Apple: “We’re Not Perfect”

Ok, so I’m about 20 hours behind the times here – I’ve been away!

So, tonight, I sat back, and watched Steve Jobs at his Press Conference which was held at 3am this morning.  Coming into this, all I knew was that Apple was offering free bumper cases to all iPhone 4 owners.  Good on them.

But what of his whole presentation?

Read on for my thoughts…

Well, I’ve gotta say, I thought the use of a YouTube video from a ‘fanboy’ was a class act.  http://youtube.com/therockcookiebottom – the key to his song, featured at the start of this press conference – was the end – the lyrics “If you don’t want an iPhone 4 – don’t buy it….. If you bought one and you don’t like it – Bring it back”.  Can I tell you – that’s what I’ve been saying to myself and anyone who has asked me about the iPhone 4 now for a week or so..

Steve Jobs seemed nervous, this was not your normal Key Note speech.  He seemed uneasy and for good reason, it’s not normal for him to be on the back foot, and Apple are certainly that.

Bringing the issue to the ‘smartphone ‘ market, detracting from the iPhone specifically.  I don’t think that worked.  It was certainly interesting to see the other Smartphones he showed suffering from similar problems.  However, I doubt that will get much cut-through.  This is a viral issue, not a real factual issue – I’ve not seen any/many reports discussing that this issue goes back to the iPhone 3G (of which I have one).

I thought the demonstration of their test labs was great, showing several Anechoic labs – but again, I don’t think it helps the overall case.

Some of the facts were great.  Key to the success of this event.  According to Jobs, just 0.55% of iPhone 4 users have called Apple Care on reception/antenna issues.  Of the 3,000,000 sold, that means just 16,500 calls – a LOT, but not a lot as he says, in the scheme of things.

Look, he was overly transparent here, with AT&T data showing that less than 1 extra call per hundred was being dropped on the iPhone 4 compared to the iPhone 3GS – but Steve, bad news, Transparency never works.  I’ve seen it at all levels, in the media, in unions, in staff groups, Transparency is never trusted, and no doubt there are people ripping this apart as I write.

The fact is, he’s right, it is an issue for all smartphones.  I’d go so far as to say it’s an issue for all phones.

If you want to avoid getting reception issues relating to the way you hold your phone, buy one of these:

See the difference, it’s got a stick out, pull out antenna.  If we want perfect reception, and the best from our phones, we need this style of antenna.  But no, we want fancy looking sleek phones, so over the years this has disappeared – NOT because antenna design has evolved to mean it’s not useful, but because aesthetics dictate that these kind of antenna’s are just not cool!

I’m with @songadaymann – if you don’t want an iPhone 4 – don’t buy it, If you bought one and you don’t like it – take it back.

For me, I’ll be getting one – but do you know why?  I am a Blackberry user through and through, but I kinda need to be able to play with a device like the iPhone 4 to test Apps and things, so I’ll sign up to a 2 year contract, get an iPhone 4, then change my plan back to Blackberry and enjoy the goodness of my 9700 – which, suffers the same problem – but that’s the phone I want.