Live data from Hacker News

RIM on Apple's claims of Blackberry Bold signal loss

crackberry.com

61–70 of 74 posts

Re: RIM on Apple's claims of Blackberry Bold signal loss

#61
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't reproduce it on my bb curve 9800

point?

Hah. Well, I followed the procedure blackberry that I read causes the bars to decrease in the iphone 4. There was no decrease whatsoever.

Re: RIM on Apple's claims of Blackberry Bold signal loss

#62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ugh. We know it's easy to intentionally reproduce the problem. But the only data anyone has suggests that, in practice, it doesn't seem to be affecting people much, just like I'm sure deathgrips aren't affecting BB users much. Can we move on from Antennagate now? Maybe talk about Erlang instead?

I dropped a ton of calls before getting a case. That being said the real scandal here has zero to do with the antenna and everything to do with Steve Jobs ham handed response. If they just owned up we wouldn't be tAlking about it as the fix is pretty simple and effective. I suspect jobs didn't because he saw the antenna as a feature instead of a bug.

It was just pointed out that the data show that this problem is affecting a vanishingly small proportion of users in practice. Your counterpoint is an anecdotal pronouncement that it happens to you. That’s great—but it still doesn’t happen for most people. If we’re peddling in anecdotes, then for the record in the three weeks I’ve been using my iPhone 4 I have been completely unable to reproduce the antenna problem on mine in any way, shape, or form: it simply doesn’t happen. Takeaway: anecdotes are nearly completely worthless to be throwing around.

Re: RIM on Apple's claims of Blackberry Bold signal loss

#64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Though the ease of producing the problem on the iPhone 4 is very real, this argument annoys me: No one touches their pinky over that line in normal use. Does it cause a problem? Yes. Does anyone just sit there with one finger on the side of the phone? No. Instead, say that a grip natural to a large number of users causes signal loss.

I do touch the line with my pinky in normal use all the time. Maybe I have an abnormally shaped hand, I don't know. That being said, I love my new iPhone 4, I'm a new convert from Android and I don't really have reception problems.

That's legitimate, but the problem isn't "your pinky touches the line" its "my grip (and it's not an odd grip) causes my pinky to touch the line".

People making videos of an iPhone on a table, and one finger coming up and touching it are alarmist ways of treating the problem. Not that its not a very serious real problem, but let's be reasonable and only talk about the issues it has when we're actually using it.

Re: RIM on Apple's claims of Blackberry Bold signal loss

#65
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh? Were I to find out that Big Mac is people I would tell the press with the clear intent to damage McDonald’s brand name and profitability. Is that also libel? I would hope, anyway, that true claims are never libel.

In the US, truth is usually considered a defense against claims of libel. Not so elsewhere, such as the UK, if I recall correctly. (IANAL)

I would at least hope there's a legal difference between true-and-in-the-public-interest claims like "Big Macs are made of people" and true-but-scurrilous claims like " has gay threesomes with rent boys".

Re: RIM on Apple's claims of Blackberry Bold signal loss

#67
post #5

If the antenna is internal (and invisible) how many would even realise they were affecting it in any way? Apple drew a lot of attention to its antenna, both in terms of design and marketing, so how many people reported problems after deliberately trying to screw with it? I just made my iPhone 3GS, Blackberry 9700 and Nokia N97 all drop a couple of bars by covering their internal antennas with my palm. I expect this t…

I find it interesting in that the responses from HTC, BB and Nokia, none of them deny the problems that Steve highlighted with their phones. None of them have come out and called him a liar, they are just upset that they are being caught up in this antenna saga.

Re: RIM on Apple's claims of Blackberry Bold signal loss

#68
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

point?

Hah. Well, I followed the procedure blackberry that I read causes the bars to decrease in the iphone 4. There was no decrease whatsoever.

Do you understand that this is related not just to how you hold the phone, but where you are and what reception you are getting. There are plenty of people (most?) that can not produce this on the iphones either.

Re: RIM on Apple's claims of Blackberry Bold signal loss

#69
post #4

Did Apple even attempt to provide evidence of the Blackberry having a similar problem?

They showed a video of the Bold 9700 having a death grip issue which probably also effects very few people in real world usage. (13% of 9700 owners based on this site's poll)

I wonder what percent of those users have a 9700.

Re: RIM on Apple's claims of Blackberry Bold signal loss

#70

Ask the average iPhone 4 user: would you rather have the new antenna design, which generally considerably outperforms the old design (not to mention all the side benefits such as making the device so thin and strong), or would you like a design like the 3GS back, which outperforms the 4 in one specific circumstance that doesn't seem to affect most people in real usage?

Something this whole sordid saga has made me appreciate is that the 3GS is really a damned awesome phone. It feels good in my hand, it can run IOS 4 without slowing to a crawl, its proximity sensor works well, and it doesn't tend to drop calls or not drop calls based on how it's held. It was designed before Apple got complacent, and it shows.

My SO has an original 3G model and it feels a lot slower, even without upgrading to IOS 4. I was going to upgrade both our phones when the iPhone 4 was first announced, but I failed to get our pre-orders in on time, and now I'm sort of glad -- especially since I'm not the one stuck with the slower 3G. :)

Post reply on HN