I doubt very much that SJ would have made a point of saying they would be available by the end of the month if he had any thought that they would not. He's not stupid, and there's no point in him being anything but honest and transparent on this issue. More likely, they ran into further problems, or the problems turned out to be more difficult to overcome than was realized at that time. It's a bit ridiculous to suggest he wasn't being honest when he made that statement; suggesting that they somehow thought it would be best to say they would be ready when they knew they would not.
Seriously? Given Jobs previous statements on how important he feels it is for managers to meet daily or every other day to examine sales, production and inventory information that is almost real time and to be nimble enough to adjust accordingly, I would be very surprised that this just suddenly came up. It is July 23 today, one week away the date that Jobs stated it would be generally available and just one week after he made the statement.
It isn't like they just decided to make a white model last week. They have been working on producing mass quantities to be available for sale for the end of July. You really think it took until the end of July for them to realize they had an issue? Really?
Of course he knew of whatever issue was behind today's announcement a week ago, even if he wasn't sure it would be a ship stopper. It is ridiculous to to even suggest otherwise. And so of course it was less than honest to have said 1 week ago that they would be ready for mass sales in 2 weeks time. You think he was planning to produce the entire launch inventory in 2 weeks? This didn't sneak up on them. They are way too sophisticated for that.
Likely it was wasn't mentioned last week in order to avoid shattering the carefully crafted image that was present, that there is nothing unusual. The point was to make the antenna issue go away. Hard to sell that while admitting to other manufacturing problems that will result in weeks or months of delay.
Deep inside yourself You are still the 14 year old kid nobody liked in school. Everybody called you a nerd, the girls didn't like you and the jocks picked on you. You come here to flame and for a moment it makes you feel like a real man. You will never be a real man, just a pathetic little boy
It feels good to flame guys like Blackintosh! Keep it up!
... The external antenna with the gap right near the users palm is a failure. It is probably the greatest example of form over function in history. ...
Dude, your just making stuff up here. Don't use phrases like this unless you can use them properly.
Just because a lot of idiots are fond of saying that Apple prioritises "form over function" doesn't make it true. No real designer looking at Apple's products would ever think or say this. It's just a catch phrase that a lot of fools use thinking they know what it means.
I was also surprised when I read it was paint. There are however all kinds of very high-tech paints that can withstand heat so that shouldn't be a problem.
If you look closely at any iPhone, or at the tear-downs from iFixit, it's pretty clear that the black is just painted on the back of clear glass. The white would be the same.
This is actually a typical Apple kind of problem/story. The entire production of a best-selling phone is delayed for months because the white paint isn't the *exact* perfect shade of white.
Kind of funny actually, although I'd be pissed off if I was waiting for one.
If it was HTC they would use whatever the cheapest white pain was and not care about the exact shade. Needless to say this is the benefit and also the curse, of using Apple products.
The antenna issue was so bad it was world headlines for weeks, surpassing the BP oil spill. A US senator got involved, satire cartoons filled the newspapers, and the world trembled on the brink. Everyone seemed to be in agreement that a mass recall was the only way to save Apple.
That only proofs, in what a terrible state the world press is. This is actually very very sad.
i don't think it matters if the original story is about a new apple monitor or a patent filing for a spaceship, it's going to degenerate into an argument about the iPhone4 antenna.
as for white iPhones - i'm surprised they didn't see the production issues two months ago - maybe they believed some extremely optimistic reports of how fast the issue could be fixed.
...and as for the .45% REPORTING issues, that's how many people had their complaints logged by AT&T customer service. we all know that's a small fraction of those actually having the issue, but unlike some crack head analyst, i'm not going to venture an uneducated guess at the actual number.
lastly, the super indestructable glass on my wifes iPhone cracked in the upper right corner, and she says she's never dropped the thing [there are no scratches or dents or tiny nicks on it, as would be evidence from a drop]. we'll exchange it under warranty of course, but it will be the first iPhone/iPod we've ever returned.
Kind of funny actually, although I'd be pissed off if I was waiting for one. :
I was going for that model, however I was not in a hurry until a couple days ago when my 3GS drowned in a swimming related incident. Right now I'm dumb phoning. I am left in a quandary to wait for the white one or buy a black iPhone 4, or even replace the 3GS for $199 to hold me over until the white ones arrive or just keep my dumb phone until they arrive. Decisions, decisions...
Do you really think Apple would give out free cases to every iPhone owner just because 0.55% of people with iPhone 4's are having problems? That doesn't make much sense to me -
It may not make sense to you, but Apple loves each and every customer, and would do anything to make them all happy.
...and as for the .45% REPORTING issues, that's how many people had their complaints logged by AT&T customer service. we all know that's a small fraction of those actually having the issue, but unlike some crack head analyst, i'm not going to venture an uneducated guess at the actual number.
Nope, the .55% reporting issues are those who contacted their phone suppliers and apple support combined - as clearly stated by jobs in his statement.
Anyone who had an issue which rendered their phone unusable in day to day use and didn't complain/return it must have been crazy, and I'd venture that very, very few people who invested this much money in a device to find issues would NOT have said something.
I don't know anyone with the issue, I don't have the issue. Not saying that some people don't experience it. But my real world experience tells me (30 or so friends with iPhone 4, none with an issue) would bear out the less than 1% of users with issues.
So if Lord Jobs says you can't have one then you automatically don't want one now? Gulp gulp.
I don't have a black one either. I just don't see the point of stringing along delay after delay about something as trivial as the color. It just doesn't seem important.
As to "Lord Jobs"... Damn man. You need to get out of your parent's basement and grow up.
I love my white iPhone 3GS, if I am upgrade eligible, I definitely wait for the new white iPhone 4. I don't understand why some people comment like "drop the white one"....People love choices and not everyone likes black! (I meant color )
If you look closely at any iPhone, or at the tear-downs from iFixit, it's pretty clear that the black is just painted on the back of clear glass. The white would be the same.
This is actually a typical Apple kind of problem/story. The entire production of a best-selling phone is delayed for months because the white paint isn't the *exact* perfect shade of white.
Kind of funny actually, although I'd be pissed off if I was waiting for one.
If it was HTC they would use whatever the cheapest white pain was and not care about the exact shade. Needless to say this is the benefit and also the curse, of using Apple products.
Personally, I doubt it has anything to do with getting the "perfect shade of white". Probably a more technical problem. Like perhaps getting the camera or proximity sensor to see through the paint.
Well, given that your entire post is just a bunch of baseless, and nonsensical, conspiracy theory logic, devoid of any actual facts, yes, seriously.
Either they knew, or they were taken by surprise by a major issue, weeks or months into the production run of their most important product. If it is the paint issue, which has been rumored, then they obviously knew. Unless AI and Giz are more informed about Apple's production issues that Steve Jobs.
Maybe I think they are more competent than that. Nothing conspiratorial in believing they know what is happening with their own production runs. Just common sense. It is funny how common sense becomes 'nonsensical' when it runs counter to one's biases.
Dude, your just making stuff up here. Don't use phrases like this unless you can use them properly.
Just because a lot of idiots are fond of saying that Apple prioritises "form over function" doesn't make it true. No real designer looking at Apple's products would ever think or say this. It's just a catch phrase that a lot of fools use thinking they know what it means.
Well... I sort of believe that Apple does push form over function a little too much. Somewhere else I was reading about the next generation iPod touch. Apparently, they're going to use a 3 megapixel camera instead of the 5 megapixel camera already introduced in the iPhone 4. I think the 5 MP camera was a millimeter too large to fit in the case they've already decided to use (form). So they downgraded the camera (function) to fit the form.
The question I have is why is Apple so afraid to use the word "tradeoff" or "compromise". People do understand. Life is a compromise. On the iPhone 4, the antenna was pushed to the outside of the case to save interior space. This gave the phone more room for a larger battery - for instance. The trade off is that you need to avoid holding the phone a certain way. If they'd just been straight forward about the design, nobody would give a hoot about the "death grip".
I love my white iPhone 3GS, if I am upgrade eligible, I definitely wait for the new white iPhone 4. I don't understand why some people comment like "drop the white one"....People love choices and not everyone likes black! (I meant color )
If I were Apple, it would simply be a matter of resources. Why continue to throw good money chasing something so unimportant. The fact that Apple even felt a need to discuss the white iPhone at all during that last press conference, shows that it's taking up too much of their time and energy. Don't get me wrong. I'm not opposed to multiple colors. But if this single color is giving them so much trouble...
And if color is important, why just a black or white one? Why haven't we heard about the red one, the blue one, the chartreuse one? Oh and don't forget that yellow (submarine) Beatles one.
Well... I sort of believe that Apple does push form over function a little too much. Somewhere else I was reading about the next generation iPod touch. Apparently, they're going to use a 3 megapixel camera instead of the 5 megapixel camera already introduced in the iPhone 4. I think the 5 MP camera was a millimeter too large to fit in the case they've already decided to use (form). So they downgraded the camera (function) to fit the form.
Of course, having a 3MP instead of a 5MP also allows them to differentiate their product line a bit more as well. I haven't seen anything that made the claim about the 5MP being a mm too large myself.
Personally, I doubt it has anything to do with getting the "perfect shade of white". Probably a more technical problem. Like perhaps getting the camera or proximity sensor to see through the paint.
The paint wouldn't be applied in those areas.
White paint on glass is very, very tricky.
There are a number of issues with white paint, including actual hue, yellowing, and covering power. There are basically three pigments from which to choose: flake white, zinc oxide, and titanium oxide. Each one has pros and cons.
Flake white is a fabulous looking white, has great covering power, and won't yellow if it receives light on a regular basis (don't keep in the dark). The con? It's lead. It won't be used in a consumer product. Flake white is still available as a fine art paint, but it's been banned for commercial and consumer use, e.g., house paint.
Both zinc oxide and titanium oxide have less toxicity (which is why they're used in sunscreen lotions), but also considerably less covering power than flake white. The issue right now is they are probably having difficulty getting a thin enough coat, yet still have enough opacity.
Comments
Don't you mean that 99.45% of users haven't returned their iPhones?
That is correct.
The return rate is less than 1/3 of the 3GS, which is the single most popular phone in the entire world.
I doubt very much that SJ would have made a point of saying they would be available by the end of the month if he had any thought that they would not. He's not stupid, and there's no point in him being anything but honest and transparent on this issue. More likely, they ran into further problems, or the problems turned out to be more difficult to overcome than was realized at that time. It's a bit ridiculous to suggest he wasn't being honest when he made that statement; suggesting that they somehow thought it would be best to say they would be ready when they knew they would not.
Seriously? Given Jobs previous statements on how important he feels it is for managers to meet daily or every other day to examine sales, production and inventory information that is almost real time and to be nimble enough to adjust accordingly, I would be very surprised that this just suddenly came up. It is July 23 today, one week away the date that Jobs stated it would be generally available and just one week after he made the statement.
It isn't like they just decided to make a white model last week. They have been working on producing mass quantities to be available for sale for the end of July. You really think it took until the end of July for them to realize they had an issue? Really?
Of course he knew of whatever issue was behind today's announcement a week ago, even if he wasn't sure it would be a ship stopper. It is ridiculous to to even suggest otherwise. And so of course it was less than honest to have said 1 week ago that they would be ready for mass sales in 2 weeks time. You think he was planning to produce the entire launch inventory in 2 weeks? This didn't sneak up on them. They are way too sophisticated for that.
Likely it was wasn't mentioned last week in order to avoid shattering the carefully crafted image that was present, that there is nothing unusual. The point was to make the antenna issue go away. Hard to sell that while admitting to other manufacturing problems that will result in weeks or months of delay.
@Blackintosh
Deep inside yourself You are still the 14 year old kid nobody liked in school. Everybody called you a nerd, the girls didn't like you and the jocks picked on you. You come here to flame and for a moment it makes you feel like a real man. You will never be a real man, just a pathetic little boy
It feels good to flame guys like Blackintosh! Keep it up!
... The external antenna with the gap right near the users palm is a failure. It is probably the greatest example of form over function in history. ...
Dude, your just making stuff up here. Don't use phrases like this unless you can use them properly.
Just because a lot of idiots are fond of saying that Apple prioritises "form over function" doesn't make it true. No real designer looking at Apple's products would ever think or say this. It's just a catch phrase that a lot of fools use thinking they know what it means.
I was also surprised when I read it was paint. There are however all kinds of very high-tech paints that can withstand heat so that shouldn't be a problem.
If you look closely at any iPhone, or at the tear-downs from iFixit, it's pretty clear that the black is just painted on the back of clear glass. The white would be the same.
This is actually a typical Apple kind of problem/story. The entire production of a best-selling phone is delayed for months because the white paint isn't the *exact* perfect shade of white.
Kind of funny actually, although I'd be pissed off if I was waiting for one.
If it was HTC they would use whatever the cheapest white pain was and not care about the exact shade. Needless to say this is the benefit and also the curse, of using Apple products.
The antenna issue was so bad it was world headlines for weeks, surpassing the BP oil spill. A US senator got involved, satire cartoons filled the newspapers, and the world trembled on the brink. Everyone seemed to be in agreement that a mass recall was the only way to save Apple.
That only proofs, in what a terrible state the world press is. This is actually very very sad.
Seriously? ...
Well, given that your entire post is just a bunch of baseless, and nonsensical, conspiracy theory logic, devoid of any actual facts, yes, seriously.
as for white iPhones - i'm surprised they didn't see the production issues two months ago - maybe they believed some extremely optimistic reports of how fast the issue could be fixed.
...and as for the .45% REPORTING issues, that's how many people had their complaints logged by AT&T customer service. we all know that's a small fraction of those actually having the issue, but unlike some crack head analyst, i'm not going to venture an uneducated guess at the actual number.
lastly, the super indestructable glass on my wifes iPhone cracked in the upper right corner, and she says she's never dropped the thing [there are no scratches or dents or tiny nicks on it, as would be evidence from a drop]. we'll exchange it under warranty of course, but it will be the first iPhone/iPod we've ever returned.
Kind of funny actually, although I'd be pissed off if I was waiting for one. :
I was going for that model, however I was not in a hurry until a couple days ago when my 3GS drowned in a swimming related incident. Right now I'm dumb phoning. I am left in a quandary to wait for the white one or buy a black iPhone 4, or even replace the 3GS for $199 to hold me over until the white ones arrive or just keep my dumb phone until they arrive. Decisions, decisions...
Do you really think Apple would give out free cases to every iPhone owner just because 0.55% of people with iPhone 4's are having problems? That doesn't make much sense to me -
It may not make sense to you, but Apple loves each and every customer, and would do anything to make them all happy.
Did you even watch the Press Release?
...and as for the .45% REPORTING issues, that's how many people had their complaints logged by AT&T customer service. we all know that's a small fraction of those actually having the issue, but unlike some crack head analyst, i'm not going to venture an uneducated guess at the actual number.
Nope, the .55% reporting issues are those who contacted their phone suppliers and apple support combined - as clearly stated by jobs in his statement.
Anyone who had an issue which rendered their phone unusable in day to day use and didn't complain/return it must have been crazy, and I'd venture that very, very few people who invested this much money in a device to find issues would NOT have said something.
I don't know anyone with the issue, I don't have the issue. Not saying that some people don't experience it. But my real world experience tells me (30 or so friends with iPhone 4, none with an issue) would bear out the less than 1% of users with issues.
So if Lord Jobs says you can't have one then you automatically don't want one now? Gulp gulp.
I don't have a black one either. I just don't see the point of stringing along delay after delay about something as trivial as the color. It just doesn't seem important.
As to "Lord Jobs"... Damn man. You need to get out of your parent's basement and grow up.
If you look closely at any iPhone, or at the tear-downs from iFixit, it's pretty clear that the black is just painted on the back of clear glass. The white would be the same.
This is actually a typical Apple kind of problem/story. The entire production of a best-selling phone is delayed for months because the white paint isn't the *exact* perfect shade of white.
Kind of funny actually, although I'd be pissed off if I was waiting for one.
If it was HTC they would use whatever the cheapest white pain was and not care about the exact shade. Needless to say this is the benefit and also the curse, of using Apple products.
Personally, I doubt it has anything to do with getting the "perfect shade of white". Probably a more technical problem. Like perhaps getting the camera or proximity sensor to see through the paint.
Well, given that your entire post is just a bunch of baseless, and nonsensical, conspiracy theory logic, devoid of any actual facts, yes, seriously.
Either they knew, or they were taken by surprise by a major issue, weeks or months into the production run of their most important product. If it is the paint issue, which has been rumored, then they obviously knew. Unless AI and Giz are more informed about Apple's production issues that Steve Jobs.
Maybe I think they are more competent than that. Nothing conspiratorial in believing they know what is happening with their own production runs. Just common sense. It is funny how common sense becomes 'nonsensical' when it runs counter to one's biases.
Dude, your just making stuff up here. Don't use phrases like this unless you can use them properly.
Just because a lot of idiots are fond of saying that Apple prioritises "form over function" doesn't make it true. No real designer looking at Apple's products would ever think or say this. It's just a catch phrase that a lot of fools use thinking they know what it means.
Well... I sort of believe that Apple does push form over function a little too much. Somewhere else I was reading about the next generation iPod touch. Apparently, they're going to use a 3 megapixel camera instead of the 5 megapixel camera already introduced in the iPhone 4. I think the 5 MP camera was a millimeter too large to fit in the case they've already decided to use (form). So they downgraded the camera (function) to fit the form.
The question I have is why is Apple so afraid to use the word "tradeoff" or "compromise". People do understand. Life is a compromise. On the iPhone 4, the antenna was pushed to the outside of the case to save interior space. This gave the phone more room for a larger battery - for instance. The trade off is that you need to avoid holding the phone a certain way. If they'd just been straight forward about the design, nobody would give a hoot about the "death grip".
I love my white iPhone 3GS, if I am upgrade eligible, I definitely wait for the new white iPhone 4. I don't understand why some people comment like "drop the white one"....People love choices and not everyone likes black! (I meant color
If I were Apple, it would simply be a matter of resources. Why continue to throw good money chasing something so unimportant. The fact that Apple even felt a need to discuss the white iPhone at all during that last press conference, shows that it's taking up too much of their time and energy. Don't get me wrong. I'm not opposed to multiple colors. But if this single color is giving them so much trouble...
And if color is important, why just a black or white one? Why haven't we heard about the red one, the blue one, the chartreuse one? Oh and don't forget that yellow (submarine) Beatles one.
Colorware to the rescue - http://www.colorwarepc.com/p-236-iphone-4.aspx. Just pony up the cash.
Well... I sort of believe that Apple does push form over function a little too much. Somewhere else I was reading about the next generation iPod touch. Apparently, they're going to use a 3 megapixel camera instead of the 5 megapixel camera already introduced in the iPhone 4. I think the 5 MP camera was a millimeter too large to fit in the case they've already decided to use (form). So they downgraded the camera (function) to fit the form.
Of course, having a 3MP instead of a 5MP also allows them to differentiate their product line a bit more as well. I haven't seen anything that made the claim about the 5MP being a mm too large myself.
Personally, I doubt it has anything to do with getting the "perfect shade of white". Probably a more technical problem. Like perhaps getting the camera or proximity sensor to see through the paint.
The paint wouldn't be applied in those areas.
White paint on glass is very, very tricky.
There are a number of issues with white paint, including actual hue, yellowing, and covering power. There are basically three pigments from which to choose: flake white, zinc oxide, and titanium oxide. Each one has pros and cons.
Flake white is a fabulous looking white, has great covering power, and won't yellow if it receives light on a regular basis (don't keep in the dark). The con? It's lead. It won't be used in a consumer product. Flake white is still available as a fine art paint, but it's been banned for commercial and consumer use, e.g., house paint.
Both zinc oxide and titanium oxide have less toxicity (which is why they're used in sunscreen lotions), but also considerably less covering power than flake white. The issue right now is they are probably having difficulty getting a thin enough coat, yet still have enough opacity.