Funny stuff! The entire antenna issue has been overblown by both competitors, the lying scum-sucking mainstream media, and those who wish that Apple would be run like a normal, lame, poorly-managed business...

Has it? Independent tests have shown that signal degradation due to attenuation is much greater on the iphone 4 than on phones with internal antennas, including previous versions of the iphone. That is a design flaw, an obvious one, which in and of itself isn't that strange. Jobs' denial of the problem and subsequent admission and lame dismissals, coupled with the software patch that would somehow correct a hardware issue then later admission that no, it wouldn't correct the problem are the bigger issues here.

Overall, it's indicative of a larger problem within apple where engineering takes a back seat to design. This was the problem with several generations of macbook pros where thinness became more important than proper airflow causing the video card to overheat. Apple's solution? A software patch underclocking the video card.

Apple is a corporation that designs electronics. It is OK to criticize them when they screw something up. I certainly criticized microsoft over Vista because my modeling and rendering software never did run well on it. I'll never understand this allegiance to a corporate entity to which one has no ties other than owning a few of their gadgets. I suppose it's cognitive dissonance. Or maybe it's just Apple's excellent marketing.

Sorry... no allegiance to Apple, or any company for that matter. I just call it as I see it, and I see an issue that is common in other phones as well, being overblown just because it's Apple. While I admire Apple for being a very well run company (as far as my stock and I can tell), the constant snipes at them because they won't toe the line are getting pathetic and ridiculous.

This is not the Apple of 1996. The company no longer has a mediocre mentality and it pisses off the companies (read: all of them) that do. Success always breeds hatred and jealousy.

What CygnusX1 just said.

And the antenna "issue" is a total non-issue. I've got 4 friends now with iPhone 4's, and they all report better reception than they had on their previous 3G and 3GS phones. So I have no idea how much the signal is attenuated when you hold the phone "the wrong way', but it still drops fewer calls and is able to make calls in areas where its predecessors weren't. Only an idiot would cast an overall improvement in performance as a "problem".

And hey, if you hold the phone with your palm over the screen, you can't even see it. Talk about a design defect . . .

@Ansela: "That's nonsense. One of the main reasons why Macs are so reliable is because Apple does put plenty of emphasis on engineering. The issue of heat is one that affects all computer makers but it is much less of an issue dealing with "thinness" and one of trying to keep computers quiet. You want to maximize the life of your Mac, and any other computer, then simply increase the default fan speeds. There are solutions available to easily do that for both PC and Mac."

That's nonsense. The infamous G4 cube overheats often, and the first gen Intel MacBook Pros can get so hot it just dies spontaneously or burns a hole on your lap. All shiny iPods scratch the moment you take it out of the packaging, and your fancy pre-2004 Apple monitors sit idle because they use the weird ADC connector. Since when Apple is not a company that put more focus on form over function? And where's the fan speed app? If you need a hardware design to last long by changing fan speeds, then it's just as bad as a phone that requires a task manager.

"As for the marketing, Apple actually does very little marketing that reaches the mainstream population. They don't have to as they still do what they do better than anyone else. That doesn't mean they don't make mistakes."

May I ask you what parallel universe you are living in? Because I want to live in a world that is free of Apple ads on my TV every commercial break, free of newspaper without full page iPhone ads, free of highways with gigantic iSomething billboards.

"What "I'll never understand" is why some people wish to constantly criticize others for really liking the products of a particularly popular and successful company."

What I'll never understand is why some people will constantly defend for a company, regardless of what mistakes it makes. Seriously, I can never make my phone lose reception no matter how I hold it, and I never worry about my sweat will make the glass phone slide right off my palm. I like some Apple designs (e.g. iMac G4), and I dislike some (e.g. the iPod clickwheel), but I always dislike fans who are blind to any sort of valid criticisms.

@CygnusX1: "Success always breeds hatred and jealousy."

Success also breeds pride and stubbornness, which Apple and its fans are prone to now.

@ansela, My comments were directed mostly at the previous commenter, not at the blog post.

As for the question of engineering vs design, it's clearly a problem within apple. Gizmodo has a post about it.

And, the antenna issue really is an issue. The chart on that page shows why you may not see it if your signal is perfect to begin with.

@Cygnus, constant snipes? It's simply criticizing something worthy of that critique. It's not like Microsoft, Dell, Adobe, HP, etc don't get their fair share of critical comments. Again, Apple is a corporate entity. It's not like I'm hurting its feelings. Though clearly some of the apple devotees can be a little sensitive.

As far as Apple's success goes, it's true they've done very well in the mp3 player and phone markets, but they still only have 10% of the computer market.

Anyway, Apple makes some really great stuff. However, when they screw up, it's ok to say so.

Further evidence

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fasterforward/2010/07/consumer_reports_cant_recommen.html

consumer reports has recanted their recommendation of the iphone 4 after extensive testing.

"As for the marketing, Apple actually does very little marketing that reaches the mainstream population. They don't have to as they still do what they do better than anyone else. That doesn't mean they don't make mistakes."

hilariously wrong. how many dozens of apple billboards are there in every city? mac vs pc commercials? Silhouettes dancing with ipod headphones? do you live in a bunker under the earth?