Horror Vacui

No Reservations

Despite my successful advance reservation, after two trips to the mall and four hours spent in line, I did not come home with a new iPhone yesterday. For now, I think this is for the best.

When I woke up on Thursday morning, I was excited to head over to the Cambridgeside Galleria to line up for my phone. I arrived just before 7, popped two hours worth of quarters in a parking meter, and expected to be done in time for work. Boy, was that näive. Naturally, the line was enormous and there was no way I could get my phone in time. Still, I waited a while, chatting with folks in line just in case Apple was remarkably efficient.

One topic of conversation was the news from early delivery recipeints about 3G signal problems for the new device when held firmly in the palm. At that time, many videos had already been published, documenting the phenomenon. We laughed and joked about conspiracy theories - how it could be seen as a way to sell lots more protective “bumpers”, or perhaps the bumpers themselves were a last ditch idea to “solve” the design problem. (Maybe it’s a software problem, but it doesn’t feel that way to me.)

By 9:05 I was within sight of the Apple store, but had already refilled the parking meter once, and now was in danger of being late for a meeting at work. I reluctantly left my place in line for the first time that day, and drove through Cambridge to work.

By the end of the day, my primary motivation was still to get back to the store and make good on my reservation. After driving back across Cambridge, parking in the garage this time, (it wasn’t yet open at 7am) I re-entered the main concourse to find (surprise!) another large line. It was smaller this time, but still probably 70 or more people deep. Like before, the problem for me wasn’t the total number of people, but the slow speed with which they were being handled. It afforded me plenty of time to stand around and think.

Mostly I thought about the antenna issue and how it was clear by the number of reports that it was not an isolated problem. I thought about the likelihood of Apple acknowledging and fixing the issue. I thought about why I am willing to pay top dollar for Apple products. I thought that paying $300 for a device with a known problem with its primary function is not rational. And I left the line again.

I very much want an iPhone 4, but I am not willing to rush into the purchase knowing that I can expect problems from the start. The official explanation from Apple is:

Gripping any mobile phone will result in some attenuation of its antenna performance, with certain places being worse than others depending on the placement of the antennas. This is a fact of life for every wireless phone. If you ever experience this on your iPhone 4, avoid gripping it in the lower left corner in a way that covers both sides of the black strip in the metal band, or simply use one of many available cases.

This explanation doesn’t sit well with me at all. In fact, if I had just bought the phone, found the problem and then read this, I would have been very angry indeed. For Apple to boil this down to PICNIC is unacceptable. Furthermore, for Apple to suggest that the consumer should investigate buying some accessories to solve the problem inherent in their product is as obnoxious as the idea that I should pay AT&T money for the privilege of improving their cellular signal in my house. (For what it’s worth, my signal at home is just fine!)

To wrap up, I suppose I am mostly just disappointed. If this was only a software product, I might have gone through with the purchase on the faith that the issues would be worked out in patches going forward. When it comes to consumer tech devices, however, I’ve been burned enough to have some patience punished into me. (I’m looking at you, 3 consecutive red-ringed Xbox 360’s!). I hope Apple will take a good look at the iPhone 4 and produce a fix (in hardware or software) that will let me buy their otherwise amazing device with no reservations.