Today's Press Event: Wow.

I'm not sure we needed a press conference for Steve Jobs to tell a group of journalists that the issue people are experiencing with their phone, is merely the same thing that happens with other phones. Yes, he showed pictures of impressive testing chambers (chambers that are necessary to design the product to FCC specs, not some exotic choice on Apple's part). He also mentioned that "just" .55% of iPhone 4 buyers have called AppleCare to complain of the reception issue. Do most devices have over half of one percent of all owners call support within three weeks? That data might be more truthful and revealing.

If it's such a small number, then it shouldn't be an issue to appease those having the issue. Of course if it's an inherent design issue, then there isn't much you can do for those people until a different design is found.

What's the point of putting so much time into design if Jobs' "pet theory" is that iPhone 3G/3Gs drop fewer calls because they have cases?

All in all, it wasn't Jobs' best performance. There's something to be said for sticking to your guns, but just the way that it felt like the free bumper was being done begrudgingly, felt condescending to customers. If you want to surprise and delight, how about AppleCare for iPhone 4 buyers: build some confidence in the device, rather than offer a bulky plastic case to buyers for a limited time.

Apple's Friday Press Conference: Our Expectations

First, a note to the TDL mailman: Please stop losing our invites to official Apple events. Now then...

Apple has announced they will hold a press conference on Friday, regarding the iPhone 4. What could possibly come from this unorthodox (for Apple) event?

One of the most obvious questions is, will this be a press event, or a press conference? Despite being billed as the latter, will the press really be free to ask questions as one would expect in any other conference, or is conference simply being used in place of "event" to denote this is not a positive news event?

Second, will there be an iPhone 4 recall? Well others have argued quite logically that giving users free bumpers would solve the issue, and cost Apple significantly less than a full recall. Think about how much fun the Apple community would have at the expense of say, Dell, if they shipped a product that only optimally worked without a silly band of plastic around it. Apple will most likely offer some sort of fix to users that doesn't require the use of plastic. While I doubt that's a full recall, perhaps they've found a way to make an in-store adjustment to the metal portion of the phone and fix the issue.

Then again, this might simply be to announce iOS 4.1 which "addresses" the issue by showing fewer (but taller) bars. I can't imagine Apple would be that foolish this late in the game, unless the software update truly fixes the underlying issue, which seems somewhat improbable right now.