4 ms·

There's lies, damn lies, and statistics. 0.55% sounds great, and not a big deal. In reality, 16,000 people get dropped calls - almost statistically insignifica

There's lies, damn lies, and statistics. 0.55% sounds great, and not a big deal. In reality, 16,000 people get dropped calls - almost statistically insignificant. But if you're one of those 16K people, then it happens 100% of the time to you! (It's fun to play with statistics to alter public perception)

ericd 16y ago
When you deal with many millions, tens of thousands really aren't that big a deal, unless it's a really serious problem. Companies work at a different scale than you or I, and it's not reasonable to apply your own feelings about numbers to the numbers they work with. And it doesn't happen 100% of the time for anyone, it's just very visible to some people when they try it, hence the complaints.
- JBiserkov 16y ago
  A phone that can't make/maintain proper calls IS a really serious problem. Lying to your customers about perception (5 bars always, making the first two bigger) IS a serious problem. When the Uberphone that was supposed to be mega-awesome has a repeatable hardware issue this IS a serious problem(even if the issue itself is minor, which it's not).
  - ericd 16y ago
    Nah, if you read the ars technica report on it, the perception explanation does turn out to be reasonable due to the way the "reception bars" graph works. Besides that, it explains that despite the fact that the phone suffers greater attenuation than most others, it still actually performs well due to higher sensitivity. See here: http://www.anandtech.com/show/3794/the-iphone-4-review/2 http://www.anandtech.com/show/3794/the-iphone-4-review/2
mcritz 16y ago
I think we’d all love a .55% unemployment rate (99% decrease) and be frightened if the homicide rate shot up to .55% (1000% increase). The most useful statistic Apple provided was the comparison between iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS. Dropped calls are about even. As expected.

ericd 16y ago

When you deal with many millions, tens of thousands really aren't that big a deal, unless it's a really serious problem. Companies work at a different scale than you or I, and it's not reasonable to apply your own feelings about numbers to the numbers they work with. And it doesn't happen 100% of the time for anyone, it's just very visible to some people when they try it, hence the complaints.

JBiserkov 16y ago
A phone that can't make/maintain proper calls IS a really serious problem. Lying to your customers about perception (5 bars always, making the first two bigger) IS a serious problem. When the Uberphone that was supposed to be mega-awesome has a repeatable hardware issue this IS a serious problem(even if the issue itself is minor, which it's not).
- ericd 16y ago
  Nah, if you read the ars technica report on it, the perception explanation does turn out to be reasonable due to the way the "reception bars" graph works. Besides that, it explains that despite the fact that the phone suffers greater attenuation than most others, it still actually performs well due to higher sensitivity. See here: http://www.anandtech.com/show/3794/the-iphone-4-review/2 http://www.anandtech.com/show/3794/the-iphone-4-review/2

mcritz 16y ago

I think we’d all love a .55% unemployment rate (99% decrease) and be frightened if the homicide rate shot up to .55% (1000% increase). The most useful statistic Apple provided was the comparison between iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS. Dropped calls are about even. As expected.