“I suppose conspiracy theories might be in order. When Consumer Reports concluded that they couldn’t recommend the iPhone 4 because of alleged reception problems if you held the handset the wrong way, they might have really expected to see sales of Apple’s smartphone plummet,” Gene Steinberg writes for TechNightOwl. “But it doesn’t seem there was any impact at all, other than in the quarter before the iPhone 4S came out. That was when customers apparently remained on the sidelines awaiting the new model, not because CR had anything to say about it.”
“That’s quite a difference from the auto industry. When CR downgrades a motor vehicle for severe handling defects — a few models nearly overturned during emergency handling tests — you can bet manufacturers will take notice,” Steinberg writes. “But that’s the car business. With the iPhone, Apple didn’t pay attention to CR’s non-recommendation. The customers didn’t either, obviously, or not in any significant way.”
Steinberg writes, “Now CR tried once again to get in front of the debate when some people complained that the new iPad ran hot… The temperature tests of other tablets that indicate the difference between them and the new iPad is, at best, a slight to none. Under normal use and service, those variations wouldn’t be terribly noticeable. As these tests are repeated and published, it makes CR look more and more foolish. Clearly, they targeted Apple, hoping, perhaps, to find a serious defect and gain more attention than they received when they messed up the iPhone 4 test.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Bird cage liner for bird-haters.
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