By Wayne Freedman
11:02 a.m.:
What has Jobs learned from this?
“How much we care about our customers, and want to take care of them. We were stunned, upset, and embarrassed by Consumer Reports, but we were already embarrassed.”
“If we had done this a week and a half ago, we would not have had the data we had today. We are an engineering company. We think like engineers. “
“I don’t think we could run any faster. We had care in lots all night. We had people living here 24/7. We could not have worked any faster. I guess it is human nature that when an organization gets really successful, people want to tear it down. I see people jumping on us. What are you after? Would you prefer we were a foreign company? What about this got you so riled up? Sometimes, I think that in quest for eyeballs for websites, people don’t care what they leave in their wake.”
“Apple has been around a long time. Haven’t we earned the benefit of the doubt. This was blown out of proportions. We didn’t know our phone had a target on it. We were not innocents in this. The reaction has been overblown.”
10:59 a.m.: Jobs and two engineers admit they do not use bumpers on their phones. Hold them up.
Big laughs.
10:56 a.m.: Will not refund for anyone who purchased a third-party case.
10:53 a.m.:
Summary:
Jobs had no advance knowledge. These problems are industry-wide. It is impossible to make a small smart phone without weak spots.
Cases mitigate problem by isolating antenna from human body. Free cases for all users, and returns for those who still are not satisfied.
Jobs. "We are not perfect. We make mistakes. We take care of our customers."
10:48 a.m.: Clarifies that if people return phones, AT&T will release them from contracts.
10:47 a.m.: He says he apologizes to customers who are disappointed. Will he apologize to investors? "To those who are disappointed our stock dropped five dollars, no. We hit a bump in the road. Hopefully, they invested in us for the long term."
10:46 a.m.: Jobs says reports of him having advance knowledge of problems are false.
10:42 a.m.: "If a user is having a problem, it is our problem. We have worked very hard for twenty-two days. We are not into band-aids. We have found the heart of the problem. Smart Phones have weak spots. We exposed our weaknesses. We made a mistake making our bar display more theatrical."
"Data supports the fact that the iPhone4 is the best smart phone in the world. There is no antennagate. This is a challenge to all smart phone users."
No break.
Tim ? and Bob Mansfield not taking questions.
Reporter has asked Steve about his health. He says fine. But, felt better before coming back from vacation.
Says he is happy with the antenna design in iPhone 4. Does not know what next antenna design will be. "But we don't feel we have a giant problem we need to fix."
10:37 a.m.: "We love our users. We will try harder."
10:34 a.m.: White iPhones shipping at end of July. Bringing to 17 more countries.
Break time.
He thinks the antenna I superior. Fingers on antenna cause interference. Cases mitigate interference. Not as many cases purchased. Cases will solve problem.
Free cases for all∨ a money back refund within 30 days.
10:34 a.m.: Now going to Q and A Released IOS 4 yesterday to fix bars and an exchange bug.
And says he will give everyone a free bumper case.
Free cases for every iPhone4 users. If you bought one, you get a refund.
Through September 30, free case. And refund.
10:32 a.m.: "It is clear that there is a problem, but it is affecting a small number of users." Free case for every iPhone user. And, if you are still not happy, he says being it back, undamaged, within 30 days for a full refund. "We want every user to be happy. If they are not, we give them a full refund."
10:23 a.m.: More numbers -- this sounds more like a sales pitch or a defense than a fix. Says six percent of iPhone 3GS had a six percent return rate. iPhone 4 returns are two percent.
10:20 a.m.: Jobs says reception has been a challenge to the entire industry. Cites 100-million dollars in antenna research. Says smart phones have weak spots.
They will drop reception.
10:12 a.m.: Jobs has dubbed this as 'antennagate'.
Says company was aware of problem almost immediately. Says compnay is 'working its butt off'.
Says the problems are not just iPhone related. Is showing Blackberry phones with similar issues.
10:08 a.m.: Song lyrics end with, "if you don't like it, bring it back." Steve Jobs on stage says they says the video on YouTube. "We're not perfect. We want to make all of our users happy."
10:06 a.m.: Not the usual showing for an Apple announcement. They have the usual catered food out front, but the auditorium is only one-third filled with press.
Now they are showing a cute video about the iPhone antenna. It's a song by some guy called 'Fanboy'.
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