I just got my new iPhone and I honestly love the way it looks, the design and the software. Man that thing is beautiful. However I am always aware that with design you have the possibility of mistakes by not considering certain problems. You can’t plan for every scenario out there. That was the case with this iteration by Apple. The problem simply is that if you hold your phone with your left hand and cover the band in the lower left corner, the iPhone losses the signal. Your hand functions like a electric conductor and simply the antenna gets interference. The kind of interference that could result in the loss of a call, but most importantly, after many and many times could lead to a more serious issue with the phone.
This unfortunately is big news. Why? Well, Apple wanted to downplay the problem by just saying go ahead and hold it in other ways. However is not that simple. If you start questioning now the reasons behind creating the special Apple cases called bumpers then you might end with the conclusion that the problem was there and that Apple was misleading by saying that the bumpers were to replicate the success of the iPad case. That spells PR disaster all over. And PR disasters are what spell problems for a company more than anything.
Apple is my favorite company, they really are, but remember that you can’t always be perfect. Your flaws eventually will come to light and when you have pointed the flaws of many others (Adobe), it is definitely a bit more difficult to handle.
For Apple, the easiest way out of this mess is first to accept it, as opposed to down play it. The second step is to create a plan to make it right. Finally make sure that your devote followers end with a sense in their mouth that Apple is the kind of company that they believe in. Apple will do the right thing. Apple is not like everybody else.
For us, oh well, let’s try not to forget to hold the phone only with our right hand.
Best,
Alex
