"Upon investigation, we were stunned to find that the formula we use to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is totally wrong. Our formula, in many instances, mistakenly displays 2 more bars than it should for a given signal strength. For example, we sometimes display 4 bars when we should be displaying as few as 2 bars."
Yeah. Stunning.
I should make clear that my June 22 tweet had nothing to do with the complaints around the iPhone 4's signal degradation when users hold the phone on the lower left corner: I do not believe those complaints had been made yet, as the phone was not yet publicly available. My tweet was based on the fact that I've never owned a cell phone on which the number of bars was a reliable indication of the quality of the signal the phone was receiving. Not one. So when I encounter a cell phone review that treats the number of bars displayed as a valid metric for assessing the phone's reception, I conclude that the reviewer has absolutely no idea what s/he is talking about.
Also, for the record: Apple's response to the fact that its flagship communications device is designed in such a way that it stops working when you touch part of the exterior is, basically, "Putting the phone in a a case will stop that from happening. We happen to have one we'd be willing to sell you; it's $30 bucks for a glorified rubber band. Oh, but the problem isn't that the phone's design causes it to malfunction when you hold it; it's that it doesn't tell you it's malfunctioning." None of that strikes me as particularly compelling, and this post should not be construed as an endorsement of Apple's contention that the problem is simply that their phones have been showing too many bars in some situations.
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