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General discussion

Apple censoring forums re: Consumer Reports.

Jul 12, 2010 11:12PM PDT

I hope this post doesn't get deleted either...

Dear fanboi's, please defend your lord and master, go!

ps: the defense of "it's their website, they can do what they want to", while true, still makes them epic dbags.

ok, go... Wink
-dr. karl

Discussion is locked

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Typical...
Jul 13, 2010 12:39AM PDT

It's the old "Kill the Messenger" routine. Why can't they just admit they botched this one and send out some kind of free, thin, non-conductive band that will remedy the problem? Anyone who needs a great video demonstration of this should check out Cnet's own empirical test:

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19512_7-20009936-233.html

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(NT) ya this is pretty staunch stuff!
Jul 13, 2010 2:23AM PDT
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Or...
Jul 13, 2010 2:12AM PDT
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(NT) could be, but do they not lock posts?
Jul 13, 2010 2:28AM PDT
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It is unwise to get worked up in a tizzy by anything
Jul 13, 2010 2:39AM PDT

Gizmodo or other attention seeking blogs post as "fact."

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Except...
Jul 13, 2010 3:36AM PDT

the problem is that your link is just more supposition, worth no more or no less than anyone else's opinion of why the forum took the action it did. The author even admits to as much. And then the even bigger stretch is that they relented and allowed the posts afterward --after the author specifically said they routinely delete posts not directly support-related. Inconsistency? Absolutely. No getting around it. But the author gives them a supposition-based pass there, too. He's got it all worked out, he does.

There are no facts there. Just his guesses as to why the actions occurred, giving Apple the benefit of the doubt at every turn, of course. So, I don't give his "nothing to see here" blog any more credence than Gizmodo's postings. If making claims in a calm manner now equals "fact", we're in trouble. Could he be right? Sure. But "could" doesn't necessarily equal "is".

The real problem isn't the sensationalist tech-press, as it were. It's the silence from the company that could easily tamp down such by directly admitting the flaws in the antenna design and offer a free remedy. Even Consumer Reports is almost aching for them to do just that so they can recommend the phone for all of its obvious compelling features.

And blaming "the bars" is just ridiculous. Tell people you're working up a fix in the way of some non-conductive band or cover and send it out. Rework phones that aren't already in production, if need be, and be done with it. People still want this phone. But they need it to work in its core mission. And I'd suspect (just guessing, lol) that most people would like a company to be forthcoming about issues like this.

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If all anyone can do is speculate...
Jul 13, 2010 6:02AM PDT

then the sane response is to say ?we?ll see?.

Experience has taught me that paranoid speculation and conspiracy theories rarely have anything to do with the truth. If people want to hyperventilate and become hysterical about every bit of sensationalistic crap that comes from a bottom-feeding blog hungry for page hits, then I guess they are free to have at it and knock themselves out. But don?t pretend it anything more substantial or meaningful than it is, which is garden variety titillation being sold by a tabloid.

And of course laying flame bait that presumes anyone who disagrees with this kind of sensationalism is a "fanboi" is just as much a part of the problem as the sleazy blogs themselves.

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Well
Jul 13, 2010 8:20AM PDT

I'm not in a position to say who's right or wrong on the forum story. But I do know that in the world of politics --and the court of public opinion-- a charge made and left unanswered becomes a charge believed. It's not fair, of course, but it is reality. Apple's got a PR department that knows this full well.

That's the amazing part to me. First, the dopey story about the signal bars, not to mention Jobs' flippant comments about how people hold the phone. And now the silence in the face of tests done by CR, CNet, and others that demonstrate the problem.

Apple could change the subject in a minute if they just admitted the problem unique to their phone (rather than trying to lump in any/all phones), and say they're going to fix it, no matter what it takes. But it's almost as if it's a slap at their own pride, not unlike Toyota. They just can't bring themselves (yet) to do it.

Yes, I know that they're entitled to do their own testing before spending $$$ making it right. But at least admit it the issue. Crickets ain't helping them now.

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You are correct, it?s a problem and it?s not smart
Jul 13, 2010 9:04AM PDT

of Apple to remain silent.

But it?s also all of our responsibilities, as intelligent citizens of the net, to not be a part of this problem by perpetuating false news cycles by (uncritically) reposting everything we read as if it?s the gospel truth (this goes for bloggers too although it seems quite of few of them didn?t get that memo). Its also important that we call shameless sensationalism out when we see it.

Frankly, the merry go round of sensational headlines about Apple over the last three weeks looks to me like whipped up hysteria and shameless piling on to titillate the fanboys and increase for page hits. Gizmodo and other less scrupulous blogs have been having a field day with this story (apparently so much so that the Gizmodo readers have even complained in the comments that its gone over the top). They site ?experts? to further hammer home the narrative they are trying to sell and conveniently ignore the experts that disagree? hear Spencer Webb, an RF antenna expert on TWIT http://twit.tv/255 or read Bob Egan?s criticism of Conumer Reports techniques (or lack thereof) here: http://mobileanalyst.wordpress.com/2010/07/12/iphone-4-report-consumer-reports-study-is-full-of-crap/.

The sensible posts I have seen thusfar read something like this: Yes there is an iPhone 4 antennae issue that issue is reproduceable. However, being reproduceable does not necessarily translate into poor performance. Many iPhone 4 owners are reporting much better performance than previous iPhones, regardless of the numbers of bars displayed. There are however also people reporting reception problems that are much worse than previous iPhones. Some have suggested that the first group are primarily in strong signal areas and that the second group are in weak areas but even this does not always seem to be the case. Some experts have said this is a design flaw others have said it?s the same flaw that all phones with internal antennas experience. We just don?t have a definitely answer right now as to what exactly is happening.

Nilay Patel of Engadget has a good rundown of the situation as it stands today: http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/13/yes-the-iphone-4-is-broken-no-the-iphone-4-is-not-broken/

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OK
Jul 13, 2010 9:45AM PDT

I can't disagree with your main points, but come on; it's not like Apple doesn't also benefit mightily by a rather uncritical press fawning over every new gadget they come up without even critical tests to determine build quality, performance, etc.

They get tons and tons of good unfiltered press by virtue of simply being Apple. Of course, that's a reflection on the part of many that they are known for good products. But so was Toyota. And frankly, that probably (unfairly) plays into some of the anti-Apple hysteria you see out there today. Works both ways, in other words.

For my part, I would never characterize this issue as "the iPhone is broken". I think that's a gross overstatement. I do think this is something they should remedy because the PR problem is going viral now. They need to get ahead of the story. For a company known for its customer service, this lack of candor (so far) is hurting its image, in my view.

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I don't disagree. Apple benefits from the fickleness
Jul 13, 2010 10:39AM PDT

of the media machine and the blogosphere general. The news cycle as we know it is designed to build up the underdog and the skewer them when they get to the top (don;t worry, Google's next). In the meantime those looking for page hits will scream for Apple's head on a stick for a relatively minor issue that isn;t even fully understood yet. There is no room for nuance or understanding in this kind of journalism. Its all about the spin you choose and the evidence you pull together to support it.

If the bottom feeding tactics of the cynics that create that news cycle are not rebuked then nothing will ever change. Maybe if more reported and bloggers behaved in an ethical way we could kill two birds with one stone: there would be no more piling on (in praise or in scorn) and perhaps we would get a more balanced view of the tech landscape.

Long story short, we enable this kind of crap by reading it, tweeting it, etc.

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Apple censoring forums re: Consumer Reports.
Jul 13, 2010 7:37AM PDT

That ain't good