Or, since we're going down the naming convention rat hole anyway, why not resurrect the "Plus" moniker in honor of the 25th anniversary of the Mac Plus? The iPhone 4 Plus. Double-plus good, no?
After the way Consumer Reports was so crazy over the antenna issue I canceled my subscription immediately. This abuse is even worse. Vote with your dollars. Hit them where it hurts!
Did anyone but me read the actual article? I'm still looking for the "scathing critique" part. Every issue they raise are exactly the same ones raised by posters right here on this board. CR says it and they are the spawn of Satan.
What a laugher. If you like a phone and it or the manufacturer has a decent history of reliability, it meets your needs, fits in your budget, then you buy it. The CR folks offer virtually no useful information - just hyper-opinions. Obviously, these devices have life cycle issues that more informed buyers will consider. But a good phone that meets your need does not become obsolete because a newer-better model has come out.
So . . . I'm confused. Whenever CR disses the iPhone they are deemed a rag, on the take, uncredible, etc. When they diss AT&T they are not a rag, on the take, nor uncredible.
What a laugher. If you like a phone and it or the manufacturer has a decent history of reliability, it meets your needs, fits in your budget, then you buy it. The CR folks offer virtually no useful information - just hyper-opinions. Obviously, these devices have life cycle issues that more informed buyers will consider. But a good phone that meets your need does not become obsolete because a newer-better model has come out.
In language uncharacteristic of the normally objective-sounding Consumer Reports advice, even when concerning products like cars and cameras where buyers might have strong affiliations with a given brand, the posting described potential Verizon iPhone 4 adopters as "breathless" fanatics who were spendthrift and ignorant "addicts."
I guess everyone buying current iPhone 4 for AT&T (and other GSM market) are Apple fanboys? Gadgets get replaced all the time. Some, like many on this board, likes to get latest and greatest. But many don't care or prefer to buy more proven stuff.
After the way Consumer Reports was so crazy over the antenna issue I canceled my subscription immediately. This abuse is even worse. Vote with your dollars. Hit them where it hurts!
Yep I did after the antenna issue as well, can't say I miss it, plenty of other places online to get similar data anymore...
Of course these are the same folks that still feel there's nothing better to drive out there then a Toyota even after all their issues over the last year. Yet another recommendation that people aren't listening to...
So . . . I'm confused. Whenever CR disses the iPhone they are deemed a rag, on the take, uncredible, etc. When they diss AT&T they are not a rag, on the take, nor uncredible.
Am I missing something?
Yes, the double standard. The almost-hilarious-if-it-wasn't-so-sad part is, they're making exactly the same observations we hear every day from posters on this board -- about AT&T, about Verizon's network, about simultaneous voice and data, about the minimal changes to the phone, tiered data plans... you name it.
If Consumer Reports is worried about iPhone 4 being refreshed, it should also be warning all Verizon users to hold off buying phones because of the new batch of LTE models being offered within six months.
[...]
Similarly, the posting complains that iPhone 4 on Verizon suffers from "CDMA's shortcomings," including an inability to use voice and data simultaneously and the lack of a global roaming option, without similarly warning that every phone on Verizon and Sprint has the same characteristics.
This particular point has been driving me up the wall as anti-Verizon iPhone sentiment circulates around the blogosphere. The iPhone's limitations w/regard to 3G vs. 4G, and lack of simultaneous voice and data, are no different from all the Android phones Verizon is selling now, and has been selling for a while.
So if these points are dealbreakers, then please immediately recommend against buying any 3G phone, and any Verizon smartphone at all.
It is true that the Verizon iPhone 4 might have a short life as a flagship product, to be bumped down to second tier in 4 months if/when Apple introduces a Verizon iPhone 5. So what?
So kudos to DED for appropriately pointing this out, even if it is wrapped inside a typically Apple-biased article. </left-handed-compliment>
Daniel, your argument would hold more water if your very disposition didn't sound biased to begin with. And I don't mean this story, but every story you write. It's like you have your agenda before you set out to write your "report".
Whether or not he has a bias doesn't change the facts of the story. And in so far as bias, ummm.. kettle calling the pot black?
So, is everyone who has an iPhone 4 now going to be outraged that a newer model will be coming out in a few months? Or does it possibly mean that there's going to be a lot of owners of an iPhone 4 that might get a new phone when their current contracts are up?
Back in the day I used to subscribe to CR - they had a fine, well equipped testing laboratory. Their reports were unbiased and they eschewed funding other then through their magazine subscriptions and its advertising. Slowly they became more commercialized and, in my opinion more biased. I stopped subscribing and no longer even consider their reviews.
This seems to go over the top - they are making comments about products they have never even held in their hands, let alone independently tested.
CR should confine their opinions to actual tests from their labs. Leave the BS to others. Unless of course you are now a subsidiary of Google, then let us know and have at it.
Comments
Looks like it's time to cancel your Consumer Report subscription. That, or they should fire those two reviewers.
Just did.
Am I missing something?
What a laugher. If you like a phone and it or the manufacturer has a decent history of reliability, it meets your needs, fits in your budget, then you buy it. The CR folks offer virtually no useful information - just hyper-opinions. Obviously, these devices have life cycle issues that more informed buyers will consider. But a good phone that meets your need does not become obsolete because a newer-better model has come out.
That's an interesting point.
Verizon iPhone for fanboys only
In language uncharacteristic of the normally objective-sounding Consumer Reports advice, even when concerning products like cars and cameras where buyers might have strong affiliations with a given brand, the posting described potential Verizon iPhone 4 adopters as "breathless" fanatics who were spendthrift and ignorant "addicts."
I guess everyone buying current iPhone 4 for AT&T (and other GSM market) are Apple fanboys? Gadgets get replaced all the time. Some, like many on this board, likes to get latest and greatest. But many don't care or prefer to buy more proven stuff.
After the way Consumer Reports was so crazy over the antenna issue I canceled my subscription immediately. This abuse is even worse. Vote with your dollars. Hit them where it hurts!
Yep I did after the antenna issue as well, can't say I miss it, plenty of other places online to get similar data anymore...
Of course these are the same folks that still feel there's nothing better to drive out there then a Toyota even after all their issues over the last year. Yet another recommendation that people aren't listening to...
So . . . I'm confused. Whenever CR disses the iPhone they are deemed a rag, on the take, uncredible, etc. When they diss AT&T they are not a rag, on the take, nor uncredible.
Am I missing something?
Yes, the double standard. The almost-hilarious-if-it-wasn't-so-sad part is, they're making exactly the same observations we hear every day from posters on this board -- about AT&T, about Verizon's network, about simultaneous voice and data, about the minimal changes to the phone, tiered data plans... you name it.
If Consumer Reports is worried about iPhone 4 being refreshed, it should also be warning all Verizon users to hold off buying phones because of the new batch of LTE models being offered within six months.
[...]
Similarly, the posting complains that iPhone 4 on Verizon suffers from "CDMA's shortcomings," including an inability to use voice and data simultaneously and the lack of a global roaming option, without similarly warning that every phone on Verizon and Sprint has the same characteristics.
This particular point has been driving me up the wall as anti-Verizon iPhone sentiment circulates around the blogosphere. The iPhone's limitations w/regard to 3G vs. 4G, and lack of simultaneous voice and data, are no different from all the Android phones Verizon is selling now, and has been selling for a while.
So if these points are dealbreakers, then please immediately recommend against buying any 3G phone, and any Verizon smartphone at all.
It is true that the Verizon iPhone 4 might have a short life as a flagship product, to be bumped down to second tier in 4 months if/when Apple introduces a Verizon iPhone 5. So what?
So kudos to DED for appropriately pointing this out, even if it is wrapped inside a typically Apple-biased article. </left-handed-compliment>
Daniel, your argument would hold more water if your very disposition didn't sound biased to begin with. And I don't mean this story, but every story you write. It's like you have your agenda before you set out to write your "report".
Whether or not he has a bias doesn't change the facts of the story. And in so far as bias, ummm.. kettle calling the pot black?
But you shouldn't buy the Verizon iPhone4 because it doesn't have all the cool features of the other current phones.
This seems to go over the top - they are making comments about products they have never even held in their hands, let alone independently tested.
Goodbye and good riddance Consumer Reports.