Oh it's illegal here too, trust me. The fact that they are doing it is mind boggling. I can't say if it's happening in other stores but it sure happened in this one.

I really should have recorded the conversation and kept the phone, then posted the conversation online.

As for those saying just return it and buy something else... well maybe once something else comparable is released... but right now, barring the antenna issue (and prox issues which I'm sure can be fixed with firmware) I love the phone. Now if it would just WORK as a phone where I live I'd be happy.

I'm still off the Apple bandwagon big time. No more Apple products for me unless they make up for this behavior in a big way.

First off Apple is making it very difficult to return phones, and I can assure you there are LOTS of people in the Apple stores trying to get the phones fixed and threatening to return them.

How about this interesting story...

I was in the Apple store in the "Domain" in Austin, tx. I went in for a phone exchange because I was instructed to do so by Apple tech support on the "chance" that it would fix my drop call problems (and proximity sensor issues). I had 2 case numbers and Apple made the appointment for the visit themselves.

Well, I get there and spend 60 minutes, 15 minutes waiting for help (past my appt time) and 45 minutes talking to the support person while he went to the back 3 times to "get my replacement phone" only to come back out and say "I just want to make sure you understand that after you exchange your phone you cannot ever return it for a refund" and then being unable to show me anything in writing that states that I would lose my contractual rights to a refund if the phone is exchanges in an attempted repair.

That's right, Apple stores are attempting to decieve customers that they cannot return phones if they are exchanged for repair during their 30 day period. They cannot show anything in writing to this affect (because nothing in writing exists) and when pressured they will simply say "oh I know how the system works and it is simply impossible to return an exchanged phone because the serial numbers change". How interesting. But they cannot explain how that can be possible when the exchange work order shows both the original phones serial and the exchange phones serial"

So those of you that claim that no one wants to return their phones should walk into an Apple store and see what they are doing to keep people from doing so. The intimidation (with a pleasant voice) tactics used to stop customers from doing so (since most customers will try an exchange at least once before refunding) is despicable and probably illegal.

Huh? Nice made up story.

Certainly people bought the phone for business. It's just ridiculous to imply otherwise. I know tons of people who bought the iPhone as a Blackberry replacement, and tons more who couldn't because their company did not support the iPhone (or allow it's use) at the time.

So nice attempt to somehow discredit RIMs statement. A statement that is very well said and puts Apple in a pretty shitty light, especially when you consider how badly Job's wants the corporate business. And they made acquiring that business SIGNIFICANTLY more difficult for themselves with both the iPhone 4 itself and the way they have handled it's problems.

Of course what they don't tell you, or probably don't know, is how many calls are ended intentionally because you are unintelligible to the person on the other end of the line. I've had a bunch of calls where I've had to hang up and call back on a land line because the person could not understand me when I "accidentally" rested my skin against the black line.

Yeah, Steve is beyond lying for personal and professional gain.

I mean he came clean about the antenna problem right from the start when he said "you are holding it wrong" and "there's no problem, this is being blown all out of proportion".

Or when he stated so truthfully that the problem was with the ATT algorithm for calculating bars - because he needed us to see the truth - that inaccurate bars are the cause of dropped calls... oops!

Yeah, Stevie boy is beyond such base things like lying. Of course it's amazing what truth means when you are living in a self made fantasy world where, by the definition of your reality, everyone other than yourself are all ignorant peasants and therefore wrong by definition.

China's domestic gdp is not comprised of the same products as it's exports. Certainly they consume a huge amount domestically, they have 1.3 billion people, but that does not mean that exports are less important.

If you want evidence of this just take a look at what happened last year when China's exports dropped 26%. They saw a significant downturn in the economy prompting a nearly 600 million dollar stimulus package.

China produces products cheap now, because they keep their citizens in the dark and essentially control what they can and cannot do and how to think. That will change, and when it does they will see demands for increased payroll, benefits and all the other things that we see outside of China.

So don't expect things to continue as they are.

A few things you are missing in your "analysis".

1. Per capita, their population has a lower percentage of skilled workers than the US, hence a lower average IQ.
2. Per capita, Chinese citizens are poorer, by far, than those in the US and cannot afford that new HDTV or car. They'd all like to have them, but can't.
3. A significant percentage of Chinese exports come from sales to the US, those same citizens you would imply are a problem. Without the US China's economy would be in serious trouble.

They are called, specifically, FPU's not FP's.

As for the cpu guys putting the gpu guys out of business... we know how successful Intel has been trying to do just that with their GPU offerings... you expect that to change in the next, say, 10 years? Not likely given their past track record of failure.

Curious.

You do know that phone companies have had this capability for years, right? They can, and do, pretty much anything they want to the remote platforms in the way of remote pushes of new features/capabilities/apps/etc. The extent of which they can do so will of course vary by model and capabilities of the device, but this should not be news to anyone.

Doesn't necessarily make it right, but not surprising in any event.

So you don't think Google's professional and you think that the things they do are random? Interesting....

Of course the fact that every movie avail on DVD has been out in the theaters already, and reviewed.... and music albums are played on radio stations regularly, and streamed...

Yeah you are right. Walmart is the problem you buy crappy DVD's and music, not you. They absolutely should take back that opened container that you absolutely did not RIP to your media server at home...

Please...

Wow! So I guess I should trade in my 35mpg car for a 20mpg car!

Really now, how is this helpful in the least? If I acquire a car that has a higher mpg rating than my current car I am saving MORE gas, so do I really care what happens from 10-20? No.

It's called "Pacing" but you were probably too young to know.

They followed you for a distance to get your speed.

Light bulbs work because they are filled with an inert gas NOT air. So your analogy does not apply here.

They can certainly be called to task for anti-competitive trade practices - like not allowing flash thereby creating a situation where untold numbers of companies are forced to modify their websites, drop certain advertisers and and thereby materially affecting Adobe's business.- just so they can use that to enter into the advertising market....

Don't be fooled by the pretty box cover, it's pretty dank and dark inside.