Will it replace a mouse? I don’t know the answer to that. And if you own a Magic Mouse, answering that question is even more difficult, as it can do much of what the trackpad can do — multi-finger gestures, timeline scrubbing, and so on. Additionally, the trackpad and finger input combine for less-precise input than a mouse.

What could be really interesting is having the two devices interact with each other. For example, trackpad to the left of the keyboard, mouse to the right, and up to 10 fingers for interacting with your desktop. Or even just doing simple gestures such as pinching and zooming, but with the left and right hands performing those gestures, rather than two fingers.

Both a comical and insightful review. I won’t be able to confirm or deny his claims for myself, but Cameron has made some interesting observations nonetheless.

The packaging uses the universal symbol for music: the note. By specially arranging the earphones inside a special box they appear to look like two eighth notes. So the earphones show at first sight for whom they are made: for passionate music lovers.

They were ultimately successful.

No more wire-tangle, headphones dangling by your knees, or ripping buds from your ears when you take off your jacket. Available in black, white, magenta, blue and green.

A neat accessory, if you happen own a 3rd Gen iPod Shuffle.

Are you looking to help create something totally new? Something that has never been done before and will truly amaze everyone? Are you excited by the prospect that what you helped create would be used every day by millions of Apple customers? Then come and work on with the Mac OS X software engineering team to help build a new and revolutionary feature for Mac OS X.

We are looking for a senior software engineer to help us create a revolutionary new feature in the very foundations of Mac OS X. We have something truly revolutionary and really exciting in progress and it is going to require your most creative and focused efforts ever.

Cloud Computing?

A more complete list of available Safari Extensions than Apple’s gallery.

If you are looking for a collection of Safari Extensions, this is the link to bookmark.

Peter’s contribution to the September 2010 issue’s cover is even more remarkable, however: our image of the new iPhone 4 was photographed and post-processed entirely on another iPhone 4. Peter has been tinkering with the idea of shooting a Macworld cover with an iPhone for some time, and with the addition of a high-quality five-megapixel camera on the iPhone 4, the right time had finally arrived.

A phone as a camera. Take a minute and think about that; the future is exciting.

UpStand™ - standing up for the infinite possibilities of iPad.

Except – of course – the possibility of holding the iPad in portrait orientation.

The good news is that the SSD bay available in the new iMacs holds a standard 2.5″ form factor drive, which means you can install a high-performance OWC Mercury Extreme SSD for the speed advantage over Apple’s SSDs.

The bad news is that, unless your Mid 2010 iMac originally came with an Apple SSD, there’s no graceful way to install an OWC one. The appropriate mounting bracket and connector cables are nowhere to be found on the non-SSD models.

Too bad – I was actually considering this as an option.

[…] Motorola recently published an ad with the tagline “No Jacket Required” – an obvious jab at the iPhone 4 and the free bumpers is supplying to owners.

Brilliant.

AT&T (T) and Apple (AAPL) will tell you until they are blue in the face that the iPhone uses more data than any other device in the history of mobile communications.  That’s why there has been all the fuss about an over-saturated network causing dropped calls..

A study released today by Validas seems to refute those claims, however. According to their findings, the average data consumption for non-Blackberry Verizon (VZ) smartphones was 421MB per month, compared to the 338MB per month consumed by AT&T iPhone users.

Apparently the more data your smartphone uses, the better it is. Who knew?

I’ve gone through at least four charge cycle for my Magic Mouse; the keyboard batteries only had to be recharged once. Had I not taken it upon myself to be more environmentally responsible, they would be at least as many batteries sent to wherever Manhattan’s trash goes. My question is: Why didn’t Apple use rechargeable batteries in the first place?

David never really answers the question, but it in an interesting question nonetheless. I have a pet theory that is directly related to a previous statement made by John Gruber:

[...] the way you get to be a billion dollar company is by having a nose for opportunities. $100 million is $100 million.

In the past, Apple has avoided making *unnecessary* accessories. Today, they are taking the opportunity to expand their horizons and make a few extra dollars. Why? Because they can.

The new handheld — slated to be released on August 27th — is 21 percent smaller and 15 percent lighter than the previous model, has a 20 percent faster refresh rate on its E Ink (yep, still E Ink) screen, and will now come in two colors (graphite, like its big brother the DX, and the original white). In addition to the color changes, there will be two radio configurations available: a $139 WiFi only version, and a $189 3G version (utilizing AT&T’s network, just like the last model).

I have never owned an ebook reader, aside from the iPad, and I think the new Kindle may be my first.

The iPad is an intimate experience for a user. The direct touch input removes a layer of abstraction, and that’s a really big deal. In this way, it was like going back to design for print – when you push it with your finger, it moves! – but it’s utterly unlike print in every other way imaginable. Point is, the direct interface really does mean reevaluating every assumption when it comes to interactive design.

Some insightful thoughts on both the design experience and expectations. The more I read, the more I believe we still haven’t discovered the *right* way to control multi-touch apps and devices – I don’t even think we are close. There have been some excellent examples – a, b, c – of what the future might bring; companies have been very open about their role in this space. I hate saying this, but only time will tell…

It’s fantastic to see how far the speed of the iPhone has advanced. Personally, my recent move from iPhone 3G to 4 has left me flabbergasted with the change – I’m very impressed with Apple’s super-quick new handset, to say the least.

Agreed.

if something goes wrong, the app doesn’t automatically stop and restart when the user presses home. This might seem obvious, but if there are edge cases where you mess up your navigation controller hierachy beyond repair that matters. This happens. The user needs to know how to kill your app in that case, and most don’t. Be extra careful with that.

Peter Vidani on the importance and difficulty of multitasking properly in iOS 4. There is no longer a system in place where – when you leave an app and return, you will by greeted with a splash-screen. iOS has taken the ‘high road’ and upon your return, you might just be in Titusville, Florida – trust me, long story – or deep down in the menu system. Probably the second, but you never know…

The trackpad surface itself doesn’t depress, though–instead, when you press on the trackpad, the force from the surface it’s sitting on will depress the two round feet at the trackpad’s base.

Jason has some great photos of Apple’s new Magic Trackpad. It is gallery style, and includes remarks on actual usage and features.

Today’s overdue Mac Pro update is a welcome change, but for a computer that’s so expensive, why not just get an iMac?

Marco’s argument has a few key points. What it all comes down to is Marco believes the true value in the Mac Pro is the longevity of the computer itself. When something goes wrong with your iMac, it is ultimately time to get a new computer. The factor Marco has not taken into account is the company, and the direction of the industry. I have no doubt that the technological advances happening in the next 3-5 years will render Tuesday’s offerings what they already are – a thing of the past.

Hardware isn’t my strong suit, but I know half a thing about website design. So let’s look at the websites for Apple’s primary desktop computer, and the same from Dell and HP.

A striking differences between Apple’s website, and it’s competitors – Dell and HP. It is obvious which companies take a certain pride in their products, and which consider them to be *just* another SKU.

Each Apple Battery Charger comes with six NiMH batteries — two for your keyboard, two for your mouse or trackpad, and two for charging. Not only do these high-performance batteries have up to a 10-year lifespan(1), they also hold a charge for an incredibly long time. So you always have power when you need it.

I am not even kidding, take a look at the product page for yourself.

Dual-core Intel Core i3 and Core i5, and quad-core Core i5 and Core i7 processors set a new benchmark for iMac performance. The processors feature an integrated memory controller to access the system memory directly, allowing the new iMac to take full advantage of its faster 1333 MHz memory. New discrete ATI Radeon HD processors deliver incredibly smooth, crisp graphics for the most demanding 3D games, creative software and technical applications. iMac displays feature IPS technology to deliver a brilliant image across a wide 178 degree viewing angle. The SD card slot on the iMac now supports the SDXC format to handle the latest high-capacity storage cards. Customers of the 27-inch iMac have the option to order a 256GB solid state drive (SSD) as a primary or secondary drive. The iMac SSD supports up to 215 MB/s data transfer rates for faster startup and application launch times. […] The new iMac line is shipping now and available through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers.

This is the iMac for me; I should have mine in another 3-4 weeks, including the Magic Trackpad.

“With built-in MagSafe charging, iSight camera, speakers, and USB ports, the LED Cinema Display is ideal for MacBook and MacBook Pro users,”said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “With its massive 2560 x 1440 resolution, the new 27-inch LED Cinema Display is a perfect fit with our powerful new Mac Pro, and it gives iMac users an easy way to double their screen real estate.” [...] The new LED Cinema Display will be available in September through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $999 (US). The LED Cinema Display requires a Mac with Mini DisplayPort.

The 23-inch display is no longer available.

“The new Mac Pro is the most powerful and configurable Mac we’ve ever made,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “With up to 12 cores, the new Mac Pro outperforms our previous top-of-the-line system by up to 50 percent, and with over a billion possible configurations, our customers can create exactly the system they want.”

The new Mac Pros will not be available until August. That gives you enough time to save up for $2,499 beast. Did I mention that is the base price? Enjoy!

The Magic Trackpad brings the intuitive Multi-Touch gestures of Mac notebook trackpads to the desktop. With its glass surface, the wireless Magic Trackpad enables users to scroll smoothly up and down a page with inertial scrolling, pinch to zoom in and out, rotate an image with their fingertips and swipe three fingers to flip through a collection of web pages or photos. The Magic Trackpad can be configured to support single button or two button commands and supports tap-to-click as well as a physical click.

Here is a link to the product page, in case you want to take a closer look.

Two quick questions, Tim, just coming back to the iPad for a second. I know, there is a lot of speculation about potential cannibalization down the road, while it’s still premature to speculate. I’m just trying to get a sense, could there actually be a reverse effect, where Apple maybe benefits from a halo effect forced by the iPad, but then they also decide maybe to buy some either Apple devices to keep at home when they’re using the iPad on the road. In the early stages, has your data shown that where you’re seeing someone buying iPad and then there is a subsequent purchase of a MacBook or a iMac or an iPhone?

Tim Cook’s response [again, emphasis mine]:

We – that’s a very good question, Mark, and I do agree that I think most people external to Apple focus on cannibalization, it’s been negative, and internally, we focused on exactly the opposite. It’s the synergy between both technically and from a demand point of view. If you look at the iPod historically, all of the people here felt that the iPod created a halo for the Mac, and in fact as the iPod volumes took off, you will see a dramatic change in the Mac sales back in time that we experienced. So, could that happen on iPhone and iPad? We’ll see. I don’t want to predict it. But I do think that with our Mac share, the Mac has outgrown the market 17 straight quarters. However, the Mac share is still low, and so there is still an enormous opportunity for the Mac to grow. Certainly the more customers we can introduce to Apple through iPad, and through iPhone and through iPod, you would think that there might be some synergy with the Mac there, and there may be synergy between the iPad and the iPhone as well, and so on and so forth. So, that’s the way that we look at it internally instead of the negative. Although I know everybody is more focused on the negative piece of it. This is where it’s great to be – to have a lower share, because if it turns out that the iPad cannibalizes PCs then I think it’s fantastic for us, because there is a lot PCs to cannibalize. It’s still a big market.

Ok great, so what exactly is the Halo Effect? According to Wikipedia,

The halo effect refers to a cognitive bias whereby the perception of a particular trait is influenced by the perception of the former traits in a sequence of interpretations.

This definition is full of highly organic and overly complicated words, however – in regard to Apple – the definition becomes much simpler:

The halo effect refers to the act of acquiring knowledge in favor of a company, whereby the perception of one product line [Eg. Macs] is influenced by the perception of the former traits in a previous product line [Eg. iPod].

Now this makes a lot more sense. The way we perceive one product is affected by another – albeit, more successful and desired – product. If we agree on this definition, then we are able to see where, and how people were getting interested in the Mac; through the iPod. What about this definition:

The halo effect refers to the act of acquiring knowledge in favor of a company, whereby the perception of one product line [Eg. Macs] is influenced by the perception of the former traits in a previous product line [Eg. iPad].

Fast-forward to 2010 and only one word has changed, iPod : iPad (although, I really want to write iOS). This must mean people love the iPad, and therefore perceive MacBooks to be an adequate offering. However, the word ‘perceive’ is a very strong word, and is probably the most pertinent point to my argument. According to the New Oxford American Dictionary, ‘to perceive’ reads as:

a way of regarding, understanding, or interpreting something; a mental impression.

Tim Cook claims [emphasis mine]:

If you look at the iPod historically, all of the people here felt that the iPod created a halo for the Mac, and in fact as the iPod volumes took off, you will see a dramatic change in the Mac sales back in time that we experienced. So, could that happen on iPhone and iPad? We’ll see. I don’t want to predict it.

I have a feeling Apple has predicted it, and in fact, are betting on it. Both analysts and tech columnists predicted – here, here and here – that the iPad was guaranteed to “Cannibalize Mac Sales”. Did it?

Record quarterly sales of 3.47 million Macs, beating last record by 100,000. 33% year over year growth, over 22% growth for market overall (IDC).

The last quote was provided by MacWorld’s Live Coverage of the Q3 2010 Earnings Call. So what did Apple do to avoid the analyst’s predictions? Pay close attention to my definition of ‘perception’. Apple curated the way we perceive the iPad, from the moment we take it out of the box and connect it to iTunes. From that moment, the iPad is no longer seen as a Notebook Replacement, but a Notebook Accessory – a thing that can be added to something else in order to make it more useful, versatile, or attractive. I believe Mark should have asked, “Does Apple try to control the way we perceive certain products, to ultimately control the way we interact with others?”

The Sources Unlinked

Apple Inc. AAPL Q3 2010 Earnings Call Transcript
Apple Reports Third Quarter Results

Ultimate Status Bar is the awesome new alternative to the standard Safari status bar.

The most important feature is that this status bar dissapears when you are not using it, vs the standard Safari Status bar, which is turned off by default, but when visible it’s there all the time, taking up some valuable space at the bottom of your browser.

However, Ultimate Status Bar also includes several features to give you a better idea of what’s on the other side of that link that no other status bar extension has, all implemented in a tidier, elegant fashion.

Installed, and works as advertised.

The stand is able to function in two different ways. One, as a slightly elevated and tilted surface for typing and two, a tall upright easel like position that is able to support the iPad in either orientation. It accomplishes these two functions effortlessly using simple mechanics and a minimal approach that I love. There are two small rubberized arms that fold down out of the stand in the bottom for its taller standing position which I find get in the way while in the typing position but I find that the rubber pad at the top of the stand does a fair job of holding it in place while I type without these little tabs poking into my palms as I type. The construction is incredibly solid and has a really nice weight to it. Im sure this will last longer than the iPad itself.

A pleasant and direct review. Fiftyfootshadows does not normally review products, but John’s impression was appreciated nonetheless.

The question isn’t if iPad will cannibalize Mac sales but when.

For me the key will be wether it gets stuck on meme-heavy, oft-repeated (or re-tweeted) content or whether it helps me better discover those little gems discovered by my more adept friends.

Agreed. Here is the link for Flipboard on iTunes, in case you want to try it out.

A Sidenote on ‘Revolutionary Products’

A revolutionary product should not change the way we work, but integrate into our workflow; just as the iPad did some months ago.  As of this writing, Flipboard has only been out mere hours – not days, or weeks like some might assume. Maybe it will be worth it in the long run, but right now it might be too early to tell.

Update

The conference is now available on iTunes.

Apple sold 3.47 million Macs during the quarter, representing a new quarterly record and a 33 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 8.4 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 61 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 9.41 million iPods during the quarter, representing an eight percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter. The Company began selling iPads during the quarter, with total sales of 3.27 million.

“It was a phenomenal quarter that exceeded our expectations all around, including the most successful product launch in Apple’s history with iPhone 4,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “iPad is off to a terrific start, more people are buying Macs than ever before, and we have amazing new products still to come this year.”

They have become a filter for out world. Through them we can access information, games, entire virtual worlds. Not the internet, nor our computers, not tablets or laptops – just little programs on our phones. Millions of little programs. What are the real numbers behind these programs, and why are there so many of them?

My favorite quote from the chart:

More than 4 billion apps have been downloaded from the App Store alone.

Google, the second-largest Application Market, does not release these numbers.

Specifically, they take information from Safari, the Windows, iPhone and Macintosh browser. However, you can disable this quite easily. If you don’t like the idea of Apple having your location data, and don’t use location-based apps, this is for you.

A little movie about the iPhone 4 controversy

This guy gets me.

Mac sales were up a strong 35 percent stateside in May, following the introduction of the iPad in both Wi-Fi and 3G models. Those sales figures have been interpreted to suggest that Apple’s new portable multitouch device will not cannibalize Mac sales.

I am both surprised and – for lack of a better word – unchanged. I strongly believed the iPad would reduce portable sales (à la Apple’s notebook offerings – MacBook/Air/Pro), and both reinforce and boost their desktop sales (Mac Mini, iMac and Mac Pro). Based on the comment thread, it seems a couple of people were interested in the Mac Mini, and some are holding-out for a new iMac. It will be interesting to see the results of the earnings call later today.

[Steve Jobs] proceeds to demo the phenomenon. Indeed, within ten seconds of putting the heel of his left thumb on the gap, the iPhone loses two bars. Just to make sure, he repeats the experiment with his index finger, all the while making a live call to show how the connection isn’t killed.

This of course is just wishful thinking, and this of course was not the issue. I am not sure Gassée has even seen the event with his own two eyes. The keynote was about presenting facts; not proving the iPhone 4 can make a phone call – we all know it is fully capable of handling this task [Please, no ridicule is needed]. In case you missed it, here are the facts provided by TUAW:

0.55 percent: This is the percentage of iPhone 4 users who have contacted AppleCare regarding antenna or reception issues. This comes out to only 16,500 AppleCare cases. We are not sure if this includes issues related to the proximity sensor; however, Jobs later acknowledged in the press conference that the proximity sensor will be addressed in a future software update.

1.7 percent: This is the number of iPhone 4s returned to AT&T since the initial release 22 days ago, which comes out to roughly 51,000 returns. By contrast, 6 percent of iPhone 3GS were returned in its early days — and the numbers of those sold are lower than the iPhone 4.

The final number is that AT&T is reporting that less than one more call per 100 placed is dropped compared to the iPhone 3GS — more calls are dropped than the earlier model, but it’s only one more per one hundred.

I have stated this before, there is absolutely nothing Steve Jobs could have done that would have made everybody happy. Steve decided to wait until all of the facts were in, and to let them speak for themselves. I would have shown the press a Unicorn, and watched as the headlines changed from “Antennagate Plagues Users” to “Steve Jobs Owns the First Unicorn Known to Mankind.” Again, wishful thinking.

Antenn-aid is a custom-sized vinyl sticker for your iPhone 4. It’s designed to be placed over the lower left corner of the antenna. It may improve signal performance*

You get one of each stylish color, for a total of 6 Antenn-aids! Gray, light-gray, green, blue, peach, purple.

*Antenn-aid is for entertainment purposes only, results may vary.

Today’s Urban Dictionary phrase of the day: Cockblocked by Steve Jobs. http://twitpic.com/26vsyh

Great video for those of us in the tech industry to watch now and again: http://j.mp/aGZXbW.

What Apple very neatly managed to do there was conflate their own widely reported iPhone 4 death-touch into the very real but widely under-reported death-grip phenomena that does indeed affect the entire industry.

Instead of pointing out that yes, Apple was correct, the death-grip was an industry-wide problem but the death-touch was thus far unique to Apple, RIM BlackBerry, Samsung, and Nokia denied the death-grip…

This is where the likes of Samsung, HTC, Nokia and RIM went wrong. Their responses should have discussed what Steve Jobs was trying to report – the fact that this is an industry-wide problem, and they are on the forefront of solving this industry-wide problem. Instead, all four of the mentioned companies deflected – albeit RIM’s response was the most jarring – causing a stir in the industry, where users are replicating the problem and the ‘big-four’ have no idea how to respond.

Apple® today announced that iPad™ will be available in Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand and Singapore this Friday, July 23.

“Apple’s attempt to draw RIM into Apple’s self-made debacle is unacceptable. Apple’s claims about RIM products appear to be deliberate attempts to distort the public’s understanding of an antenna design issue and to deflect attention from Apple’s difficult situation. RIM is a global leader in antenna design and has been successfully designing industry-leading wireless data products with efficient and effective radio performance for over 20 years. During that time, RIM has avoided designs like the one Apple used in the iPhone 4 and instead has used innovative designs which reduce the risk for dropped calls, especially in areas of lower coverage. One thing is for certain, RIM’s customers don’t need to use a case for their BlackBerry smartphone to maintain proper connectivity. Apple clearly made certain design decisions and it should take responsibility for these decisions rather than trying to draw RIM and others into a situation that relates specifically to Apple”.
“Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie”

Nokia via Pocket-lint:

“Antenna design is a complex subject and has been a core competence at Nokia for decades, across hundreds of phone models. Nokia was the pioneer in internal antennas; the Nokia 8810, launched in 1998, was the first commercial phone with this feature.
Nokia has invested thousands of man hours in studying human behaviour, including how people hold their phones for calls, music playing, web browsing and so on. As you would expect from a company focused on connecting people, we prioritize antenna performance over physical design if they are ever in conflict.
In general, antenna performance of a mobile device/phone may be affected with a tight grip, depending on how the device is held. That’s why Nokia designs our phones to ensure acceptable performance in all real life cases, for example when the phone is held in either hand. Nokia has invested thousands of man hours in studying how people hold their phones and allows for this in designs, for example by having antennas both at the top and bottom of the phone and by careful selection of materials and their use in the mechanical design”.

HTC via Pocket-lint:

“Approximately .016% of customers”, Eric Lin, the company’s global PR and online community manager exclusively revealed to us before adding that “we have had very few complaints about signal or antenna problems on the Eris”.

Samsung via Samsung Hub and Reuters:

“The antenna is located at the bottom of the Omnia 2 phone, while iPhone’s antenna is on the lower left side of the device. Our design keeps the distance between a hand and an antenna. We have fully conducted field tests before the rollout of smartphones. Reception problems have not happened so far, and there is no room for such problems to happen in the future.”

“We have not received significant customer feedback on any signal reduction issue for the Omnia II.”

Honestly, I don’t have the energy to care anymore. The smug Apple apologists and haters with nothing better to do have completely overshadowed any attempt at a rational argument with ad hominems. Trying to find a genuine debate on this issue is impossible on every tech site I’ve come across (including Om’s live-coverage post unfortunately).

This is not the year of the smartphone, its the year of the self-important-idiot. You’d think people were debating which way to put the toilet paper on the roll…

…not really on-topic I know, but it needed to be said.

GlennAC replied:

For you and all the others, then what would have satisfied you? It appears that nothing Apple could have said or done would have satisfied the detractors short of a total product recall, Apple’s abandonment of the iPhone 4, and their pledge to try better next summer.

While that may have gratified a small vocal minority, I imagine the 99% of satisfied users would object. So tell us, what else can Apple reasonably be expected to do for a product that the vast majority are entirely satisfied with?

No, I’m serious. What else could Apple have done to appease the dissatisfied while at the same time not pissing off the majority that are perfectly happy with the product?

Nothing.

1.3 million iPhones in 19 days is almost 70,000/day. That is a very solid number but not even half of what Android claims to be doing every day.

A little unfair to compare one device to an entire platform, but an interesting comparison nonetheless.

It’s lonely at the top. Perhaps Apple is taking it on the chin more than usual. Such is the price of success.

I remain very happy with my iPhone 4. I still believe it’s the best iPhone ever, by far. I believe the Bumper offering is an appropriate gesture, and I believe Apple will still sell a ton of phones.

Offering the Bumper is exactly that, a gesture – an action performed to convey one’s intentions in the knowledge that it will have no effect.

The problem with the iPhone 4, is that there is a visible line on the device that initiates the reception failure. This makes it psychologically seem like a bigger deal when compared to other phones.

Following the iPhone 4 launch, people were ready to find a problem. God forbid this magical product be 0.0001mm thicker than Apple promised – something had to be wrong. During the week following the launch of the iPhone 4, these people found their “problem”.

Although Steve Jobs made the kinds of “we love our users” points that you’d expect him to make, I was actually gratified to hear them – because they were combined with an honest admission that the iPhone 4 drops marginally more calls than it ought and that there is a “weak spot.”

Leanna Lofte, TiPb:

The problem with the iPhone 4, is that there is a visible line on the device that initiates the reception failure. This makes it psychologically seem like a bigger deal when compared to other phones.

Jerry Hildenbrand, Android Central:

… ignoring the questions about the antenna design, or deflecting them by showing “bars” from other manufacturers isn’t the response I had hoped for from someone who holds the trust of millions.

Ally Kazmucha, TiPb:

Free bumpers will not appease everyone, but as El Jobso stated, if you aren’t happy with your purchase, bring them back for a full refund.

Malatesta, WMExperts:

If you’re going to put all of your eggs into one basket, you better make sure that basket is 100% perfect or nearly so. Kudos to Apple for giving away those free cases, but we think that this problem should have never had happened in the first place.

Phil Nickinson, Andriod Central:

“Yeah, we may have a problem, but check out these guys!” There is a larger problem, and that is that everybody — all of us — are trying to become amateur RF engineers. We’re not. We’re not going to be.

Bla1ze, CrackBerry:

I’m still not convinced the issue with the iPhone 4 is as big of an issue as some media outlets are portraying it to be. But, to say that the issue does not exist entirely is a farce.

Rene Ritchie, TiPb:

This was a no win situation for Apple … As to the free bumpers, at first the bribery seems to conflict with the deflection. If there’s no problem, why give bumpers? Simple. People like free stuff.

The entire article is worth a read, but I thought it was appropriate to share the bits I felt were pertinent to the situation.