing everyone in the field.

In this particular instance, cases are just an accessory market for Apple.
They don't care if they are selling as many of these as possible because it's
not even a secondary revenue stream. They can afford to let it just sit there
at $29 until it rots or someone buys it.

~~~
edge17
Ok, that's just plain wrong. Stores like the Apple Store or Fry's make their
biggest margins on the accessories. Of course they care about selling as many
any the can. You really think the margin on an iPhone is anywhere nearly as
big as the margin on a rubber iPhone case?

Any economist will tell you there is cost associated with having inventory
sitting on the shelves and not moving. Floorspace in an Apple Store, or any
store for that matter, isn't free. There's rent, opportunity cost,
maintenance, etc. Basically, if people stopped paying high prices for rubber
cases at a store, the store will drop the price because there's cost
associated with it sitting there. Maybe Apple can endure a lot more pain than
their competitors, but that's not magic, that's because of the pile of cash
they're sitting on. If they had less cash, they wouldn't be able to endure as
much pain in the market. Yes, maybe there's other forces at work, but basic
market forces don't stop applying just because it's Apple.

~~~
loewenskind
>Maybe Apple can endure a lot more pain than their competitors, but that's not
magic, that's because of the pile of cash they're sitting on.

Exactly. They make enough margin on other things to not be forced to be so
aggressive with pricing on other things.

>but basic market forces don't stop applying just because it's Apple.

My point was: the cost of things is much more complicated than "basic market
forces" [1].

[1] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pricing_strategies>

