Just Who Steve Jobs Wanted To Hear From: Chuck Schumer!

Senator Chuck Schumer has stepped into the iPhone 4 reception issue—the one that led to Consumer Reports saying it could not recommend the highly coveted product—fray with an open letter to Apple CEO Steve Jobs. The Williamsburg waterfront concert-loving senior Senator wrote, "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."

Schumer did acknowledge "Apple's innovative approach to mobile technology and appreciate its service to millions of iPhone users nationwide," but wants Apple to "address this flaw in a transparent manner" as well as "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."

Apple is holding a press conference tomorrow (1 p.m. EST/10 a.m. PST), which is leading to rumors of a recall (what about free bumpers?). We suppose Mayor Bloomberg will get involved when there are problems with Shazam.

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By Jen Chung in News on July 15, 2010 1:30 PM

Comments [rss]

Powerhugs

What exactly does Chuck Schumer do in the Senate these days?

jpeditor

"What exactly does Chuck Schumer do in the Senate these days?"

Screw New Yorkers with every bill he endorses.

jpeditor

Chuck the Schmuck probably had his friends short Apple today.

Matt Joyce

Still no word on repealing section 1706 of the Tax Reform Act. Way to suck at life chuck.

kafkask

Funny thing is Chuck gets GREAT reception. Those hair plugs act like hundreds of tiny antennae.

EastRiver

He should just quit the Senate and get himself appointed head of the FTC.

Gotham Extremist

Why is this shootme's business!? Another shameless politician trying to get coverage by tapping on a news headline. Where was he when LeGone chose South Beach and not the Graden?

Gothampc

While Chuckles Schumer takes to task a company in California, New York's problems mount. MTA is robbing people and cutting service, citizens are buying cigarettes from other states because they're cheaper, Mayor Bloomberg is trying to make all of Manhattan a car-free zone (ok so I made that last one up).

ed_Extinct

Cigarette costs are not an issue. If you can't afford it, quit.

The MTA has always been robbing people—they're employees are a great example of our society's lack.

SP's Ghost

The MTA's employees, while they can often be lazy and rude, are the LEAST of the agency's problems. The problem with the MTA is its MANAGEMENT. The employees, as unpleasant as they are, are the only ones at the MTA who are actually doing their jobs.

Gothampc

First of all, I don't smoke. Second of all, buying cigarettes in another state means a loss of tax money to NY State.

And since the MTA has always been robbing people, they should continue doing so?

americaonline

Stop hating on the MTA so much, they're just trying to live their lives to the fullest. http://gothamist.com/2010/07/14/do_slackers_hold_the_key_to_immorta.php

ed_Extinct

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't a recall cost over $2BB?

jechan

They've sold at least 2 million iPhone4s. Retail price for the base model is $600. The phone costs about $188 (iSuppli) to make. They've netted $824,000,000 pre-tax on the first 2 million phones sold. Think there's more than enough money in there for a full recall. And it's not like the phones being returned are worthless -- it's just the antenna that's the problem. And according to iSuppli, the whole cost of the antenna system is less than $15/phone. Cheapest solution: bumpers (

l3iodeez

So?

I know that if I had bought a non-returnable engraved iPhone and I could only hold it with Apple approved hands, Id be pretty pissed. They have plenty of cash sitting around, $2B isn't that much.

Bottomless Chips

AAPL's market cap is $228B. To spend that much almost overnight seems like a lot to me.

ab1080

Know what else doesn't work the way consumers were promised? Lots of things. Apple's a good company. They're gonna sort this one out and probably relatively quickly.

Let's focus on fixing things from organizations that can't seem to solve their own problems. Take the MTA for example.