So the internet is ablaze with videos (some funny, some just irate) of folks lending their opinion on the Apple antenna issue. Everything from pots and pans on their heads, to exaggerated hand maneuvering to make a simple phone call. To be perfectly honest these videos are not only accurate but there should be more. In fact, the complaint department over at Apple should be lit up like a Christmas tree and rightfully so.
We have spoken about this theme in the past but it is always especially irritating when a brand you know and love so blatantly drops the ball on you. For a company that produces a product that a) they know a ton of people are going to line up and purchase starting day one, b) knew they were ultimately going to make a fortune on this product to suggest that holding the phone different would be an appropriate solution to the problem is sheer insanity. Hold the phone different? You mean different than I have for the previous X number of years making phone calls? Come on. Lame only scratches the surface on that one.
But to add insult to injury we now have a “solution”. Simple really, shell out another $30 for a bumper guard (conveniently also made by Apple). Problem solved. Oh yeah, we will have a “software update” as well. That ought to do the trick. It is an awful reminder that big companies have literally no responsibility to do the right thing and own up to their mistakes. The phone has a fundamental flaw. Period. Fix it! Give me a new, non broken phone. If that won’t work then mail me a free bumper guard. If that does not work, shop a ton of them to every Apple/AT&T store and allow me to go there and pick a free one up. That is a fix, that is a solution. Not a pretty one granted, I still prefer my rather expensive phone to simply work without the aid of a bumper guard on it, but a fix nonetheless.
As we putter along adopting new technologies and allowing them to make our lives easier I suppose it is best to keep in mind that these things are bound to happen. My only hope is that at some point companies like Apple realize that they should really have our interests in mind at least once in a while. These types of things are frustrating and cast an unpleasant shadow on an otherwise amazing device. It is as though these companies like to have a product that is “almost” there.
