Senator Charles Schumer (NY-D) has written an open letter to Apple, saying their solution to the kung fu grip of death is “insufficient”, and that they need to put out a real, free, fix for the issue. The letter in its entirety is after the jump.
I’m impressed by Schumer’s level of technical knowledge — as in he actually has a vague idea of what’s going on. That said, surely he’s got better things to do? Yeah, Apple needs to get of their rear about this issue, and I’m sure they’ll make a portentous announcement tomorrow. But come on Chuck, this has already gotten plenty of media play, don’t you have a country/state that needs running?
July 15, 2010
Dear Mr. Jobs,
I write to express concern regarding the reception problem with the Apple iPhone 4. While I commend Apple’s innovative approach to mobile technology and appreciate its service to millions of iPhone users nationwide, I believe it is incumbent upon Apple to address this flaw in a transparent manner. According to Consumer Reports’ review, released Monday on its website, the iPhone 4′s signal-strength problem is a hardwire glitch triggered by gripping the device in a particular manner. This finding, according to Consumer Reports, “call[s] into question” Apple’s recent claim that the problem is “largely an optical illusion caused by faulty software.” Consumer Reports declined to recommend the iPhone 4 because of this hardware design flaw.
Given the discrepancy between Consumer Reports’ explanation of the reception problem and the explanation provided by Apple in its July 2 letter to customers, I am concerned that the nearly two million purchasers of the iPhone 4 may not have complete information about the quality of the product they have purchased. The burden for consumers caused by this glitch, combined with the confusion over its cause and how it will be fixed, has the potential to undermine the many benefits of this innovative device. To address this concern, I ask that Apple provide iPhone 4 customers with a clearly written explanation of the cause of the reception problem and make a public commitment to remedy it free-of-charge. The solutions offered to date by Apple for dealing with the so-called “death grip” malfunction—such as holding the device differently, or buying a cover for it—seem to be insufficient. These proposed solutions would unfairly place the burden on consumers for resolving a problem they were not aware of when they purchased their phones.
I also encourage Apple to keep its promise to provide free software updates so that bars displayed accurately reflect signal strength; I further urge Apple to issue a written explanation of the formula it uses to calculate bar strength, so that consumers can once again trust the product that they have invested in.
I look forward to Apple’s swift action on this matter, and once again laud Apple for its innovative efforts and service to millions of Americans.
Sincerely,
Charles E. Schumer
Written By
Come on Chucky, surely you have much better things to do with the tax payers money?? Perhaps some more bail outs, maybe another trillion to the deficit? Good god these morons in DC never cease to amaze me!!!
He must have an iPhone that suffers from this problem. Lmao. He’s just looking out for himself.
According to Consumer Reports’ review, released Monday on its website, the iPhone 4’s signal-strength problem is a HARDWIRE glitch triggered by gripping the device in a particular manner.
Hardwire glitch?? Typo?
Why do people think that this guy should be doing better things than complaining about his phone? He’s just like you and me. May be he did this in his free time, but, who cares. He has the right to complain.
We are in a recession and this is the best he can do. This is amazing when I bought my PC with Vista I had a lot and still have a lot of problems. Why did he write to Microsoft about a recall? This whole thing is nonsense, just give free bumpers Apple to each customer and that’s it.