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It’s official: Bumpers and cases for everyone who bought an iPhone 4

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Via Engadget

Well, that was an exciting ride, but the end was pretty much as expected. Apple started their “Antennagate” press conference with the anticipated pomp and circumstance. Ultimately though, it all boiled down to giving away cases.

So here’s how it will work: next week, the Apple website will be set up to handle claims from folks who already bought an iPhone 4. You can either get a Bumper or an alternative case if supply is not available (selection not yet specified). If you already bought a Bumper, you’ll get a refund.

Interestingly, the offer only extends to every iPhone 4 purchased through September 30. They say they’ll “re-evaluate” the situation by then, perhaps switching to another case. I suspect putting a fixed date out there may be a subtle ploy to get people to buy up the existing flawed stock now while a redesign is deployed.

Regardless, I believe Apple successfully defused the situation and put on an even better show than I’d expected. Showing off their ultra high-tech testing chamber was perhaps the crowning point of the event. Check out Engadget for their play-by-play coverage.

14 Comments

14 Comments

  1. Mickey Segal

    07/16/2010 at 12:05 pm

    I agree that the September 30th date is interesting. I wonder whether they will have a hardware re-design by then that removes the need for an external fix.

  2. Color me Bored

    07/16/2010 at 12:10 pm

    Crisis averted. Let’s hug and raise a beer.

    I like how with each iPhone release Apple finds a new way to screw the early adopters. Even though each time it’s an issue that was there by design, be it price gouging or lousy reception, we whine, they pretend to be sorry, throw us bone, and we all high five about how great Apple was to us. It’s like a tradition now, and perhaps we should formally celebrate it.

    I remember the good old days when Apple attracted knowledgeable computer users who would respond to such atrocities by switching to platforms where we were better treated and enjoyed more rights. It seems as though there’s clearly a dumber demographic from the consumer electronics market flocking there these days who has no idea what kind of indifferent, abusive relationship that the Apple dictatorship demands of them.

    Now, DON’T ACTUALLY DO THIS, but I guess the moral of the story is that whenever you see somebody with an iPhone, feel free to poor a full cup of hot coffee over their heads or on crotches and then toss them a five dollar bill. Given their ethos, all they’re going to process is “I just got a free five dollar bill!!!” You’ll be a sainted figure in their own personal mythology, and they’ll see themselves as the luckiest people in the world. You’ll make their day and help them rehearse the fundamental coping mechanism that gets them through each day: cognitive dissonance. Once again, DON’T ACTUALL DO THAT, and if you do, then you’re doing so at your own risk. They may not actually be the morons that they play when making “smart”phone purchases.

  3. GoodThings2Life

    07/16/2010 at 12:45 pm

    Sensible Adults: “Hey Steve, stop giving us products that lie about our signal quality and telling us how to hold our devices!” *smack on the hand*

    Two Year Old Steve Jobs: “Aww, but everybody else does it!!!” *cries*

  4. TabletTeacher

    07/16/2010 at 1:55 pm

    Was the design flawed…yes. Did they provide a fix? Yes…in a way. The Sept. 30 hints at getting a redesign.

    HOWEVER, as posted above, don’t diss early adopters. That is their choice. If they whine, then so be it. I was an early adopter with Gateway and found it usable, but in the long run a piece of &#$A.

    Now as for saying all Apple purchasers are dumb or blind, well, that is just showing your ignorance. There is a reason they have a good market share with the iPhone, iPad, Mac, etc. They market and put out a decent product.

    Name one piece of technology that doesn’t have issues. Some companies admit they goofed. Some provide a fix. Some ignore the users. Try buying a Dell sometime and getting an actual person in the USA to provide phone support. I’ll take the Genius Bar any day compared to that. Furthermore, if your PC goes down, can you just grab the install DVD from a buddy with the same system Dell and they will work. NO. Different guts in same model. Yet, MacBooks have the same DVD’s for the OS. Gee…that really sounds like Apple purchasers are wrong.

    I think Apple missed the boat on this one and should have been up front from the get-go. But, at least they are offering a fix. That is something more of a peace offering gesture rather than a bone to appease. Most companies won’t do even that.

    If any of you narrow-minded folks can come up with a better machine and/or marketing strategy—show us your stuff. Otherwise, see it for what it is….new technology with some bugs. (Can you say Windows Mobile or VISTA?)

  5. Tim

    07/16/2010 at 2:42 pm

    The only thing Apple successfully did was admit that not all their products are: “Magical..!”, “Best Ever..!”, “Borne by Unicorns..!”, blah blah blah. I hope that Apple tones down the overblown hype words it uses to describe its products, but I doubt it, and Apple will continue to be lame.

    • TabletTeacher

      07/16/2010 at 3:22 pm

      Lame…Really….how many million iPads have been sold? Many people are using them in the purpose that fits their needs.

      If you really want to talk lame about “bold predictions” and “greatness” think about Ballmer and how “Courier” and 2010 MS Tablets were going to be GREAT.

      Better yet, think “Origami Experience” and the UMPC. Wow…now that was L-A-M-E.

      I personally like the Android system and its possibilities…but no inking yet. We’ll see.

      You still have not come up with something better to refute the saless for the iPhone, iPad, etc.

      • Tim

        07/17/2010 at 1:39 am

        sales for iPhone, iPad, AppleTV, Macbook Air are attributed to Apple fanbois that keep buying whatever Steve Jobs dangle in front of them. Around 70% of iPhone 4 sales are to previous iPhone lemmings that keep drinking the kool-aid, but picking more new lemmings? Apple’s not doing so good. How many million lame overhyped overpriced iPads have been sold to the usual Apple crowd, compared to the many more millions of the more useful netbooks sold to sensible normal folks, no lame lining up required; netbooks that Steve “you’re holding it the wrong way” Jobs specifically lambasted

        • Gavin

          07/17/2010 at 5:03 am

          Tim, seriously, read what you’re writing. Not big and not clever is it troll.

  6. Feralboy

    07/16/2010 at 3:36 pm

    TabletTeacher,

    Ballmer told us Courier was gonna be great? I don’t even remember them announcing the leaked product. But in Apple’s defense, saying your product is great, even if you don’t believe it, is business as usual. Anything else would, and probably should, get you fired.

  7. rookwood

    07/17/2010 at 12:39 am

    I wish I had a company where all the early adopters provided product testing! Did I not see it discussed here that Jobs KNEW of this defect and released to public anyway? If he can do this and still garner 99% support from the media and fanboys, then perhaps the next logical step for Apple would be to release products much earlier and make more even more profit by reducing R&D expenses. This wasn’t a $39 phone you can pick up at Dollar General. Early adopters beware? How telling!

    • Gavin

      07/17/2010 at 5:07 am

      Well, one thing that was accurate was that the flaw has been blown way out of proportion by bloggers and the tech press in general. How many comments do you see from non iPhone owners spouting the fud that it can’t make calls. Of course it can, and the majority of the time it’s perfectly ok.

  8. TabletTeacher

    07/17/2010 at 7:13 am

    Gavin,
    At least ONE person has an open mind on this. Fanbois, existing customers, etc. are all wrong and Gavin is right. (Tim actually sounds like Acerbic… I wonder if they were separated at birth.)

    Either way there are flaws with any new technology. But rather than embrace a ‘Fresh Approach” it is easier to bash it since it is coming from Apple.

    I again, offer the challenge for anyone here to use logical evidence to back up what they are saying. If Apple products were that bad:

    1. Why would people keep coming back? (Not ignorant…must work for them.)
    2. Why do new people keep going to them? (Only a few complained of dropped calls.)

    Also, come on MS “FANBOYS”…..why can’t MS put out a decent “tablet” that will sell millions. The iPad must not be too flawed if that many people have bought that many. Then again, you can’t come up with legitimate evidence to prove they are lacking. It may appear so in your eyes, but for many the iPad miust fit their needs.

    “Stupidity can be cured….but IGNORANCE is forever. Think about that Tim as you crawl back under your rock and await the next MS Origami experience.

  9. TabletTeacher

    07/17/2010 at 7:17 am

    Tim,

    Come up with something new. You have yet to justify the F-L-O-P of any consumer priced MS Tablet, the F-L-O-P of the Origami experience, the Courier being dropped before it came into being, etc.

    That must have been Apple’s fault. They have the simplistic approach, marketing design, and something people can afford.

    Go for it…maybe you and your twin “Acerbic” can set up a study session to do your research on the Apple Conspiracy.

  10. Mike aka C-141xlr

    07/17/2010 at 1:48 pm

    Wow, this thread diminished right into an elementary school grounds fight.

    This is not about MS or any other manufacturer, it’s about Apple and the iPhone 4. I have a 3GS and love it and tried to get out of my contract so I could get an iPhone 4. It was far too expensive to do so, and I’m seriously glad I couldn’t.

    The iPhone 4 is defective. Apple has put out a defective product and is not doing the right thing. Putting a rubber around it is not fixing the defect.

    Last night my local news lead anchor discussed it and said the same thing. They put out a defective product, and are not fixing it, just covering it up with a case. He is also an iPhone owner and has done several spots on iPhone Apps.

    Consumer reports has said it failed tests in its labs designed for cell phone testing. They have recommended not to buy this product.

    CNET is doing some un-scientific testing and when I saw the way they had to hold the phone to use it, I was shocked at how easy it was to block the signal.

    I wonder where the idea came from that only a few percent of the iPhone 4’s have this issue? All the consumer reports phones showed the issue. That’s 100%, not 5% as Apple claims. Why take the word of company putting out the product that its only a small percent? I don’t get that! They are protecting their bottom line and stock price in the same way any other company would such as BP, Toyota, the banks or insurance companies.

    So I’m real happy I didn’t pay to get out of my 3GS contract. When it does expire next year I will consider the next gen of iPhone right along with the newest Androids. But as always, I will let others stand in line and do the testing for me.

    Apple needs to come clean and fix this defect, not bandage it.

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