You would have to be living under a rock, not to have heard about the problems Apple is having with their new iPhone 4.  In fact I’m sure that Toyota is grateful to Steve Jobs for taking the spotlight off of their problems. I wonder if Toyota sent them a thank you card?

Here is my take on this:

I don’t usually go in for conspiracy theories, but there is too much in this story that borders on unbelievable.

1.  Who Knew What and When.  This is for me the most unbelievable part of this whole story.  I remember taking an electronics class when in high school (Yes, they did have electronics way back then).  The topic of antenna’s and RF (Radio Frequencies) was discussed and it was explained that all antenna’s are cut for a specific frequency and to touch or block any antenna will change the electrical properties of the antenna and cause it be less efficient.

So why would apple design an antenna where it would be impossible to not come into physical contact with the antenna or in this case, short the two antenna’s together.

2.  The Bumper.  Not being a big Apple fan, but I can’t remember anytime in Apple’s history, when they had a case ready and for sale on a product’s day of release.

Now this could be a fluke, but it does seem convenient that an accessory was available that miraculously fixed this issue.

3.  The Bars.  It seemed that throughout this process Apple tried to get people to focus on the signal strength bars and not focus on the real problem of the antenna.  This was done to the point of releasing an update which changed how signal strength was computed and displayed.

So, instead of dealing with the problem, Apple decided to do some smoke and mirrors in the hope that this would make the issue go away…It didnt.

Conclusion:

Are we the consumers to blame?  Have we put  form factor ahead of performance, and manufactures are just giving us we are asking for.  I for one can live with a stub on the top of my phone if it makes my phone work better.  The mobile marketplace seems to be running out of control with a new phone hitting the market every 30 to 60 days.  Apple seems to have had their ‘Toyota Moment’, lets hope they learn from this along with everyone else and future products will be focused on performance.