Posted by Migo on Jul 30th, 2010
I’m a southpaw, something Apple didn’t anticipate when creating the IPhone 4. We’ve all heard of the problems with holding the new IPhone “wrong”, dropped calls and stalled 3G Internet browsing to be specific. Understandably, this can cause major bouts of frustration and may lead to individuals to test the aerodynamics of their phone.
This problem caused me to think about what, exactly, was causing these problems. The little black bars around the edges of the phone are actually the antennae for 3G/call service, WiFi, and Bluetooth. Touching an antenna shorts out the signal by diffusing it between your finger and the metal band around the phone. Okay, so now we know the problem, how do we fix it? More importantly, how do we fix it cheaply?
Scotch tape, yes you heard me correctly, scotch tape. Putting some of this tape on the black bar will keep your finger from shorting out the signal and dropping the call without impacting reception of signal in the first place. It’s non-conductive, insulates the antenna, and is clear so if won’t detract from the look of the phone. Apply the tape to the highlighted area in the following picture and you should be just fine.
I wrote this article from personal experience, as I’ve done this to my phone and it works great. So bust out that roll of tape that’s been in the drawer for a year, pull off a small piece, and get your phone fixed without having to shell out $30 for a “bumper”*.
*Yes, I know Apple is giving the bumpers away for the time being.
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Amazing that Apple didn’t take cell-phone habits into account when they designed this. And I actually mean that, I’m not being sarcastic; usually they’re much clever at this “human interface” sort of thing. But I’m not at all surprised that they try to sell the “fix” for $30 when something as simple as this does the same job. My one complaint about Apple is that they’ll sell anything for a minimum of 15% markup.
It’s called the “Steve Jobs Tax”. We pay for his new livers and turtlenecks.