How to Solve iPhone Reception Problems

The recent broohaha over iPhone 4 reception issues reminds me of an old vaudeville joke. Man goes to a doctor and says “It hurts when I do this.” Replies the doctor, “Well, don’t do that!”

This is my response to those folks reporting poor reception when they hold a naked phone in a certain way.

Don’t hold it that way.

But why is anyone holding a naked iPhone to make or receive a call in the first place?

First, you just paid $300 bucks for your 32 GB iPhone – and you figure it’s a good idea to just wave it around au naturale? There are more cases available for iPhone than for all other cellphones combined (I don’t know that for a fact, but I’d be shocked if it weren’t true; in fact, I’d be more shocked if there weren’t 10 or even 100 times as many cases for iPhone than for all other phones combined) to suit anyone’s weird or kinky aesthetic tastes. There’s simply no excuse for not encasing your 4, regardless of how much you’d like to show it off, if only to protect your investment.

But why is anyone even holding any cellphone for a call?  Have you heard of S.A.R. – Specific Absorption Rate – the amount of radiation your body absorbs from a cellphone? True, studies have yet to prove a definitive cigarette-causes-lung-cancer-like link, but ignoring even the flawed S.A.R.=brain cancer studies are akin to wandering around Tora Bora waving an American flag and hoping the Taliban or Bin Ladin’s posse – or both – don’t notice you.

As with covers, there are dozens if not hundreds of iPhone-compatible wired and Bluetooth mono and stereo headphone options out there (the new $250 V-Mode over-the-head Crossfades I’ve been auditioning, which include an iPhone inline mic and control, kick beat-heavy house music ass, and are $100 less than Monster’s similar Beats), and the iPhone has excellent voice control.

So, again, the solution if you’re experiencing iPhone reception issues? Slip a sheath on that bad boy and stop holding the damn phone!

About Stewart Wolpin

I have been writing about consumer electronics for four decades, including news, reviews, analysis and history for a wide variety of consumer, niche and trade outlets. For the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), I annually update the industry's history and write the official biographies of the CTA Hall of Fame inductees. Aside from writing about consumer technology for a variety of consumer, tech and trade publications, I write a blog and do market research for Digital Technology Consulting. In the non-tech world, I have written "Bums No More: The Championship Season of the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers" and "The Rules of Neighborhood Poker According to Hoyle." Check out my work at www.stewartwolpin.com.
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