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iPhones Are Like Cars

Posted by Peter Berta on 07/09/2010

I want an iPhone 4. Do I need an iPhone4? Sorta kinda. The phone I have now is a six year old Motorolla flip that has been sturdy and dependable but is starting to show it’s age. It doesn’t close so well, so sometimes when I get a call and pick it up, it cuts the call off. And sometimes no matter how long or hard or soft I press on the on/off button, it just chirps and won’t turn off. And let’s face it, a six year old Motorolla flip phone has all the coolness factor of a Buick LeSabre.

So I’m thinking about getting the new iPhone 4, antenna problems be damned. I can rationalize it because I own Apple and AT&T stock, so it’s in my best interest to buy one. The latest iPhone’s problems remind me of new car models. Never buy a new model or the first year of a model change. Too many problems waiting to be ironed out, just like the new iPhone.

Apple has announced that a new software update will fix the problem. But Yahoo Tech News sites Gizmodo, the iPhone-scooping tech blog, that it has checked three times with the AppleCare support line, and every service tech they’ve talked to says the update won’t solve the problem. If you touch the outer steel band, which houses the antenna in the lower left hand corner, you’ll interfere with the antenna’s reception abilities.

But there’s hope, sort of. AnandTech has found that the iPhone 4’s new antenna delivers the best reception yet for an iPhone, as long as you use Apple’s $30 bumper case. Or take the low cost option and don’t touch the lower left hand area of the steel band.

Then there’s all the coverage issues and lack of bandwidth to handle the huge amount of data now flying through the air. (Here’s a stock tip–buy the cell tower companies like American Tower, because they’re getting orders for new towers as AT&T upgrades their network) I’ve never had many problems with coverage problems with AT&T. When I bought my house five years ago and had the entire inside gutted and redone, the decorator had Verizon as her carrier and the only place she could get reception was by the front door, so go figure.

I could always go with an older iPhone version, but the cost of the iPhone 4 is only $100 more than the last model. So now I’m in a tug-of-war between needing/wanting the IPhone4, and heeding the lessons of new car models – better to leave them on the lot until they get the bugs out. Right now, I’m not sure whether sense will win out over want.