Most people who know me, write me off to being an Apple Fanboy and that's fine.   The truth of the matter is that it is much more complex than that.  I do enjoy and celebrate Apple products, why?  Because they work for me.  Not you, me.  As a technologist, I have spent too many hours to mention in my life dedicated to fixing Microsoft products and issues to want to allow that to carry over to my pesonal life.  I can do things on Windows that can cause big problems.  Sure I could do the same with Apple products, but I don't have to.  I don't have to worry about registries, dll files, drivers or a never ending battle with virus attacks.  More importantly I don't have to worry about me screwing someting up.  So in that context, Apple products project me from me.  I don't jailbreak my iPad or iPhone, I don't hack away at the UNIX underpinnings in my OSX operating system, I just use the applications to get things done and 95% of the time they work as advertised.

This post is not about Apple or Microsoft, but it is about the electronics consumer in the United States and how the mentality of consumers has shifted.  The recent Apple PR/Engineering debacle of the iPhone 4 has uncovered true ugliness of doing business in the United States.  With Government regulations, Class Action Lawsuits, a rabid panic-enciting media base and a population that feels everything is owed to them, it is a wonder that any company can do business in this country or want to.

The truth in all of this iPhone 4 drama is this.  Apple made a product.  That product has issues.  Apple has handled the situation badly. Trust in their product has taken a hit.  What is not true is that Apple owes us nothing.  Their decisions; good, bad or horrendous are their responsibility and will impact their bottom line and their shareholders.  Why we act as if the decisions or trip-ups that Apple the company performs somehow damage our lives.  News flash:  They dont.

Yet, the environment seems to indicate that somehow apple owes us something for puttnig out a less than operational product.  In my opinion they did the right thing by waiving all fees to return the phone within the 30 day window in which anyone who didn't like the phone could have returned it.  I didn't have an issue serious enough to warrant turning my phone back in.  That was my choice and I exercised it.  Those who didn't puzzle me.

These individuals seem to think that because they spent money with a company who was willing to give that money back within 30 days, that decision was the responsibility for Apple to make based on the crazy idea of issuing a recall of the device.  That is just insane.  So why?  I could see it if the iPhone was the only mobile phone on the market.  It isn't.  So what would drive someone to ignore the issue for 30 days, then get on the bandwagon to somehow punish Apple for their own bad decision?  Class Action Lawsuits, bumper or case giveaways or full-out recalls are all aimed at somehow punishing Apple while holding on to the very device that is not working to their expectations.  AHA!  There it is, the word... "Expectations"

We expect too much and are willing to defer all decision making, risk and responsibility to others because we are owed something.  I think back to the days when rational individuals took responsibility for their own decisions.  The fact that a company is willing to provide options for you to make decisions with should be a kudo's to that company.  We need to stop blaming everyone else for our own bad decisions and start taking responsibility for our own lives.  That includes in our purchases of products.

So in the case of the iPhone 4 issue.  My device is working within my expected parameters.  I am not going to turn it back in and will wait to see if the small issue I do have with the Antenna is sorted through Apple's future actions.  If not, then I have to live with my decision and be happy with it.  I was an early adopter and as with anything else, there are certain risks that I sign up for.  If it goes bad, I really have no one to blame but myself, the penalty to Apple will be another little bit of trust and consumer satisfaction lost from me.  That translates into my decision making process going forward with Apple will be under more scruitiny that it was in the past.  Over time, that will be the ultimate penalty for Apple a growing loss of brand loyalty.

So stop acting like someone has died because of this issue and insisting that Apple be strung up on high because of it.  Look in the mirror ask yourself the following questions:

1. Can I live with another phone?
2. Would I be happy with gettting my money back?
3. Is this issue really impacting your life in a negative manner?

If the answer to any of those is Yes, then you should really consider taking the phone back and getting something else.  Otherwise, stop flooding the world with an issue as trivial as whether or not you get 2 or 5 bars all day, every day.  No one really cares, free up your time to thinks like hunger, people losing their phones or even what is going to happen to the Gulf as a result of the millions of barrels of oil poured into our environment.  Those issues impact peoples lives.  Not whether or not you have an iPhone, Blackberry or Android.  If you want drama, go back to watching soap operas, I hear they are taking a hit in viewer numbers.