Simple (old and wise stock market axiom): The reaction to the news is more important than the news itself. However, traders have distorted this somewhat in modern times, and often the first reaction to the news is a head fake, allowing traders to establish positions that are guaranteed to shake shares from weaker to stronger hands.
Ergo: (after initial head fake has occurred): Stock drops big time after the news conference: Jobs' fix is hoakam, and the market knows it
Stock jumps up big time: Jobs' fix is for real, and we move on to huge quarterly jump next Tuesday
And, the devil is not in the details at all, which are meaningless.
Which is what many have been suggesting all along and why a "design flaw" was indeed possible here, despite lame protestations that a design flaw must effect all.
The stock was way down today, then recovered to more or less match the market.
If Apple fully addresses the issues head-on, and puts this behind them, the stock will likely rise in anticipation of Tuesday's earnings call.
The market prefers bad news (layoffs, cutbacks, recalls, etc.) to uncertainty!
.
Fricking exaggeration is what I'm talking about. This guy says "the stock was way down then recovered.. Dude what the HELL are u talking about? It opened at $248 then hit it's lowest at $247 only to close at $251 on a down market day. Whoa damn that's way down? Um I bought 3000 shares on iPhone release day three years ago at $103... Stop the alarmist BS. Apples PC share is waaaay up k. That has NUTHIN to do with iPhone numskull.
So if I read this corrrectly there's this guy who made 4 predictions over the past 2 or so years, and only one of them turned out to be true. Which was the google phone that anyone could have seen coming lightyears ahead. Impressive, someone like this kumar dude can't possibly be wrong this time, can he?.... \
My prediction for tomorrow (I'm like Nostradamus, you know): Apple will announce there is no hardware problem, the iPhone 4 has the best antenna of all iPhones to date, there will not be a recall, iPhones are not being returned on a large scale, only a very minor percentage of users encounter reception problems, the vast majority of people are delighted with their iPhone 4's, *but* a combination of a few bad batches containing lemons, being in an area with low coverage, a misrepresentation of the signal strength and software glitches that might cause dropped calls because of the proximity sensor not registering your face or a problem handing off 3G to 2G, has created the *illusion* the iPhone 4 has issues holding calls, for some people. The ones affected can return their phone for a replacement and if the problem persists and can be diagnosed, they will get a free/discounted bumper case. Did I already mention there is no large-scale hardware/design issue?
Hopefully this whole idiocy is done with after tomorrow, because I'm sincerely fed up with it, and I don't even own or are planning to own an iPhone 4. You know stuff is getting completely blown out of proportion when something as stupid as a phone with supposed reception issues controls tech websites for days on end, filling up threads full off trolling and hating, reputable newspapers misquoting consumer reports, senators weighing in on the issue, comparing a dropped call to a stuck gas pedal. Honestly, it's fucking insane.
IT'S A FREAKING CELL PHONE! CELL PHONE TECHNOLOGY IS NOT INFALLIBLE. IF IT DOESN'T WORK FOR YOU, EITHER RETURN YOUR PHONE OR STOP WHINING. IT IS NOT THE END OF THE WORLD IF YOU MIGHT DROP A CALL SOMETIME. LOTS OF PLACES DON'T HAVE CELL PHONE RECEPTION AT ALL. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO RETURN YOUR PHONE, JUST DON'T TOUCH THE ANTENNA WHEN YOU MAKE A CALL OR BUY A BUMPER. IF THAT'S SO TERRIBLE: TOUGH LUCK, THE IPHONE 4 DOES NOT WORK FOR YOU, RETURN IT.
Simple (old and wise stock market axiom): The reaction to the news is more important than the news itself. However, traders have distorted this somewhat in modern times, and often the first reaction to the news is a head fake, allowing traders to establish positions that are guaranteed to shake shares from weaker to stronger hands.
Ergo: (after initial head fake has occurred): Stock drops big time after the news conference: Jobs' fix is hoakam, and the market knows it
Stock jumps up big time: Jobs' fix is for real, and we move on to huge quarterly jump next Tuesday
And, the devil is not in the details at all, which are meaningless.
Buy on the rumors, sell on the news!
Your last point is right on. I worked for IBM for 16 + years. The sage advice was: If you screw up-- then screw up big! Nobody will remember what you did... but they'll remember your name!
Fricking exaggeration is what I'm talking about. This guy says "the stock was way down then recovered.. Dude what the HELL are u talking about? It opened at $248 then hit it's lowest at $247 only to close at $251 on a down market day. Whoa damn that's way down? Um I bought 3000 shares on iPhone release day three years ago at $103... Stop the alarmist BS. Apples PC share is waaaay up k. That has NUTHIN to do with iPhone numskull.
You really need to calm the fuck down. The person you are replying to is one of the most reasonable posters here, albeit a bit of an Apple cheerleader. No sane person would call him alarmist or a numskull.
Fricking exaggeration is what I'm talking about. This guy says "the stock was way down then recovered.. Dude what the HELL are u talking about? It opened at $248 then hit it's lowest at $247 only to close at $251 on a down market day. Whoa damn that's way down? Um I bought 3000 shares on iPhone release day three years ago at $103... Stop the alarmist BS. Apples PC share is waaaay up k. That has NUTHIN to do with iPhone numskull.
You don't know how to read that stock chart you're looking at. The "open"price is not it, it's the "close" price the day before. Thus it closed down 1.277 (as all market info will show), not up $4. Please learn how to read this stuff if you want to play Apple cheerleader, kinda ruins your credibility.
I was watching the stock mid-morning and believe I saw it down as much as 3.5% approx at that point. Did rebound quite a bit so the loss was only a little over 1.
Fricking exaggeration is what I'm talking about. This guy says "the stock was way down then recovered.. Dude what the HELL are u talking about? It opened at $248 then hit it's lowest at $247 only to close at $251 on a down market day. Whoa damn that's way down? Um I bought 3000 shares on iPhone release day three years ago at $103... Stop the alarmist BS. Apples PC share is waaaay up k. That has NUTHIN to do with iPhone numskull.
Err.. Before hours, AAPL was listed at 252.68, opened at 251.50, dropped to 247 and closed at $251....
No alarmist here-- I still have some $17 shares (before 2:1 split).
My point, amplified a on another thread, is that there is usually a lot of attempts to manipulate the AAPL price around earnings calls (day traders, Cramer, etc).
The savvy investor just rides these out-- they are momentary blips in the long term trend!
Steve got up on stage and said how brilliant this new antenna solution was. [then quietly said we designed a new bumper that looks great on the phone - you can hear the reservation in his voice - almost like he knew he was trying to sell a quiet fix for more $$$]
the bigger the claims of one's success, the bigger the outcries at your failure.
I bet he now wishes that they had included it in the box and the instructions for use.
By the way, if there really is an antenna issue that apple can fix by insulating the antenna band (which some people suggest they already do with replacements, and which might actually be true) I have the perfect solution for Apple to get the financial damages to a minimum and prevent a recall. Just swap phones of affected US customers with new ones, and use the 'faulty' ones for when the iPhone 4 is released here in two months or something like that (Netherlands). I wouldn't mind getting one, 3G coverage is almost 100% here (small country, densely populated), and we use the 2100 MHz band, which supposedly suffers much less interference and works better inside buildings than the 1900 MHz band used in the US. I can't even remember not having 5 bars anywhere for the last few years. Most likely nobody would ever notice any problem, and apple could easily sell maybe a million of them over here, since the 3G and 3GS have been ridiculously popular...
I wouldn't mind getting one, 3G coverage is almost 100% here (small country, densely populated), and we use the 2100 MHz band, which supposedly suffers much less interference and works better inside buildings than the 1900 MHz band used in the US. I can't even remember not having 5 bars anywhere for the last few years. .
I have always thought that the lower the frequency the better penetration into buildings. I imagine the difference is that you have much better signal due to closer towers. But aside from that I would guess that the returned phones would have to be sold as refurbished not as new.
IT'S A FREAKING CELL PHONE! CELL PHONE TECHNOLOGY IS NOT INFALLIBLE. IF IT DOESN'T WORK FOR YOU, EITHER RETURN YOUR PHONE OR STOP WHINING. IT IS NOT THE END OF THE WORLD IF YOU MIGHT DROP A CALL SOMETIME. LOTS OF PLACES DON'T HAVE CELL PHONE RECEPTION AT ALL. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO RETURN YOUR PHONE, JUST DON'T TOUCH THE ANTENNA WHEN YOU MAKE A CALL OR BUY A BUMPER. IF THAT'S SO TERRIBLE: TOUGH LUCK, THE IPHONE 4 DOES NOT WORK FOR YOU, RETURN IT.
I'm curious how you think "shouting" is going to make your comments a better argument. I don't know how you getting this emotional about it is going to solve anything.
I think a lot of this might be an occasional bad build, mine is fine but a colleague of mine said his dropped calls about a dozen times in the first day, his iPhone 3G didn't do that. I suggest he try to get it exchanged for another one. That was last week, I forgot to asked if he had resolved the problem.
Placing a rubber dielectric in the phone will accomplish nothing. This is an antenna detuning problem caused by a conductive material (i.e. skin, metal, whatever) that causes the signal (generation, reception) to be attenuated.
Electromagnetism 101.
Putting a salami sandwich with mayo and roma tomatoes (thinly sliced) in the phone will accomplish just as much as an internal rubber bumper. Until they isolate the metal of the antenna from external conductive materials, this problem will continue to occur. This is exactly why the external bumpers are so effective.
Exactly. Another option would be some sort of nonconductive coating on the outside of the stainless steel rim/antennae. Must be pretty good, though, as it would wear (but could be easily reapplied too).
There is still that other (rather unlikely) option, namely that iOS4 overcompensates for an increase in signal strength if you short the antennae (and thus increase its size). Doesn't fit with less bars, though. But some interplay with antenna and energy efficiency is still an option, which could be fixed in software. Unlikely though.
By the way, if there really is an antenna issue that apple can fix by insulating the antenna band (which some people suggest they already do with replacements, and which might actually be true) I have the perfect solution for Apple to get the financial damages to a minimum and prevent a recall. Just swap phones of affected US customers with new ones, and use the 'faulty' ones for when the iPhone 4 is released here in two months or something like that (Netherlands). I wouldn't mind getting one, 3G coverage is almost 100% here (small country, densely populated), and we use the 2100 MHz band, which supposedly suffers much less interference and works better inside buildings than the 1900 MHz band used in the US. I can't even remember not having 5 bars anywhere for the last few years. Most likely nobody would ever notice any problem, and apple could easily sell maybe a million of them over here, since the 3G and 3GS have been ridiculously popular...
Unless you live in the deep south of The Netherlands (Zuid-Limburg). iPhone is linked exclusively to T-mobile in The Netherlands and T-mobile has the worst network in terms of coverage of the three providers that operate their own network (KPN, Vodafone, T-mobile). If the iPhone would have been on Vodafone or KPN (both excellent networks), I would have bought one a long time ago. As it is, being on T-mobile is a show stopper.
I have always thought that the lower the frequency the better penetration into buildings. I imagine the difference is that you have much better signal due to closer towers. But aside from that I would guess that the returned phones would have to be sold as refurbished not as new.
I'm not an antenna or RF expert so I can't say I know for sure. All I know, higher frequency bands can carry higher energy and 900 MHz for 2G is generally considered 'better' than 800 MHz, and likewise: 1900 MHz > 900 MHz. There's probably a good reason over here all newer carrier 2G networks are 1900 MHz and most older 900 MHz ones were upgraded. But you might be right that penetration is worse in fact, and that it's mostly distance to tower that makes the difference. Anyway, no one knows how it would affect the iPhone 4, but in any case I'm somehow very confident iPhone reception will simply not be an issue here. You rarely hear people complain about their cell phone reception, and when someone does, most of the time they were somewhere out in the woods, or in a concrete bunker below ground level or something like that. I'd imagine Apple could simply swap the complete interior of returned phones if they are not immaculate and sell them as new, which would probably still be cheaper than selling them as refurbished. And they would likely still have unsold phones with the problematic antennas lying around they could still sell...
Anyway, all of this is just speculation, let's see what they have to say tomorrow. I have a suspicion that whatever it is, it will not shut up the whining, trolling, flaming and regurgitating of jokes that weren't even funny the first time on all the tech sites I like to read, but I sure hope it does...
I'm curious how you think "shouting" is going to make your comments a better argument. I don't know how you getting this emotional about it is going to solve anything.
I apologize, for a moment I might have been thinking I was posting on engadget or gizmodo
Unless you live in the deep south of The Netherlands (Zuid-Limburg). iPhone is linked exclusively to T-mobile in The Netherlands and T-mobile has the worst network in terms of coverage of the three providers that operate their own network (KPN, Vodafone, T-mobile). If the iPhone would have been on Vodafone or KPN (both excellent networks), I would have bought one a long time ago. As it is, being on T-mobile is a show stopper.
I know, I have an unlocked 3GS on vodafone and the reception has always been excellent. Just like all 4 other phones before it by the way, of 3 different brands, over 4 or 5 years time. There have been rumors vodafone would be getting the iPhone and I'm not sure T-mobile has already been confirmed as the exclusive carrier for the iPhone 4, maybe this is the right time for apple to fix that
Comments
I don't believe this. If it were true, Apple would not have announced that a software glitch was the culprit.
You frickin' fool. Apple DIDN'T.
Quit lying.
Ergo: (after initial head fake has occurred): Stock drops big time after the news conference: Jobs' fix is hoakam, and the market knows it
Stock jumps up big time: Jobs' fix is for real, and we move on to huge quarterly jump next Tuesday
And, the devil is not in the details at all, which are meaningless.
Anand's latest article:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3821/i...1-signal-fix/1
Which is what many have been suggesting all along and why a "design flaw" was indeed possible here, despite lame protestations that a design flaw must effect all.
The stock was way down today, then recovered to more or less match the market.
If Apple fully addresses the issues head-on, and puts this behind them, the stock will likely rise in anticipation of Tuesday's earnings call.
The market prefers bad news (layoffs, cutbacks, recalls, etc.) to uncertainty!
.
Fricking exaggeration is what I'm talking about. This guy says "the stock was way down then recovered.. Dude what the HELL are u talking about? It opened at $248 then hit it's lowest at $247 only to close at $251 on a down market day. Whoa damn that's way down? Um I bought 3000 shares on iPhone release day three years ago at $103... Stop the alarmist BS. Apples PC share is waaaay up k. That has NUTHIN to do with iPhone numskull.
My prediction for tomorrow (I'm like Nostradamus, you know): Apple will announce there is no hardware problem, the iPhone 4 has the best antenna of all iPhones to date, there will not be a recall, iPhones are not being returned on a large scale, only a very minor percentage of users encounter reception problems, the vast majority of people are delighted with their iPhone 4's, *but* a combination of a few bad batches containing lemons, being in an area with low coverage, a misrepresentation of the signal strength and software glitches that might cause dropped calls because of the proximity sensor not registering your face or a problem handing off 3G to 2G, has created the *illusion* the iPhone 4 has issues holding calls, for some people. The ones affected can return their phone for a replacement and if the problem persists and can be diagnosed, they will get a free/discounted bumper case. Did I already mention there is no large-scale hardware/design issue?
Hopefully this whole idiocy is done with after tomorrow, because I'm sincerely fed up with it, and I don't even own or are planning to own an iPhone 4. You know stuff is getting completely blown out of proportion when something as stupid as a phone with supposed reception issues controls tech websites for days on end, filling up threads full off trolling and hating, reputable newspapers misquoting consumer reports, senators weighing in on the issue, comparing a dropped call to a stuck gas pedal. Honestly, it's fucking insane.
IT'S A FREAKING CELL PHONE! CELL PHONE TECHNOLOGY IS NOT INFALLIBLE. IF IT DOESN'T WORK FOR YOU, EITHER RETURN YOUR PHONE OR STOP WHINING. IT IS NOT THE END OF THE WORLD IF YOU MIGHT DROP A CALL SOMETIME. LOTS OF PLACES DON'T HAVE CELL PHONE RECEPTION AT ALL. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO RETURN YOUR PHONE, JUST DON'T TOUCH THE ANTENNA WHEN YOU MAKE A CALL OR BUY A BUMPER. IF THAT'S SO TERRIBLE: TOUGH LUCK, THE IPHONE 4 DOES NOT WORK FOR YOU, RETURN IT.
Simple (old and wise stock market axiom): The reaction to the news is more important than the news itself. However, traders have distorted this somewhat in modern times, and often the first reaction to the news is a head fake, allowing traders to establish positions that are guaranteed to shake shares from weaker to stronger hands.
Ergo: (after initial head fake has occurred): Stock drops big time after the news conference: Jobs' fix is hoakam, and the market knows it
Stock jumps up big time: Jobs' fix is for real, and we move on to huge quarterly jump next Tuesday
And, the devil is not in the details at all, which are meaningless.
Buy on the rumors, sell on the news!
Your last point is right on. I worked for IBM for 16 + years. The sage advice was: If you screw up-- then screw up big! Nobody will remember what you did... but they'll remember your name!
.
Fricking exaggeration is what I'm talking about. This guy says "the stock was way down then recovered.. Dude what the HELL are u talking about? It opened at $248 then hit it's lowest at $247 only to close at $251 on a down market day. Whoa damn that's way down? Um I bought 3000 shares on iPhone release day three years ago at $103... Stop the alarmist BS. Apples PC share is waaaay up k. That has NUTHIN to do with iPhone numskull.
You really need to calm the fuck down. The person you are replying to is one of the most reasonable posters here, albeit a bit of an Apple cheerleader. No sane person would call him alarmist or a numskull.
Fricking exaggeration is what I'm talking about. This guy says "the stock was way down then recovered.. Dude what the HELL are u talking about? It opened at $248 then hit it's lowest at $247 only to close at $251 on a down market day. Whoa damn that's way down? Um I bought 3000 shares on iPhone release day three years ago at $103... Stop the alarmist BS. Apples PC share is waaaay up k. That has NUTHIN to do with iPhone numskull.
You don't know how to read that stock chart you're looking at. The "open"price is not it, it's the "close" price the day before. Thus it closed down 1.277 (as all market info will show), not up $4. Please learn how to read this stuff if you want to play Apple cheerleader, kinda ruins your credibility.
I was watching the stock mid-morning and believe I saw it down as much as 3.5% approx at that point. Did rebound quite a bit so the loss was only a little over 1.
Fricking exaggeration is what I'm talking about. This guy says "the stock was way down then recovered.. Dude what the HELL are u talking about? It opened at $248 then hit it's lowest at $247 only to close at $251 on a down market day. Whoa damn that's way down? Um I bought 3000 shares on iPhone release day three years ago at $103... Stop the alarmist BS. Apples PC share is waaaay up k. That has NUTHIN to do with iPhone numskull.
Err.. Before hours, AAPL was listed at 252.68, opened at 251.50, dropped to 247 and closed at $251....
No alarmist here-- I still have some $17 shares (before 2:1 split).
My point, amplified a on another thread, is that there is usually a lot of attempts to manipulate the AAPL price around earnings calls (day traders, Cramer, etc).
The savvy investor just rides these out-- they are momentary blips in the long term trend!
.
Steve got up on stage and said how brilliant this new antenna solution was. [then quietly said we designed a new bumper that looks great on the phone - you can hear the reservation in his voice - almost like he knew he was trying to sell a quiet fix for more $$$]
the bigger the claims of one's success, the bigger the outcries at your failure.
I bet he now wishes that they had included it in the box and the instructions for use.
Any fix Apple devises isn't going to make the iPhone 4 perform as well as it should, it will be more of a band-aid than a true fix.
I prefer to wait and see before I judge them. Not that I even know if this story is accurate.
I wouldn't mind getting one, 3G coverage is almost 100% here (small country, densely populated), and we use the 2100 MHz band, which supposedly suffers much less interference and works better inside buildings than the 1900 MHz band used in the US. I can't even remember not having 5 bars anywhere for the last few years. .
I have always thought that the lower the frequency the better penetration into buildings. I imagine the difference is that you have much better signal due to closer towers. But aside from that I would guess that the returned phones would have to be sold as refurbished not as new.
IT'S A FREAKING CELL PHONE! CELL PHONE TECHNOLOGY IS NOT INFALLIBLE. IF IT DOESN'T WORK FOR YOU, EITHER RETURN YOUR PHONE OR STOP WHINING. IT IS NOT THE END OF THE WORLD IF YOU MIGHT DROP A CALL SOMETIME. LOTS OF PLACES DON'T HAVE CELL PHONE RECEPTION AT ALL. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO RETURN YOUR PHONE, JUST DON'T TOUCH THE ANTENNA WHEN YOU MAKE A CALL OR BUY A BUMPER. IF THAT'S SO TERRIBLE: TOUGH LUCK, THE IPHONE 4 DOES NOT WORK FOR YOU, RETURN IT.
I'm curious how you think "shouting" is going to make your comments a better argument. I don't know how you getting this emotional about it is going to solve anything.
I think a lot of this might be an occasional bad build, mine is fine but a colleague of mine said his dropped calls about a dozen times in the first day, his iPhone 3G didn't do that. I suggest he try to get it exchanged for another one. That was last week, I forgot to asked if he had resolved the problem.
Placing a rubber dielectric in the phone will accomplish nothing. This is an antenna detuning problem caused by a conductive material (i.e. skin, metal, whatever) that causes the signal (generation, reception) to be attenuated.
Electromagnetism 101.
Putting a salami sandwich with mayo and roma tomatoes (thinly sliced) in the phone will accomplish just as much as an internal rubber bumper. Until they isolate the metal of the antenna from external conductive materials, this problem will continue to occur. This is exactly why the external bumpers are so effective.
Exactly. Another option would be some sort of nonconductive coating on the outside of the stainless steel rim/antennae. Must be pretty good, though, as it would wear (but could be easily reapplied too).
There is still that other (rather unlikely) option, namely that iOS4 overcompensates for an increase in signal strength if you short the antennae (and thus increase its size). Doesn't fit with less bars, though. But some interplay with antenna and energy efficiency is still an option, which could be fixed in software. Unlikely though.
By the way, if there really is an antenna issue that apple can fix by insulating the antenna band (which some people suggest they already do with replacements, and which might actually be true) I have the perfect solution for Apple to get the financial damages to a minimum and prevent a recall. Just swap phones of affected US customers with new ones, and use the 'faulty' ones for when the iPhone 4 is released here in two months or something like that (Netherlands). I wouldn't mind getting one, 3G coverage is almost 100% here (small country, densely populated), and we use the 2100 MHz band, which supposedly suffers much less interference and works better inside buildings than the 1900 MHz band used in the US. I can't even remember not having 5 bars anywhere for the last few years. Most likely nobody would ever notice any problem, and apple could easily sell maybe a million of them over here, since the 3G and 3GS have been ridiculously popular...
Unless you live in the deep south of The Netherlands (Zuid-Limburg). iPhone is linked exclusively to T-mobile in The Netherlands and T-mobile has the worst network in terms of coverage of the three providers that operate their own network (KPN, Vodafone, T-mobile). If the iPhone would have been on Vodafone or KPN (both excellent networks), I would have bought one a long time ago. As it is, being on T-mobile is a show stopper.
I have always thought that the lower the frequency the better penetration into buildings. I imagine the difference is that you have much better signal due to closer towers. But aside from that I would guess that the returned phones would have to be sold as refurbished not as new.
I'm not an antenna or RF expert so I can't say I know for sure. All I know, higher frequency bands can carry higher energy and 900 MHz for 2G is generally considered 'better' than 800 MHz, and likewise: 1900 MHz > 900 MHz. There's probably a good reason over here all newer carrier 2G networks are 1900 MHz and most older 900 MHz ones were upgraded. But you might be right that penetration is worse in fact, and that it's mostly distance to tower that makes the difference. Anyway, no one knows how it would affect the iPhone 4, but in any case I'm somehow very confident iPhone reception will simply not be an issue here. You rarely hear people complain about their cell phone reception, and when someone does, most of the time they were somewhere out in the woods, or in a concrete bunker below ground level or something like that. I'd imagine Apple could simply swap the complete interior of returned phones if they are not immaculate and sell them as new, which would probably still be cheaper than selling them as refurbished. And they would likely still have unsold phones with the problematic antennas lying around they could still sell...
Anyway, all of this is just speculation, let's see what they have to say tomorrow. I have a suspicion that whatever it is, it will not shut up the whining, trolling, flaming and regurgitating of jokes that weren't even funny the first time on all the tech sites I like to read, but I sure hope it does...
I'm curious how you think "shouting" is going to make your comments a better argument. I don't know how you getting this emotional about it is going to solve anything.
I apologize, for a moment I might have been thinking I was posting on engadget or gizmodo
Unless you live in the deep south of The Netherlands (Zuid-Limburg). iPhone is linked exclusively to T-mobile in The Netherlands and T-mobile has the worst network in terms of coverage of the three providers that operate their own network (KPN, Vodafone, T-mobile). If the iPhone would have been on Vodafone or KPN (both excellent networks), I would have bought one a long time ago. As it is, being on T-mobile is a show stopper.
I know, I have an unlocked 3GS on vodafone and the reception has always been excellent. Just like all 4 other phones before it by the way, of 3 different brands, over 4 or 5 years time. There have been rumors vodafone would be getting the iPhone and I'm not sure T-mobile has already been confirmed as the exclusive carrier for the iPhone 4, maybe this is the right time for apple to fix that