The iPhone 4 launch day has been dominated by two storylines: unprecedented demand for Apple's newest smartphone and critical issues that even Steve Jobs has addressed.
While the yellow discoloration has been a big issue, the bigger issue seems to be the iPhone 4 reception issue. Hold it the wrong way and you can completely lose your signal. For now Steve Jobs advocates buying a case or not "holding the phone that way."
The issue begs an important question: How did Apple miss this? Apple extensively tests its products and the company is nothing short of obsessive with the quality of its products. It's difficult to believe that Apple wouldn't have tested the quality of the antennas with extensive rigor.
Of course, that type of field testing is what led to the lost iPhone 4 prototype and the ensuing legal drama.
Here's one interesting theory, proposed by Matt Schlicht, Ustream's product lead for social and virality:
It's probably true that, when the iPhone 4 was taken into the field, it was always inside of a case that hid the device. Apple may have discovered the antenna problem later on, but it might have been too late by then.
Another opinion is put forth by Spencer Webb, an antenna designer. Here's what he says:
"The iPhone 4 has two symmetrical slots in the stainless frame. If you short these slots, or cover them with your hand, the antenna performance will suffer ... There is no way around this, it's a design compromise that is forced by the requirements of the FCC, AT&T, Apple's marketing department and Apple's industrial designers, to name a few."
If this is the case, then Apple knew about the issue long ago, but decided that it was an acceptable trade-off. We'd agree, but we want to know the most common ways the typical user holds his or her phone first.