No seriously, it’s an issue.

Steve Jobs recently replied to an email from a customer about their concerns over the antenna issue with the new iPhone 4. (If you’ve not seen the issues yet, check out: link 1, link 2.) He said “Non issue. Just avoid holding it in that way.”

I’d like to offer this open letter response to that reply (which he certainly knew would be all over the internet once it was received).

Mr. Jobs,

> “Non issue”

It’s a PHONE which will, if you pick it up, drop the call! That’s an issue. Pretty big issue. (NOT just lose bars but keep working … drop the call. – Gigantic issue.)

> “Just avoid holding it in that way.”

This coming from the champion of “technology should be intuitive, and just work”!? Why do you think we loved the previous iPhones?

The statement that essentially says “all phones suffer this sort of issue” that apple is putting out is disingenuous and you know it. I can hold my 3GS naturally and it does NOT go to “no service”. You know perfectly well this issue isn’t just something that happens with all phones. It doesn’t – not even previous models of iPhones with the same OS standing in the same location. This problem is unique to the iPhone4 HARDWARE. My 3GS NEVER does this (which has the exact same software version) regardless of how I hold it.

But yet, you tell us that for this version of the iPhone to be able to make calls or access wifi (for more than a few seconds), we can’t hold it in the most natural and intuitive way? The way I can with any other cell phone out there (even any other version of iPhone). The way I (and just about everyone else) has always held a phone since … ever? The same way you held it on stage at the media event? (you knew there’d be photos of you holding it right?) … One wonders if it was really the bloggers and their wifi that caused you the networking issues you suffered on stage.

I dunno, Steve … this is all sounds like textbook “issue” to me.

I’m certainly not going to be upgrading to a new version of the iPhone … that can’t make calls if I so much as HOLD IT!

- Dave