It is the best smartphone, bar the design flaw. So they are right on both counts."
DID you even read the article? A piece of tape solves the antenna issue. CR states this in their report.
"While waffling between official blog entires that first told users there's "no reason not to buy" iPhone 4 related to its antenna issues, and then backtracking to say it "can't recommend" the phone until Apple addresses its antenna issues with a free fix (after also noting that applying a piece of tape solves the signal attenuation issues it found in testing), Consumer Reports has ranked iPhone 4 the best smartphone on the market."
So no, it was wrong not to recommend what CR itself lists as the best available cellphone on the market today.
I'm less concerned with the iPhone than I am with AT&T. I'd buy my iPhone 4 today if AT&T didn't provide such abysmal service. For now, I have a MacBook Pro, an iPod, and a Verizon cell phone. The day Apple and Verizon make nice will be the same day I buy a new iPhone.
For me, the opposite is true. AT&T is fine at my house, whereas Verizon sucks. It would be nice if the iPhone weren't exclusive to a single network (in the US), but I think that class action suit is bogus. Private companies are allowed to enter into agreements with other private companies without being told by others what they must do. Hopefully, the agreement will end soon.
At least it appears that Verizon has learned its lesson. With the Android phones, (and really all new smartphones), they've now learned to refrain from forcing their own interface laid over the phone's. Apple walked away from that requirement years ago. Perhaps Verizon now regrets their decision. Then again, perhaps my memory is faulty.
...it's nice that the Apple apologists can try to make some lemonade out of this.
Bottom line, the design and execution was suboptimal and the phone is not recommended in its present incantation by CR.
Far better to admit our mistakes and resolve to address them in the future, than to pretend that such mistakes don't exist, or don't matter.
Bottom line, the design and execution was suboptimal in one specific, limited areaand the phone is not recommended in its present incantation by CR. However, the overall design and implementation is the best ever seen by Consumer Reports.
uuh....what part of it is too hard for you to understand? Feature-for-feature it is the best device available with ONE glaring problem. This problem limits an otherwise excellent phone---therefore it cannot be recommended.
Perhaps two glaring problems - when you consider the problems they're having with the proximity sensor. Or three problems when you add in the poor color balance of the display.
The CR testing and review pretty much jive with what most reasonable people have been saying. The iPhone is a fantastic device. They best iPhone ever and among the best smartphones. But, as great as it is, it has a serious flaw. Since the flaw involves the primary function of the device, the cannot recommend it.
Daniel Eran Dilger the writer of this article has helped fuel the juveniles to call long time Apple fans "trolls" at every opportunity. Thanks for ending this article with "Isn't it interesting the people who are having this problem don't even own iPhones?" I'm sure you smiled when you wrote that, how pathetic.
And let's not forget how you edited out the problems that CR had when they took their phones home-
What you reported- (Update: Gikas has subsequently reported that "while we've been unable to date to create the reported conditions in our National Testing Center in Yonkers, New York," he has been able to "reproduce the signal loss that's at the heart of the controversy," in informal testing, noting "there's some question about whether the drop in displayed signal is merely a metering issue, and whether call quality or the ability to place calls is affected." The update also points out that there are many readers who "report fine and consistent signal experiences with their new iPhones"
And here's what you left out- "While we've been unable to date to create the reported conditions in our National Testing Center in Yonkers, New York, I and a colleague did repeatedly experience loss of signal when using an iPhone 4 a few miles north of there today.
While in my home, I held the iPhone in my left hand, gripping it with normal pressure. My palm covered a gap between parts of the metal band that forms the outer ring of the iPhone and serves as its antenna. As I did so, I moved my pinky finger to the corresponding gap on the other side.
Almost immediately, the signal strength began to drop in the meter from the original three or four bars—depending on my location within the house—to zero bars. The drop took about 5 seconds."
There's more about dropped calls too, all of which you left out. Bias doesn't even begin to describe how you deliberately misled your readers. That's not what we want it's what you want. I hope someone there at AI tells you to get a grip (no pun intended ).
"...after also noting that applying a piece of tape solves the signal attenuation issues"
Other reviews state just the opposite. Tape is not enough. Not scotch tape, not electrical tape, not duct tape. Of course, you're just quoting the Consumer Reports article - with much emphasis i might add.
"...after also noting that applying a piece of tape solves the signal attenuation issues"
Life is so simple to you isn't it? You're so smart and everyone else is so stupid, I'm surprised you have the patience to post with us fools.
I'm never going to walk around with a piece of tape on my iPhone to make you or Steve Jobs happy. This is the stupidest solution to the problem I have ever heard and for you to endorse it makes you fool.
The CR testing and review pretty much jive with what most reasonable people have been saying. The iPhone is a fantastic device. They best iPhone ever and among the best smartphones. But, as great as it is, it has a serious flaw. Since the flaw involves the primary function of the device, the cannot recommend it.
Why is this such a controversial position?
I think this pretty much sums up my feelings as well. My iPhone 4 is a much better device -- feature for feature -- than my 3GS. However, it has reception problems that my 3GS never had while using it in the same manner and in the same location.
For Apple, the biggest problem with the antenna attenuation issue with the iPhone 4 is that it's so easy to reproduce. Everybody knows that exact spot to touch to generate the problem. Apple states however, that all cell phones experience some loss of signal when held improperly. Does anybody have access to any other cell phones? Is there any way to locate that hot spot on other phones? Can the "wrong" way to hold other phones be easily identified? I'd think Apple themselves would have pushed for a comparison (assuming they really believe this assertion).
I certainly can't find a way to hold my BlackBerry (provided by my employer) to force it to lose signal strength.
I'm never going to walk around with a piece of tape on my iPhone to make you or Steve Jobs happy. This is the stupidest solution to the problem I have ever heard and for you to endorse it makes you fool.
While I appreciate AI's coverage of this issue, my first impression of AI including pages of Consumer Report's copyrighted 'paid-subscription' material in its story appears to be not right.
News reporting is generally covered by the Fair Use doctrine.
I was a paying member of Consumer Reports for many years. I cancelled as a cost saving measure, giving up my access to its proprietary information.
While I appreciate AI's coverage of this issue, my first impression of AI including pages of Consumer Report's copyrighted 'paid-subscription' material in its story appears to be not right. The posting of the teaser page might be considered as doing CR a favor by providing them free advertising, but posting the results page in its entirety seems totally wrong. I see no footnote indicating the 'used by permission' status. Even if AI paid for a subscription, the copyright usually does not allow for such a posting as part of AI's business venture. To refer to the data in text is ok, but not the use of CR's graphics & ratings, etc.
I could be wrong. I thought I was last Tuesday. Turns out, I was only mistaken!
I was wondering the same thing. I don't think I've ever seen another site post full images like that of Consumer Reports reviews.
I saw in the original CR thread that they are very vigilant about suing people/sites that do stuff like this.
You see, Woot noticed that the AP covered the story of their sale five days ago. But in doing so, they also noticed that the AP used a number of quotes from CEO Matt Rutledge?s blog post about the sale. According to the AP?s own ridiculous rulesfor using quotations, Woot figures that the AP owes them $17.50.
The AP has been banned on TechCrunch for two years now because of this ridiculous rule. In fact, we?re breaking our own rule here by acknowledging they even exist. But this is too good to pass up ? and it?s actually similar to something we did a couple years ago, trying to charge the AP $12.50 for their usage of quotes from us. To my knowledge, we?re still waiting for that check.
Daniel Eran Dilger the writer of this article has helped fuel the juveniles to call long time Apple fans "trolls" at every opportunity. Thanks for ending this article with "Isn't it interesting the people who are having this problem don't even own iPhones?" I'm sure you smiled when you wrote that, how pathetic.
I'm confused too. He brags about tossing wrenches into the Apple stockholders' meeting, but is at this point a bigger homer than Gruber (who, I might add, tends to add reasonable arguments behind his homerism).
I'm going to guess that Dilger 1.) Owns a ton of Apple stock and 2.) Is doing hella damage control to keep it up.
Dilger needs to come clean in his "reports" with a sig saying how much stock he owns. His writing is getting redonkulous. Unfair personal slam (except that it goes to the point of Dilger's decision making process): Maybe he should go back to zipping around on his bike, unfairly driving up the health care bills for everyone in the Healthy San Francisco program.
So for you, owners of iPhone4, is this flaw bad enough to return the phone or you decided to keep it and wait for Apple's "fix"? If every owner of new iPhone experiencing the issues with antenna decides to keep it regardless of the problems there will be no need for Apple to do anything about it.
Bottom line, the design and execution was suboptimal in one specific, limited areaand the phone is not recommended in its present incantation by CR. However, the overall design and implementation is the best ever seen by Consumer Reports.
The problem with not recommending the iPhone 4 is that they then have to recommend something else instead. ...
No, they don't. I can't imagine CR recommending a cell phone service provider among the abundant selections of crap in the US.
Quote:
Not really a logically consistent recommendation.
A long time ago CR reviewed this oddity called Macintosh. They raved about it, but could not recommend it because it did not run Windows. A fatal flaw, it would seem
Their in-depth car reviews are pretty good. Still, they suffer from the occasional weird observations, such as one Toyota reviewed some time ago. One model had the windshield wiper and cruise control on a single stalk. Brilliant design, I thought. Not CR: "too many things on one control". WTF??? Toyota changed the design on subsequent models.
CR is good for a lot of things. So are customer reviews on Amazon. Both must be considered with a healthy amount of circumspection to derive anything meaningful from them.
Comments
It is the best smartphone, bar the design flaw. So they are right on both counts."
DID you even read the article? A piece of tape solves the antenna issue. CR states this in their report.
"While waffling between official blog entires that first told users there's "no reason not to buy" iPhone 4 related to its antenna issues, and then backtracking to say it "can't recommend" the phone until Apple addresses its antenna issues with a free fix (after also noting that applying a piece of tape solves the signal attenuation issues it found in testing), Consumer Reports has ranked iPhone 4 the best smartphone on the market."
So no, it was wrong not to recommend what CR itself lists as the best available cellphone on the market today.
I'm less concerned with the iPhone than I am with AT&T. I'd buy my iPhone 4 today if AT&T didn't provide such abysmal service. For now, I have a MacBook Pro, an iPod, and a Verizon cell phone. The day Apple and Verizon make nice will be the same day I buy a new iPhone.
For me, the opposite is true. AT&T is fine at my house, whereas Verizon sucks. It would be nice if the iPhone weren't exclusive to a single network (in the US), but I think that class action suit is bogus. Private companies are allowed to enter into agreements with other private companies without being told by others what they must do. Hopefully, the agreement will end soon.
At least it appears that Verizon has learned its lesson. With the Android phones, (and really all new smartphones), they've now learned to refrain from forcing their own interface laid over the phone's. Apple walked away from that requirement years ago. Perhaps Verizon now regrets their decision. Then again, perhaps my memory is faulty.
...it's nice that the Apple apologists can try to make some lemonade out of this.
Bottom line, the design and execution was suboptimal and the phone is not recommended in its present incantation by CR.
Far better to admit our mistakes and resolve to address them in the future, than to pretend that such mistakes don't exist, or don't matter.
Bottom line, the design and execution was suboptimal in one specific, limited areaand the phone is not recommended in its present incantation by CR. However, the overall design and implementation is the best ever seen by Consumer Reports.
-Fixed your post up a bit.
A PIECE OF TAPE SOLVES THE PROBLEM
A PIECE OF TAPE SOLVES THE PROBLEM
A PIECE OF TAPE SOLVES THE PROBLEM
A PIECE OF TAPE SOLVES THE PROBLEM
A PIECE OF TAPE SOLVES THE PROBLEM
A PIECE OF TAPE SOLVES THE PROBLEM
A PIECE OF TAPE SOLVES THE PROBLEM
GOT IT? GOOD
----
From the article:
"...after also noting that applying a piece of tape solves the signal attenuation issues"
uuh....what part of it is too hard for you to understand? Feature-for-feature it is the best device available with ONE glaring problem. This problem limits an otherwise excellent phone---therefore it cannot be recommended.
Perhaps two glaring problems - when you consider the problems they're having with the proximity sensor. Or three problems when you add in the poor color balance of the display.
The CR testing and review pretty much jive with what most reasonable people have been saying. The iPhone is a fantastic device. They best iPhone ever and among the best smartphones. But, as great as it is, it has a serious flaw. Since the flaw involves the primary function of the device, the cannot recommend it.
Why is this such a controversial position?
Agreed.
And let's not forget how you edited out the problems that CR had when they took their phones home-
What you reported- (Update: Gikas has subsequently reported that "while we've been unable to date to create the reported conditions in our National Testing Center in Yonkers, New York," he has been able to "reproduce the signal loss that's at the heart of the controversy," in informal testing, noting "there's some question about whether the drop in displayed signal is merely a metering issue, and whether call quality or the ability to place calls is affected." The update also points out that there are many readers who "report fine and consistent signal experiences with their new iPhones"
~ http://www.appleinsider.com/articles...ot_to_buy.html
And here's what you left out- "While we've been unable to date to create the reported conditions in our National Testing Center in Yonkers, New York, I and a colleague did repeatedly experience loss of signal when using an iPhone 4 a few miles north of there today.
While in my home, I held the iPhone in my left hand, gripping it with normal pressure. My palm covered a gap between parts of the metal band that forms the outer ring of the iPhone and serves as its antenna. As I did so, I moved my pinky finger to the corresponding gap on the other side.
Almost immediately, the signal strength began to drop in the meter from the original three or four bars—depending on my location within the house—to zero bars. The drop took about 5 seconds."
~ http://blogs.consumerreports.org/ele...reports-s.html
There's more about dropped calls too, all of which you left out. Bias doesn't even begin to describe how you deliberately misled your readers. That's not what we want it's what you want. I hope someone there at AI tells you to get a grip (no pun intended
A PIECE OF TAPE SOLVES THE PROBLEM
A PIECE OF TAPE SOLVES THE PROBLEM
A PIECE OF TAPE SOLVES THE PROBLEM
A PIECE OF TAPE SOLVES THE PROBLEM
A PIECE OF TAPE SOLVES THE PROBLEM
A PIECE OF TAPE SOLVES THE PROBLEM
A PIECE OF TAPE SOLVES THE PROBLEM
A PIECE OF TAPE SOLVES THE PROBLEM
GOT IT? GOOD
----
From the article:
"...after also noting that applying a piece of tape solves the signal attenuation issues"
Other reviews state just the opposite. Tape is not enough. Not scotch tape, not electrical tape, not duct tape. Of course, you're just quoting the Consumer Reports article - with much emphasis i might add.
A PIECE OF TAPE SOLVES THE PROBLEM
A PIECE OF TAPE SOLVES THE PROBLEM
A PIECE OF TAPE SOLVES THE PROBLEM
A PIECE OF TAPE SOLVES THE PROBLEM
A PIECE OF TAPE SOLVES THE PROBLEM
A PIECE OF TAPE SOLVES THE PROBLEM
A PIECE OF TAPE SOLVES THE PROBLEM
A PIECE OF TAPE SOLVES THE PROBLEM
GOT IT? GOOD
----
From the article:
"...after also noting that applying a piece of tape solves the signal attenuation issues"
Life is so simple to you isn't it? You're so smart and everyone else is so stupid, I'm surprised you have the patience to post with us fools.
I'm never going to walk around with a piece of tape on my iPhone to make you or Steve Jobs happy. This is the stupidest solution to the problem I have ever heard and for you to endorse it makes you fool.
Got it? Good.
The CR testing and review pretty much jive with what most reasonable people have been saying. The iPhone is a fantastic device. They best iPhone ever and among the best smartphones. But, as great as it is, it has a serious flaw. Since the flaw involves the primary function of the device, the cannot recommend it.
Why is this such a controversial position?
I think this pretty much sums up my feelings as well. My iPhone 4 is a much better device -- feature for feature -- than my 3GS. However, it has reception problems that my 3GS never had while using it in the same manner and in the same location.
This is a serious flaw IMHO.
I certainly can't find a way to hold my BlackBerry (provided by my employer) to force it to lose signal strength.
deleted
I'm never going to walk around with a piece of tape on my iPhone to make you or Steve Jobs happy. This is the stupidest solution to the problem I have ever heard and for you to endorse it makes you fool.
Got it? Good.
Just use one of the many available cases.
While I appreciate AI's coverage of this issue, my first impression of AI including pages of Consumer Report's copyrighted 'paid-subscription' material in its story appears to be not right.
News reporting is generally covered by the Fair Use doctrine.
I was a paying member of Consumer Reports for many years. I cancelled as a cost saving measure, giving up my access to its proprietary information.
While I appreciate AI's coverage of this issue, my first impression of AI including pages of Consumer Report's copyrighted 'paid-subscription' material in its story appears to be not right. The posting of the teaser page might be considered as doing CR a favor by providing them free advertising, but posting the results page in its entirety seems totally wrong. I see no footnote indicating the 'used by permission' status. Even if AI paid for a subscription, the copyright usually does not allow for such a posting as part of AI's business venture. To refer to the data in text is ok, but not the use of CR's graphics & ratings, etc.
I could be wrong. I thought I was last Tuesday. Turns out, I was only mistaken!
I was wondering the same thing. I don't think I've ever seen another site post full images like that of Consumer Reports reviews.
I saw in the original CR thread that they are very vigilant about suing people/sites that do stuff like this.
News reporting is generally covered by the Fair Use doctrine.
You sure about that?
http://techcrunch.com/2010/07/06/woot-ap/
You see, Woot noticed that the AP covered the story of their sale five days ago. But in doing so, they also noticed that the AP used a number of quotes from CEO Matt Rutledge?s blog post about the sale. According to the AP?s own ridiculous rulesfor using quotations, Woot figures that the AP owes them $17.50.
The AP has been banned on TechCrunch for two years now because of this ridiculous rule. In fact, we?re breaking our own rule here by acknowledging they even exist. But this is too good to pass up ? and it?s actually similar to something we did a couple years ago, trying to charge the AP $12.50 for their usage of quotes from us. To my knowledge, we?re still waiting for that check.
Daniel Eran Dilger the writer of this article has helped fuel the juveniles to call long time Apple fans "trolls" at every opportunity. Thanks for ending this article with "Isn't it interesting the people who are having this problem don't even own iPhones?" I'm sure you smiled when you wrote that, how pathetic.
I'm confused too. He brags about tossing wrenches into the Apple stockholders' meeting, but is at this point a bigger homer than Gruber (who, I might add, tends to add reasonable arguments behind his homerism).
I'm going to guess that Dilger 1.) Owns a ton of Apple stock and 2.) Is doing hella damage control to keep it up.
Dilger needs to come clean in his "reports" with a sig saying how much stock he owns. His writing is getting redonkulous. Unfair personal slam (except that it goes to the point of Dilger's decision making process): Maybe he should go back to zipping around on his bike, unfairly driving up the health care bills for everyone in the Healthy San Francisco program.
Bottom line, the design and execution was suboptimal in one specific, limited areaand the phone is not recommended in its present incantation by CR. However, the overall design and implementation is the best ever seen by Consumer Reports.
-Fixed your post up a bit.
Should've fixed the word "incarnation" first.
The problem with not recommending the iPhone 4 is that they then have to recommend something else instead. ...
No, they don't. I can't imagine CR recommending a cell phone service provider among the abundant selections of crap in the US.
Not really a logically consistent recommendation.
A long time ago CR reviewed this oddity called Macintosh. They raved about it, but could not recommend it because it did not run Windows. A fatal flaw, it would seem
Their in-depth car reviews are pretty good. Still, they suffer from the occasional weird observations, such as one Toyota reviewed some time ago. One model had the windshield wiper and cruise control on a single stalk. Brilliant design, I thought. Not CR: "too many things on one control". WTF??? Toyota changed the design on subsequent models.
CR is good for a lot of things. So are customer reviews on Amazon. Both must be considered with a healthy amount of circumspection to derive anything meaningful from them.