The Hitchhiker's Guide to Wardzala

Before I begin, I just want to make something clear, these thoughts that follow are my own, and not a reflection of anyone else. They may not even be true for that matter.

Having just watched the press event today, I have a few things I want to say about that specifically, and also about the event in general.

First, the event.

• The fact that cell phones fluctuate signal because of where they are held is a no brainer.  Muscle, bone, skin all block radio frequencies.  The iPhone is nothing special.
• The radio testing Lab Apple has looks really amazing.  Love to see it first hand.
• Because of the popularity of the phone, the media blew this out of proportion so quickly (we’ll get to that more later).
• The data presented was pretty startling.  I don’t think the reality distortion field was needed for this one, this data is enough.
• The less than one percent more call drop from 3Gs to iPhone 4 was astounding to me, I get great signal on my iPhone even in lower signals.
• Free iPhone bumper cases for all iPhones?  Thats welcomed, and I am happy with it.  I do love my white bumper, and may consider getting another color.  Green perhaps?
• I don’t think people realize just how invested Steve is into what he does.  Or for that matter how invested everyone there is in what they do.  I’m sure they took this VERY seriously, and looked deeply into the issue.  I know if I was part of that team, I would take it extremely personally.
• Proximity issue was mentioned, I have seen this a few times, but again, no where close to even a fraction of all phones I’ve seen.
• “Most users don’t seem to be having problems.” Completely true.  I’ll share my personal experiences at the end of the article.

I think those are most of the key points from today.  I do appreciate the fact they were able to joke about it as well by playing the iPhone Antenna Song at the start.  These are smart people, and they know what they are doing.

Secondly, the whole chapter in general.

• Analysts are idiots.  All of them are wrong, and none of them know anything about whats going on.  They are paid to make stuff up  that sounds good or causes controversy.  I realize this could be an analyst’s post written up, but I’m not paid to say crap.
• Gizmodo is quickly becoming the biggest crybaby on the internet.   I think most of this is coming from the constant amount of articles they post about how bad the phone is, etc.
• Most TV news has no idea the full story, they see something bad about a popular product, and they pick it up immediately.  Anyone remember CNN and MSNBC’s “iPhone 4 on Verizon” articles where the deal was done and dates were even given?  They are just fed information from the internet with no motivation to do any background research.
• I really dislike Gizmodo.  I really dislike crybabies.  I’ve gone back to Engadget.
• If CNN reports Nike shoes would burst into flames upon wearing, people would believe it.  They would not investigate further, they would not ask people who own nike shoes.  They would just not buy nike shoes.  This really isn’t anyones fault, but I’m still going to blame it on Gizmodo.

My Experiences:

• Flawless.
• I love my white bumper, but I love the way it feels with or without it.
• As a test, I drove from work to home, about 20 miles both without and with the bumper on.  With the bumper on, I only lost signal in one location, coming out of a tunnel at the bottom of a hill.  I lost a bar or two occasionally at about 70 mph. Without the case on it, I lost reception in the same place (of course), and only lost a bar more in a hand full of spots.  Never did I completely lose signal.  I did make calls at the locations where I had the poorest reception, 3 bars, and had a perfectly fine conversation both incoming and outgoing.
• I’ve never seen the complete loss of service, or dropped a call from lack of service.
• The 4.0.1 update addressing the bars: I think they are way better looking, and far more accurate.

Now that this issue has been addressed, we can all go back to talking about sweet apps, and wonderful things our phones can do, and Gizmodo can find a new topic to complain about.