The iPhone is one of the most popular handsets on the market today, owing to the fact that is is highly customizable with the applications available and can do almost anything a computer can, at a fraction of the weight, cost and size. The iPhone has been such a success in fact, that they have since released the iPad, a larger version of the popular smartphone with capabilities that almost match up to any laptop, which was met with a backlog of orders and queues backing out of the stores on launch day.
The secret to Apple’s success with the iPhone is the fact that everything is made to be as seamless as possible to the user. This first started with the release of the touchscreen phone in which users could send mobile email, text, take and share photographs and, of course, make phone calls at the touch of a virtual button. Along with this, Apple had carefully designed seamless applications which were advertised to be sleek, fast and less problematic than the iPhone’s rivals. Unfortunately for Apple, this was not to last forever, and in June of 2010, users began reporting problems with the latest release, the iPhone 4.
The reported malfunction was related to left-handed operators noticing dropped calls and interrupted signal when the device was held in the left hand. This was apparently due to the placement of the iPhone antenna on the left side of the phone, and caused much controversy with users the world over who were simply offered the advice to ‘hold it differently’ or spend a further $30 buying a rubber sleeve that would effectively block the problematic connection that the left hand and the iPhone antenna caused.
Apple have a large workforce of talented programmers and designers, as well as a leading research and development team, but it is still no wonder that the users of the iPhone 4 were landed with such a problem. In the years since the invention of the bulky cellular phone, with all its antenna and battery proudly on display for the world to see, designers have fought against each other slim down their models, making them weigh less with every new feature that is added.
This might just be the cause of the problem; designers have begun to overlook the very parts of the phone which need the greatest attention. After all, a phone with without a working antenna, no signal or a connection fault which causes dropped calls really isn’t all that useful to anyone.
What are your thoughts on the malfunction? Do you have an iPhone4? Let us know, leave a comment!
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
This might be a little off-topic, but I never thought of the iPad as basically a big smartphone, but now that I think about it, that’s really all it is.
I think your analysis is insightful. Top engineers probably fight to work on the touchscreen and the FaceTime program and all the things that get attention, and everyone neglects the poor antenna.
I think Apple didlikes antenaas because they don’t look sleek, but I’ve never been one to care that much how my phone looks anyway.