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Apple's IPhone 3G Firmware Update Bombs
JagsLive writes "After lots of complaints about iPhone 3G connection issues, Apple released a firmware update Monday with hopes it would fix the issues. But early reports suggest it didn't work as planned.
Complaints have included dropped calls, abrupt network switches, poor reception, and service interruptions.
Apple declined to offer details about its iPhone 2.0.1 update, other than saying it included 'bug fixes.' However, comments in Apple's support forum say plenty about the latest attempt to rectify poor user experiences. In fact, the update seems to be causing new issues, apparently interfering with the GPS function, among others."
Sounds more and more like a hardware issue with the chipset ... so early adopters are may end up suffering ... be interesting to see if they "quietly" roll out a Rev 2 or publicly announce it.
Hulk SMASH Celiac Disease
The crap linked article doesn't even get the version number right - I recommend reading ars techinca's take (the amusingly named Hope you didn't plan to actually make calls on iPhone 2.0.2) or even Apple insider.
I for one welcome our new haha overlords.
There are shills on slashdot. Apparently, I'm one of them.
"Just Works" post.....
Interestingly, I find it fairly insightful to see how the great unwashed masses are complaining about this, yet, for the most part, Apple is getting a "free pass" from pundit's, media, and most of the public because of past marketing.
What would the reaction have been if this was some other company?
Just a though that rattles around in my brain.
I've been stung before by buying new apple hardware immediately (core duo macbook pro).
:)
Right now, i'm feeling pretty damn happy I decided to wait on the iphone 3g. I do have an iphone and it works perfectly. I think i'll wait for a few more months before I upgrade to the 3g
2.0.1 was the last update 2.0.2 is the most recent. And for the record my first gen iPhone works fine. The update fixed the slow typing bug and the battery drain bug. I don't know yet if it fixed the shuffle my home screen icons bug. True I wish Apple would give a complete change log. It sure would make it easier for us to give them feedback about those bugs if we knew what they were.
Win a signed Stephen Carpenter ESP Guitar from the Deftones: http://def-tag.com/?r=0008781
On my iPhone, 2.02 completely disabled all 3rd party apps. Any apps installed run for just a few seconds before returning to the app screen. Deleting and re-installing doesn't help.
Good job apple.
From: steve.jobs@apple.com
To: daniel@roughlydrafted.com
Subj: Hello
Daniel,
Looks like we're in a bit of bind right now. QA signed off on the 3G 2.0.1 update despite not testing it fully. (The guilty parties are being punished as we speak.) For the time being, could you write another pro-iPhone article? Be sure to mention how it is "substantially less buggy" than competitors phones, and how beautiful it is. Also, be sure to make a jab at Zune (the Internet always eats that stuff up.) It'd also be great if you could work chair throwing in there as well. Thankfully, the masses eat up tired memes without even realizing it. One article should buy us enough time and mindshare to fix these issues.
Sincerely,
Steve
First off, the firmware that was just released was 2.0.2, not 2.0.1 which had been out for a while already. Second, Apple never claimed that this update contains the 3G fix. As usual, they have been secretive and cryptic about what the update actually contains, but this was just a minor update, not the big radio firmware fix we've been waiting for. And finally, although a few people have complained about the GPS in the new version, most of the reports seem to indicate that the GPS has IMPROVED.
Disclaimer: I own an iPhone and am suffering from the 3G issues. I'm certainly no fan of the way Apple has handled this so far, but this article is just a pointless and error-filled troll.
Because Apple gets a premium for its product based on the style and the "just works" philosophy. Nearly everyone will agree that apple products do not have the breadth of features or the extent of customization of many other products in their respective niche. Their market success has been based on the basic feature set being nearly bulletproof - a claim that many others cannot make. This is exactly the thing Apple users have come to forget happens with mediocre CE.
It also means that someone wasn't minding the store when it went out, and it can mean a serious problem with their growth process. Steve can't be around to hold their hand forever.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
Why are bug reports on the iPhone always blown way the hell out of proportion?
My twenty dollar Nokia doesn't drop calls, nor have service interruptions, or any of the other problems the iPhone has.
A six hundred dollar telephone ought to work. Period. There is no such thing as "blowing it out of proportion."
mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
Why are bug reports on the iPhone always blown way the hell out of proportion?
Maybe it's because some are insisting that a phone should be able to make phone calls, while other are using a metric based on "user experience"?
It's what else is on the market. It is a perfectly fair comparison, the iPhone doesn't live in a vacuum.
I am more frustrated at the fact it has to do a complete reload, not just a patch. I've been generally happy with my iPhone (3G) but tying up your phone for almost 30 minutes while it downloads (at work no less) isn't pleasant. Then, I absolutely had to use it and forgot it was still downloading. I had a brick until I could spend another 10-20 minutes doing a "restore". The Apple software doesn't update after a restore, so guess what...I clicked, "Next" thinking it would continue to something else, but nope, got to wait another 20 minutes while it restored a second time.
As far as changes, I still have keyboard lag and the little quirks it had before 2.01 and 2.02. Battery drain I can't comment because I'm constantly plugging it in due to the habit I formed after having it die so often the first week I had it. I now instinctively plug into the car charger while driving, plug in at work, and then plug in at home. I even leave a cable attached to my XBOX360 to charge (even though the 360 won't recognize the iPhone like it would my iPod Video).
"I buy Apple products. It just makes me feel special."
http://cache.gizmodo.com/gadgets/images/iProduct.gif
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
Makes me want to whack some crazy Apple fanboy with a one-button mouse while they're down.
Similes are like metaphors
I happen to know the guy who headed the RF software group for the original iPhone. He's a low-key sort, from the industrial high-reliability real time world. He did not like being yelled at by Steve Jobs. So, shortly after the first iPhones were out and working, he quit.
Apple found someone else to do the 3G version. Probably not someone from the industrial high-reliability real time world.
Vista: It Just Works (on tomorrow's hardware)
We all know what to do, but we don't know how to get re-elected once we have done it
No way man, you're forgetting how Macs are like, TOTALLY the gold standard in interface design unless you want to do something crazy like look up stuff in the help feature or add titles to a video or change the box sizes for titles in iMovie or close a rules window in Mail without having to hide your dock or extract stills in iMovie without adding the still to the video or have it wait until you're finished recording multiple videos before it makes you wait for it to break them up or upload a picture to photobucket that iPhoto has kidnapped or actually have a fucking clue what your emails to others will look like when you embed pictures in the text or want to see at a glance which email address you're sending to or use Adobe Acrobat without annoying update warnings that require good reflexes to turn off or charge your iPod without having good enough reflexes to keep it from deleting everything when you don't want to sync or move the iPod library on one computer to another or ...
Oh, I'm sorry, was it hard for you read all of that in one sentence? Now, pretend I told you that that style was the gold standard in writing, and now you know what it's like to use a Mac.
Information theory is life. The rest is just the KL divergence.
They've come down in price that much? I mught buy one once they get out of beta.
mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
Actually, some independent analysis has shown that's the issue - the firmware is too anxious to jump to EDGE. Another problem is that in some places, ATT's equipment is placed at 2.5G distances, but 3G needs closer towers, so ATT needs to step up and get some upgrades in place. But there are a lot of indicators that it's the immature software ON the infineon chip, not the chip itself, that is causing issues.
...however, since everyone is offering anecdotal "evidence", I'll point out that we have two 3G iPhones in our home, and neither have had 3G issues. A few applications crash on startup, but most of my apps run just fine, before and after the 2.0.2 update.
My biggest gripe is -- Apple has neither stated there is a known 3G connectivity problem, nor did they state the 2.0.2 patch contains a 'fix' for any such problems. So ask yourself, how have these people writing articles about it able to claim such a thing? The answer is, the same reason everyone thinks there's a widespread problem with 3G... hear-say.
Ironically, the word ironically is often used incorrectly.
I haven't used a Macs enough to complain about them, but I've been using an iPhone for a few weeks now. I'm not going to say the device is crap, it's not, but I definitely would not call the UI a gold standard. I'm still trying to figure out who's nephew they hired to make the decision that you should need to plug the phone into an entire computer to get audio onto this wifi device. I mean really. They shipped a wifi enabled, web surfing music player that cannot download PODCASTS from the internet. I do find it funny though that when Apple implemented a UI element that has been in Lotus Notes from the beginning, the UI element magically went from being the worst thing ever to being a gold standard.
While I do agree that WiFi transfer would be nice, I would hardly call that a UI problem. That's more like a missing feature than a UI problem or inconsitancy. I've never used Lotus Notes, so I have no idea what UI element you are refering to with the last statement.
What I don't understand is, where is the BLUETOOTH transfer? Isn't this what Bluetooth was DESIGNED to do, is to sync hardware devices by simply being in proximity? My Mac Pro has Bluetooth, my iPhone has Bluetooth, so where's my auto-sync?
Multiplayer Gaming (defined): Sitting around, discussing single-player games with my friends, at the bar.