Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.
Beyond a chance for a lucky few to visit the surreal and complicated wireless testing labs buried deep in the Apple campus, the Steve Jobs \” Antennagate\” press conference had few surprises when it comes to using a tool at Apple\’s disposal — its own Bumpers (augmented by those of third parties) — to deal with a vulnerability of the iPhone 4 antenna design. The variation between the iPhone 4 and other devices is the clear marking of the spot at which physical contact causes the signal to degrade. Optimists could consider this a visual reminder to circumvent contact while pessimists could see a relentless reminder of imperfection. Regardless, at its press conference, Apple added – and continues to add — visual verification of its assertion that multiple handsets (or at the very least smartphones) can fall victim to a strategic grasp.
Beyond that, the single muted revelation of the day was that AT&T is reporting that the iPhone 4 is monitoring dropped calls on the iPhone 4 at a rate ever so slightly above that of the 3GS. However, the 3GS failed to have a reputation for being particularly tenacious at holding on to a decision. Indeed, were it not for the entire heat the previous iPhone took at AT&T, perhaps Apple don’t have had to push for therefore radical an antenna redesign. Therefore, it’ll were interesting to understand how the iPhone 4 compared to the AT&T smartphone average (skewed as this is to iPhones anyway), especially given the earlier Apple demonstration of the way other smartphones can suffer from attenuation.
In noting that the iPhone 3GS\’s similarity to the iPhone 3G enabled more consumers to go away their store with a case, Steve Jobs offered a plausible cause of the iPhone 4\’s nominally worse track record at AT&T (regardless that the 3GS\’s antenna was not as exposed as the iPhone 4\’s). Apple\’s display of its extensive testing facilities could have allayed concerns that it would not do enough to find out the performance of its devices. However, if the company were to announce its new handsets far previous to shipping them, third parties — and perhaps Apple itself — would have had more time to increase volumes of iPhone cases. Regardless, Jobs\’ hypothesis served as a very good segue to the case giveaway.
| Apple\’s case giveaway represents a compromise for people who want to have their cake and eat it, too. |
Ultimately, despite Apple\’s minimalist Bumper design and implication of Consumer Reports\’ blessing of supplying cases, the case giveaway represents a compromise for those that want to have their cake and eat it, too — enjoying the iPhone\’s naked industrial design while achieving the very best signal quality. The notion of a recall given the low incidence of complaints and the shortcoming of a safety concern was absurd, as was redesigning the handset on such short notice, although Apple will clearly gain takeaways from this experience for a better iPhone.
The antenna problem simply lacks an ideal solution. Apple displayed good faith while acknowledging and explaining the thorny reality and tradeoffs inherent in handset design, tradeoffs acknowledged even in Nokia\’s response. It has also left open the refund opportunity for those for whom the free case isn\’t a delightful enough gesture. However — as trends have indicated so far — few customers will likely avail themselves of that ultimate recourse.
Ross Rubin is executive director of industry analysis for consumer technology at market research and analysis firm The NPD Group. Views expressed in Switched On are his own.
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