Motorola advert revels in anti-iPhone schadenfreude
Jobs & Co set for 'Death Grip' recall?
Motorola is taking advantage of the iPhone 4 'Death Grip' debacle by kicking Apple when it's down: the Droid maker ran a full-page ad in Wednesday's New York Times ridiculing the Jobsian handset's antenna problems.
In the advert — underneath a photo of Motorola's upcoming Droid X, complete with the obligatory comely lass — is a paragraph of advertising copy extolling the Android phone's features. One part of that exaltation is this sentence:
And most importantly, it comes with a double antenna design. The kind that allows you to hold the phone any way you like and use it just about anywhere to make crystal clear calls.
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Motorola is not alone in its ridicule of the iPhone 4. On Monday, Nokia hosted a mocking how-to on its company blog outlining four ways to hold their Finnish fones – a teasing tweaking that was a direct response to Apple's contention that the iPhone 4's reception problems are caused by users holding it wrong.
There's both humor and schadenfreude in Motorola and Nokia's tossing of their respective banana-cream pies into Cupertino's face after the iPhone's banana-peel slippage — to mix metaphors a wee bit.
However, there is a serious side to this tomfoolery. Apple has been riding high for quite some time, and its competitors and detractors have been waiting impatiently for Jobs & Co to make a major misstep. And that time may have arrived.
In a detailed review and antenna exegesis released today, the exceptionally intelligent folks at Anandtech said of the iPhone 4's reception problems:
The main downside to the iPhone 4 is the obvious lapse in Apple's engineering judgment. The fact that Apple didn't have the foresight to coat the stainless steel antenna band with even a fraction of an ounce worth of non-conductive material either tells us that Apple doesn't care or that it simply doesn't test thoroughly enough.
The Anandtech reviewers continue: "The best scenario is for Apple to coat the antenna and replace all existing phones with a revised model. The ideal situation is very costly for Apple but it is the right thing to do."
Motorola, Nokia, and other competitors may be witnessing the beginning of the Toyotafication of the iPhone 4: an embarrassing, costly recall.
To muck about with another metaphor, the jury is still out but the lawyers have begun to smell blood. As each day goes by, it becomes increasingly clear that Apple has a real problem on its hands — or, more to the point, in the hands of iPhone 4 owners.
How Apple responds to this problem will reveal a lot about the company and its mercurial leader.
Even Steve Jobs' powers of persuasion and coercion have their limits. As Anandtech reminds us: "There's nothing Apple nor anyone else can do to get around physics, plain and simple." ®
COMMENTS
Sweet, sweet karma.
Well done Nokia and Motorola. I love it!
Shills way off mark
As always the Apple fanbois and paid PR / AC’s are missing the point.
It doesn't matter how well it does anything else, it's a phone first and foremost so if it loses reception because of a design flaw then it's faulty and not fit for purpose.
This applies even if without the antenna covered it can pick up calls from Mars.
Conspiracy: Gizmodo killed the iPhone 4!
Now before you all start flaming me, let me explain:
* iPhone 4 starts to near completion - iOS is ready, internals assembled, awaiting testing on antenna.
* Engineer is unchained from his Cupertino dungeon for an antenna strength field test.
* Revelling in his new found freedom, he is overwhelmed by strange sensations such as sunlight and the lack of whips.
* He seeks refreshment at a nearby tent and after having the tiniest sip of beer, he is immediately rendered unconcscious.
* A nearby Apple fanboi recognises the burning brand mark on the engineer's arm and immediately sets about rifling through his pockets, discovering the iPhone prototype.
* Absconding with his ill-gotten gain, he starts whoring the phone out to various tech blogs, eventually striking gold with the Apple sycophants otherwise known as Gizmodo.
* Various underhand dealings take place, resulting in transfers of money and the unfinished prototype, otherwise known as selling stolen goods.
* Meanwhile, Mount Jobs erupts - they still don't have any feedback on the antenna performance and the sweatshops, er, manufacturing lines in China are almost ready to start production.
* Gizmodo proudly announces, like a child showing you a full potty: "LOOK MA WE HAZ NU iPHONEZ!"
* More underhand dealings take place and Jason Chen's front door gets kicked in by the cops.
* Unholy father and unnatural spawn are finally reunited but Apple run out of time for product testing and the prototype gets shipped out to China.
* Engineer also shipped out to China to work at Foxcomm, where he is quoted as enjoying the relaxed and friendly working environment and the softer whips the overseers use.
* iPhone 4 launch day arrives and the prototype is shipped to Apple's flagship store. None of the others have actually been made yet in order to simulate stock shortages.
* Early adopter starts whining about antenna reception.
So there you have it - how one techblog's enthusiasm for a product caused said product to fail miserably!
Steve...
seriously, stop posting here about how great your phone is. or at least post under your real name....
Are you saying that this excuses Apple?
The brakes don't work on my Audi.
That's not a fault because the brakes don’t work on this Toyota either.
What an idiotic and desperate argument.
