Should Apple Recall iPhone 4?
Apple has announced it will hold a press conference Friday, July 16, regarding its hottest product, the iPhone 4. Speculation is rampant that the company will issue a recall notice for all of the phones due to a problem with reduced cell phone reliability and reception when it is held in certain positions. Others think the company will not recall the phones but offer a free new enclosure for it that overcomes the shortcomings of the present design.
For my part, I'm relatively unconcerned. While it is true that if I hold my iPhone 4 in a particular way -- a way that is not my usual use but which I understand reflects the way many hold their cell phones -- I can see a noticeable drop in the number of AT&T bars displayed and that the same action can cause calls to drop more frequently than I'm happy about, it's also true that avoiding the problem just isn't that hard for me. I'm not saying it isn't for others. Nor am I absolving Apple of any responsibility for fixing the problem, at least on request from any phone owner who is troubled by it. But it does seem to me that forcing or even expecting a mass recall of the product is a massive over-reaction. After all, nobody gets sick or dies. Children don't choke on small parts. The environment isn't damaged except possibly by the air turning slightly blue in the immediate area surrounding some users whose dropped-call frustration reaches a certain threshold.
You know that I'm a bit of an Apple apologist, though I have occasionally been harshly critical of the company and its products. For the most part, I'm a pretty big Apple fan and a serious user of their technology. I have certainly tried to be objective here and I just can't see justification for a blanket recall. Let those who have problems be given a path to their solution and let those of us who are happy just stay that way.
I mean, if you seriously think I"m sending my iPhone 4 back to Apple to wait days without it while awaiting a replacement, you're loonier than Sharron Angle. And trust me nobody's loonier than that woman.
:-)
