OT: iPhone "issues" (was Re: OT:Dell computers)

[Kenneth Brody]

On 7/1/2010 9:17 PM, Fairlight wrote:
[...]
> Well I'd call that poor design.  Anyone with a brain and past teenage level
> of education and world-experience should know that adding two or more
> points of contact between an antenna and the human body will result in
> signal attenuation.

But, but, but...

Anyone who knows what "rabbit ears" are knows that the signal is always 
better while someone's holding them.  :-)

>  So it was piss-poor "engineering" that resulted in the
> band being placed where it would come into direct contact with the hands in
> the first place.  Then it was piss-poor QA that didn't crowd-test the phone
> and observe user habits on how the phone is held, assuming they insisted on
> persisting with this design in the first place even though they should have
> known better.

I'm not an electrical engineer, but wouldn't a non-conducting "skin" over 
the antenna prevent this issue?  (Or is this one of those things where 
proximity, and not necessarily actual contact, is an issue?)

[...]
> Then to blame the users for their cascade of failures...  Well that's
> just lousy customer service and poor ethics.

Tough call...  Blaming the users for holding the phone "wrong", or blaming 
the users for doing "complex computations" on their computer...

[...]
> FWIW, I don't have an iPhone, but I hold my phone in a manner where that
> exact spot would run across my pinky finger, which I use to brace the
> bottom of my Samsung Solstice.

As much of a computer geek Laura and I are, when it comes to cell phones, we 
use them to, you know, make phone calls.  The camera has been used on rare 
occasion when we didn't think to bring a "real" camera.  And I changed the 
ring tone to one that sounds like the old Ma Bell phone.

It's like those all-in-one "Internet security suites", which have one decent 
component, and several mediocre parts added so they can call it a "suite". 
I'd rather get a good anti-virus, a good anti-spyware, a good firewall, etc.

On the other hand, the iPhone and iPad certainly look shiny.

[...]
> I'm thinking about Skype, strictly so I can point my Google Phone number at
> it and then use my computer mic/speakers for the phone instead of...a
> phone, crooked in one shoulder.  The $60/yr is the thing putting me off of

We got MagicJack for the kids, so that they no longer have to use our home 
phone (aka "Laura's business line") to chat with their friends.  (Do you 
really need to be on the phone, talking with your friend that you're playing 
some online game?)

I have a Google Voice number, but I've almost never used it.  I got it to 
see what it's all about.

[...]

-- 
Kenneth Brody