Whether you are an Apple fan or not, the apparent flaw with the iPhone 4 external antenna [1]gets interesting on many levels – including the tech itself, why it wasn’t found during pre-launch testing, Apple’s reaction, customer relations, and testing by various entities.
It seems that if you hold the iPhone in a way that your hand touches a certain spot on the antenna that are on the edge of the phone, it causes signal loss, and degrades reception. Apple started out suggesting it was a software issue – but has since said that the fix is to hold the phone in a certain way. Which resulted in this YouTube video [2]showing how Steve Jobs and others in Apple ads are holding it “wrong”.
Apparently the problem can be solved by putting the phone in a case, or by applying tape to the offending spot. (Is adding tape the equivalent of taping your glasses?)
One enterprising person is selling iTape [3], stating that the proceeds are going to charity.
There have been suggestions that there should be a recall, or that Apple should offer free cases, or that its not important enough to worry about.