Apple DELETES Thread On 'Consumer Reports' iPhone 4 Review

Apple has come under fire for iPhone 4 reception problems, specifically, the service disruptions that can be caused by touching the phone's integrated antenna. Although Steve Jobs reportedly told one customer that "there are no reception issues" with the device, not everyone is convinced. Both Apple and AT&T are facing a class action lawsuit over the reported reception issues, and Consumer Reports recently slapped the new iPhone with a critical review, concluding that the handset suffered from a "design defect."

Although Apple has yet to comment on Consumer Reports' "not recommended" rating for the iPhone 4, moderators on the Apple support forum have been deleting customers' discussion threads about the negative Consumer Reports review, according to TUAW.

The proof, TUAW asserts, comes from a Bing cache, which shows a live thread from June 12 in which customers link to the Consumer Reports review and debate the iPhone 4's supposed "defects." The original thread no longer exists on the Apple website; in its place is a message that reads "Error: you do not have permission to view the requested forum or category."

TUAW alleges that Apple has deleted similar discussions several times and demonstrates how a Google search of "consumer reports site:discussions.apple.com" also leads to several error messages in place of threads. PCWorld suggests that these discussions may "violate its [Apple's] terms of service." Engadget adds that Apple deleting unsavory threads is "nothing new:" "Outside of "regular" moderation, the company routinely deletes discussion of hardware flaws that it's not ready to 'fess up to, or just generally negative lines of thought about its product."

However, a search of Apple's Support website found that some discussion threads addressing the Consumer Reports review do still exist .

Comments

[ProFormaArtista]

05:17 PM on 07/20/2010

The so-called "death grip" is found on all mobile phones, and the configuration that the hand must have which produces the death grip is different for each phone and its location is in a different place. This is due to each phone's unique design: The placement of the internal antenna, as well as the electrical properties of each person.

You will note that HTC, Motorola, Nokia or Samsung, all refuse to explicitly say that their products do not have a death grip. What they say instead is something like "Hey Apple, don't mention our own death grips just because our fans are beating up on you."

The manuals for "...Nokia and HTC (for example), specifically warn customers against death grips. If you touch them in a certain place, the quality of the signal weakens. And their own manuals clearly show the location of the death grip for each phone. Steve Jobs clearly demonstrated this phenomenon on, I believe, two of the competing phones. One was on a RIM.

I suggest that all who use a cell phone other than the iPhone find your own personal death grip. Make a game of it.

[AlFeldzamen]

12:29 PM on 07/17/2010

Maybe if the prudish bluenoses in Cupertino spent less time suppressing mildly risque materials as -- gasp! -- "porn," or sharp political commentary as "defamatory," and more time on something they know something about, technology, this never would have happened.

[anthonytaurus]

06:38 AM on 07/15/2010

Hilarious. There's the illustrious Apple marketing team at work. This time, they can't get away with blaming AT&T or Adobe. This time, the problem falls on their doorstep. And, what happens? They do their best to sweep it under the rug. All this to delay the inevitable.

What's the most cost-effective way to handle this problem?
-Recall
-PR scrub job
-Ignore it

Oh, PR scrub job. That's the ticket.

[WSAY]

09:13 PM on 07/14/2010

Yeah - HP would never censor their stuff.

[ginsushark]

08:29 PM on 07/14/2010

some forum moderators would be at home in north korea

[Todd Behrmann]

04:26 PM on 07/14/2010

This is one of the reasons I stay away from Apple products

[WSAY]

09:14 PM on 07/14/2010

But you are interested enough in Apple to read articles about them. You sound kind of insecure.

[Vernon Brown]

03:59 AM on 07/15/2010

Maybe reading up is how they decide. Let me guess what the "A" stands for...

[jasev01]

03:29 PM on 07/14/2010

amazing how the fanboys will defend this.

[ProFormaArtista]

02:19 PM on 07/14/2010

Phony outrage over the alleged iPhone problems. They sound like Beck's and Rush's Birthers and Teabaggers. Huffington also deletes comments. This is one thing bad about bloggers, most feeding off of each-others' phony misery.

[Brocifer]

07:16 PM on 07/14/2010

Pot, meet kettle.

[Vernon Brown]

04:01 AM on 07/15/2010

Hit close to home?

[feddown]

01:11 PM on 07/14/2010

Plus, if their thugs trace the IP addresses of those "non-believers" who dare to make negative comments about CultBoy Jobs or his "perfect products," you might expect the "Applejackboots" to be heard outside your door at 3 AM, given their past actions, as I understand things. Apple: Rotten to the Corp.

[Counterglow]

07:17 AM on 07/14/2010

Apple products have always had their good and bad points, and you chose its products based on your needs and competencies. For example, if you're uncomfortable about tearing a computer apart every now and then, or if your needs are graphics/multimedia-driven, you should probably get an Apple. In the last couple of years, though, uncritical fanboys and Steve Jobs' Messiah Complex have combined to turn Apple products into a bit of a joke. Even a friend of mine who's an award-winning graphic artist and Apple fan is starting to get fed up with them.

[Todd Behrmann]

04:06 PM on 07/14/2010

I've been working with graphics since the Commodore 64. Nothing beat the old Amiga when it came to this either. Photoshop I've been using since 2.5, and GUESS WHAT, no real difference between how it runs on a Mac, or a PC. At least with a PC, I can fix and add things myself, where with a MAC, I need a damned specialist.

[WSAY]

09:16 PM on 07/14/2010

And with a PC, you'll NEED to fix and add things.

[Counterglow]

11:13 PM on 07/14/2010

PhotoShop 2.5??? WOW!!! I bow in the presence of an Old Master! And you're absolutely right...when an Apple tanks, you're done. When a Windows machine turns up its toes, at least you have a fighting chance.

[Bluesman2008]

05:21 AM on 08/08/2010

That's what most people don't get. It's not the phone so much that people are ragging on. It's Jobs' arrogance. That's what gets under my skin.

[alanposting]

06:12 AM on 07/14/2010

the shine is coming off the apple and its turning rotten..

[lackofoversight]

06:09 AM on 07/14/2010

Deleting discussions about iphone defects? I hope Jobs doesn't turn his company's wonderful reputation from Apple to crApple.

[WSAY]

09:16 PM on 07/14/2010

You'll understand better when you get out of grade school.

[bjammin]

03:58 AM on 07/14/2010

Ignorance Is Strength.

[DoesNotComputer]

02:34 AM on 07/14/2010

Just another reason why I opted to get a Droid rather than an iPhone. I'll never patron Apple, simply on principle. Censorship, of any kind, pisses me off something fierce. The iPhone is a nice looking device, but it's a rather ironic and paradoxical sin to employ censorship on a device whose supposed purpose is to freely exchange digital information. Not only that, they're now censoring general criticism of the iPhone altogether. Talk about fundamentally un-American. Steve Jobs would do well in China. He's not getting any of my business. Oh, and Macs suck as well.

[StephBr]

04:53 AM on 07/14/2010

How do you feel about posting on this heavily moderated site?

[btowl1818]

04:58 AM on 07/14/2010

how do you figure it's heavily moderated? They let you post here :p

[Torrentlover]

06:59 AM on 07/14/2010

"but it's a rather ironic and paradoxical sin to employ censorship on a device whose supposed purpose is to freely exchange digital information."

It never was about the free exchange of information. Apple controls just about everything that goes into the IPhone including what applications your allowed to install.

[AAKAlan]

11:25 PM on 07/13/2010

There seems to be a strange disease that affects men who get to the top of the high-tech industries. There's this dreadful arrogance that leaves them wanting to run, not just their companies, but the whole world. I think they term this "megalomania".

There's an obvious problem with the iPhone 4. Everyone knows it. But Jobs believes that his totally incredulous denials ("we've been miscalculating bars - forever!") and his power to execute on his prejudices ("No Flash!" Use HTML 5 - when HTML 5 doesn't actually exist as anything but a draft specification and Android has no problem implementing Flash on their phones) to cover up his failures and shortcomings.

Remove a few posts? No big deal. After all, Steve Jobs is now in charge of everything, right?

Not of me. My LG Env Touch phone is great, and I may get the HTC Incredible. Neither one of which lock me into "The World According To Jobs".

[Leigh Mckenzie]

01:49 AM on 07/14/2010

Flash on Android works but it runs down battery and isn't 100% stabile.

As much as I would love Flash on my iPhone, I understand the reasons of not putting it out there like that.

More and more websites are now starting the slow switch, but it needs to be sped up.

[HonestJohnnis]

02:08 AM on 07/14/2010

I really don't know where people got the idea that flash takes a ton of battery but it's ridiculously blown out of proportion. Engadget shows the nexus one playing a 17 minute flash video as only using 6% of the cpu processing power and having no effect whatsoever on battery life.

[DoesNotComputer]

02:36 AM on 07/14/2010

You realize you can disable Flash on Android, right? And even if you don't, the Droid runs like a dream.

[feddown]

01:13 PM on 07/14/2010

Good for you. Fanned