For the past couple of weeks in the smartphone community, there’s been a buzz over a piece of software that’s supposedly put onto phones by carriers that tracks your movements as you use your phone. Data such as account names, phone numbers and location data and more are reported to be collected by this piece of software. Supposedly, these pieces of data are collected so the carriers (e.g. Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile, etc.) can more properly ‘fine-tune’ the experience of their phones in the future. This past week, it was announced that this piece of software had a name… which is ‘CarrierIQ’.

SO WHAT EXACTLY IS CARRIERIQ?

Well, CarrierIQ made a press release which stated that their software DOES NOT do the following -

• Does not record your keystrokes.
• Does not provide tracking tools.
• Does not inspect or report on the content of your communications, such as the content of emails and SMSs.
• Does not provide real-time data reporting to any customer.
• Finally, we do not sell Carrier IQ data to third parties.

An Android security expert named Trever Eckhart published a video in response to CIQ’s press release which seemingly contradicts just about all of the above. In the 17 minute long video, Eckhart goes through and in real-time shows how keystrokes are recorded including phones numbers dialed, secure website (HTTPS) data is sent unencrypted, text message data is accessed and of course that you really don’t know that this app is running. The analysis was performed on a stock Sprint EVO 3D and EVO 4G. The really disturbing thing is the fact that 1) you aren’t told about it 2) can’t uninstall the software.

SO WHO IS AFFECTED BY CARRIERIQ?

As of right now, it turns out that BlackBerry phones, iPhones and most Android phones are affected by CarrierIQ. You might be wondering what I mean when I say ‘most’ Android phones. What I mean are phones that aren’t Google’s ‘Nexus’-branded phones (such as the Nexus One, Nexus S and the Galaxy Nexus). Android phones branded by HTC and Samsung are allegedly currently putting CarrierIQ onto their phones at the request of phone carriers.

According to this article at Pocketnow.com, it seems that iPhone users are not safe either… according to this quote -

Apple bundles CarrierIQ into their OS — as has since version 3.0. It’s reportedly not identical to the Android/RIM version, and can supposedly be opted-out of, or disabled at any time. Go to Settings > General > About > Diagnostics & Usage and choose “Don’t send” and you’re free and clear of the software’s all-seeing eyes.

So if you’re an iPhone user, it’s a lot easier to be released from the hands of CarrierIQ than if you use Android or BlackBerry phones. The article from Pocketnow that I linked above is a good read and raises some great questions regarding carriers and CarrierIQ itself.

WHAT ABOUT WINDOWS PHONE?

UPDATE: (about 30 mins after this post was published) Jim Belfiore, the man who oversees Windows Phone design and software development posted the following on Twitter -

“Since people are asking– Windows Phones don’t have CarrierIQ on them either.”

So there you go… cut and dry answer!
__________________________________________
As it turns out, according to Windows Phone developer/ChevronWP7 member Rafael Rivera, he was quoted on Twitter as saying -

“I have found no evidence to suggest CIQ is present on any Windows Phone device. Let’s hope it stays that way.”

For those who don’t know who Rafael is, he is one of the most well known members of the Windows Phone development community. He’s known to rip into Microsoft sofware and break both positive and negative news about Windows Phone (and other Microsoft products).

According to another good article written by WPCentral.com -

At this time, Windows Phone seems to be exempt from such software as we have seen no reports nor evidence to make us believe this is an issue with our OS. That seems to be because Windows Phone OS is controlled by Microsoft directly and OEMs/Carriers cannot significantly alter the base code. Still, we’re contacting some people who may know more on the topic, so we’ll keep you posted.

In this day and age where people SHOULD BE vigilent of their privacy and security, it seems that most people simply are not. Certain companies are taking it upon themselves to take advantage of people and get the information they need behind our backs. Thankfully, there are those that can read between the lines and find out things that the rest of us don’t know about. What the rest of us should be doing is taking notice of these findings and learn to look around us and become more knowledgeable about these kind of things.

Hopefully this post educated you a little bit and you are now more knowledgeable about what CarrierIQ and what the big deal really is about.

October 10th, 2011 Show Rundown

Segment 1

We begin this show very happy, which is not normal. Mike is very happy his 49ers beat the Buccaneers by 40 points and Hammy is happy his beloved Green Bay Packers are 5-0

Hammy quickly gets annoyed and says he almost got into a physical confrontation with a (looked like one) crackhead mom because he didn’t buy candy from her kid. Hammy says even if he did have cash on him, he didn’t want any candy.

Back to NFL talk, Michael Irvin said on NFL network last night that the Packers COULD go 16-0. As excited as Hammy is by that announcement, they won’t do it. We compare this Packers team with the 2007 Patriots, who did go 16-0, but thankfully lost to the Giants in the Super Bowl

We then vent a little bit about a station that WAS going to syndicate us, but snubbed us and ignored us.

Hammy explains that the owner of the station hasn’t downloaded Lust N Love (which is syndicated there) in months and claims that a former EdgeFM host might have said something, but he doesn’t know yet.

We re-tell the story of learning what kind of person Frank from HNB, our old station, is. Hammy say’s Frank gave him a “manager” position, yet all he wanted Hammy to do was spy on other shows and find out who is trashing the station.

Hammy tells a story about talking to Cluster F Radio, among other shows, to start our own internet station, but Frank prevented that from happening.

Hammy say’s last weeks Royce & Falcone was some of the funniest bashing free-for-all radio he’s ever heard and no one on the show was safe.

We talk about The Fifth Circle, which Hammy say’s did a fantastic job at pointing out the many flaws of the people that are protesting. (Listen to the show yourself
Here
)

We also give a big shoutout to Derek, who was the “man on the street” that made this entire show happen. Follow him
@Derek712

After some more talk about the protesters, we read the
“Non-Official” list of demands the protesters are calling for.

A few callers, Royce from Hippojuice among them, give feedback to the conversation.

Realizing that we’ve been going for almost 2 hours on this topic, we finally go on a break

Song Break

Segment 2

Doug Brian (on Skype) reveals he once paid for a hand job.

We discussed the angry priest that is trying to prevent New York
naming a street after George Carlin. Doug say’s it’s bullshit that some controversial race leaders have streets named after them and Carlin can’t get any recognition.

The conversation turned to the psychopath filled family known as the Duggars, who have their own TLC show just because they have a lot of children. Oh, they believe humans and dinosaurs existed together just like The Flinstones, among other ridiculous bible beliefs…

We took a look at some of their other religious beliefs and their “buddy” system, meaning the mother has so many children, that the older children have to help look after the small children. We read an interview they gave after their most recent child was born 3 months early, where the mother said they would welcome more children. We find out that before baby 2, the mother had a miscarriage. She believes “the Lord will tell her when to stop having babies”.

Doug thinks one of the older daughters, Jessa, is hot. Well, we agree…

We discussed the new iPhone 4S, and how it didn’t WOW us like Apple said it would. Hammy say’s it will be impressive if it performs at 4G speeds without needing a 4G network like Apple say’s it would, then it will be the leader of the mobile phones. Hammy also say’s the camera and Siri will be the big selling features. We take a look at the video demonstration of Siri, and we are scared by how intelligent the technology is…

We finish the show debating which amateur rap song is worse, “Who Got Dat Work” by Cashville Money Squad or our favorite fat dumb rapper, Locomotive Curt…

Shameless plugs

Download this show
HERE

Follow us on Twitter @BrainstuRadio and make sure you follow @BrainstuMedia. You can download todays show and all of the Brainstu Media shows via our website, BrainstuMedia.com and the iTunes music store. Just search “Brainstu Media” in the podcast section.

Mike and Sal always ask when something big happens, “why couldn’t it happen on a Wednesday?” Well, Mike called for this to happen JUST earlier in the day. The Mike and Sal Show crutch, Steve Jobs, has passed away. Hear their take on this breaking news, Yom Kippur, the Occupy Wall Street protests, and catchy songs. This show is a must-listen, so make sure you hit the download link below.

If you haven’t already, subscribe to Mike and Sal to download automatically to your Apple devices, and Zunes. We also have an iPhone app available. You can listen to any show without having to download it. We also have an Android app, and ways to listen from any mobile device!

Here’s some stuff that Mike and Sal touched upon…..

• #OccupyWallStreet, corporate greed, and politics. Sal says he knows how what would fix the economy.
  List Of The Protestors Below
  
• Mike’s arch nemesis, Steve Jobs has died. Listen to his take on the breaking news
  
• Robbers are let off the hook after accidentally stealing child porn
• The “baby selling” debate continues
  
• Would you buy a coffee stained t-shirt? If so, die.
• Churchgoer gouges out his own eyes with his bare hands. Sal’s religion isn’t that powerful…yet.
• Naked man bitten by police dog, circumcision bans banned, and Sal got bit on his ass by a boxer
• Family uses Google search engine to find the best way to “kill an old person”
  Intro Song: AC/DC- Hell’s Bells
  
  Break Song: Godsmack-Voodoo
  

Between Sal and I, we talked about who should write this piece. It was decided that I should do so.

For a long time (literally) in my life, from my elementary school days up until now, I’ve had a disdain toward Apple-brand computers. I’ve gone into it a few times on the show (Mike & Sal), and won’t do so again. As I got older, I learned more about technology, I learned more about Apple in general as a company. I then learned about Steve Jobs, his work in the computer field, making graphical user interfaces (GUI) mainstream in the computer world. The advances he made were revolutionary, no doubt… but the way he conducted his business and treated competitors was my biggest sticking point with him.

Needless to say, he was a complete and utter asshole. For those who have seen the 1999 made-for-TV movie “Pirates of Silicon Valley”, that will show you a bit of how Jobs treated his competitors and even his own employees. While everyone will praise him and hold him as the highest and most almighty, I will surely not do so. He was a piece of garbage of a human being as far as I’m concerned and I hope his soul rots for the way he’s treated people.

As recently as the past few months, even though Steve was no longer the offical ‘CEO’, Apple still had ‘Steve’ written all over it with the way they handled business. In many countries around the world, Apple took Samsung to court for allegedly infriging on their iPhone/iPad patents. They claimed that Samsung’s ‘Galaxy S’ smartphones and ‘Galaxy Tab’ tablet were too close in terms of looks to the iPhone and iPad, respectively. So what did they do? They went to different countries around the world and sued Samsung, forcing them to stop sales of the Galaxy smartphones and tablets. One country they did this in successfully was Germany. Hey, Apple… whatever happened to ‘healthy competition’? Sure, the UI for the Galaxy S phones may have been similar to your precious iPhone, but Samsung innovated to make their phone different. Having a better camera, better technology in the phone and not to mention different versions of the phone could obviously tell you that Samsung was not trying to outright copy the iPhone. As for the Galaxy Tab, there are only so many ways to make a tablet in this day and age with a minimalistic look. The UI is different, the platforms are different and the Galaxy Tab even has a different shape from the iPad. Get off of your damn pedestal.

I digress, however. I just gave one small example of how the company that Steve ran operates under bully tactics. I can list more, if you’d like… it would just prove my point even further. Actually, let me do one more, and this is a REALLY recent example… so recent, it happened YESTERDAY. At the iPhone 4S event, current CEO Tim Cook said the following… “Windows 7 — it took 20 weeks to reach 10 percent of the Windows install base. It took Lion two weeks.”

Really, Tim… I believe you and it’s definitely possible, WHEN YOUR MARKET SHARE IS 1/10th THAT OF MICROSOFT’S WINDOWS. Of course it will happen faster! Not to mention like the Neowin article said, online distribution of OS X Lion through the Apple App Store was the main way of getting it, not to mention that it’s also a LOT cheaper! So put those factors together and duh, it’s a no brainer, but it’s essentially comparing Apples to Oranges (no pun intended). Microsoft also has to deal with the corporate world which traditionally adopts new technology at a much slower rate than the consumer world. This was obviously not a fair comparison and shows you the lengths Apple will go through to deface competition.

I won’t drag this out any longer as I think I’ve said enough. The mark Steve Jobs left on the world of technology was in no doubt a positive one, as he helped contribute to the boom of the computing age, and to make smartphones a consumer item… but the negatives and dark sides of what he does to other people in my opinion far outweigh his contributions.

May you rot in hell, you overbearing cancer-ridden piece of trash. You got what you deserved in the end, good riddance.

The Bossman himself is back, and this show was a great one. Mike and Sal go over the week’s big stories, and discuss some good topics. Learn how Mike’s week off was, listen to reviews of last week’s concert, Sal’s solo show, and their earthquake experiences from the day before. Once again, the duo tackles some controversial issues in an entertaining way, so make sure you listen to this gem.

DOWNLOAD THIS SHOW HERE!

If you haven’t already, subscribe to Mike and Sal to download automatically to your Apple devices, and Zunes. We also have an iPhone app available. You can listen to any show without having to download it. We also have an Android app, and ways to listen from any mobile device!

Here’s some stuff that Mike and Sal spoke about…..

• Yesterday’s earthquake, and the impending Hurricane, Irene
  Earthquake Rattles Washington D.C.
  
• Bull semen, rabbit sized rats, roaches, and snails in restaurants
• A horse molester/vaginal infector/killer, the horses of the Outer Banks in NC, and stupid lawsuits
• Man has his penis chopped off without consent
• Nerds are getting laid…and spreading autism
• Deshon professes his love to Lady Gaga via Facebook…and we relive older professions of his love
  
• We need more benefits…so impregnate this 12 year old so we could get some
• Meat thief, Sal accused of shoplifting, Mike’s Archie comic debacle, and stupid Floridians
• Teacher suspended for calling students “lazy” in a blog. We share teacher stories.

  Make sure you check out this show, and be sure to check out Mike and Sal on ANY mobile device via TuneIn Radio!

  SOMETHING WE MISSED
  

  
  Friend of the the show, Evan L, is doing a run in order to raise money for the Green Beret Foundation in honor of those who dies on Sept. 11, 2001. Evan is dedicating this challenge to Sal’s brother, Chris, who lost his life that day. If you can help, please click this link, and help out any way you could. It is greatly appreciated. This challenge is ridiculously grueling. Read the page to see what Evan will be doing. Good luck Evan! From Sal, Mike, and Edge FM!
  Intro Song: Living Colour- Cult Of Personality
  
  Break Song: Stone Temple Pilots- Sex type Thing
  

As you may have noticed, we’ve been sprucing up the site a bit. Moving things around, tweaking things and just giving a bit of polish to what’s around the site. We also just took the opportunity to slim down our mobile listening page a bit. Rather than break down how to listen by platform, we gave a one-size-fits-all solution so things are less confusing.

As you may have heard on the different shows here on EDGE FM (like the Mike & Sal Show), all of us here highly recommend the ‘TuneIn Radio’ app. It’s freely available for the many smartphone platforms currently out on the market (Windows Phone 7, Android, etc.) as well as most of the Internet TV recievers people use at home (Roku, Google TV, etc.).

The app has the same interface across most of the platforms, making it simple to pick up and use. It also houses THOUSANDS of radio stations from all over the world. AM/FM/HD and Internet stations are easy to find, all through this one app. Rather than having SEPERATE apps for different radio stations (ex. iHeartRadio, Radio.com, etc.), TuneIn makes most of those stations centrally available through it’s app! Like we said earlier, it’s also a FREE app, there is no cost to use the app (aside from the monthly cost of the data plan for your smartphone).

We’re not getting paid to promote this app (yet! *wink*), we just think it’s a great way to enjoy traditional radio and Internet radio all through one easy-to-use application that’s available for most devices out on the market.

OH, and did we mention… you can also use TuneIn’s website to listen to the same stations right through your desktop browser! Whether you use Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome or Opera, you can listen to stations from around the world without having to remember individual site URLs. Just go right to tunein.com!

In order to keep the more than three year streak alive, Mike and Sal, who both happen to be under the weather, decide to fight through another episode. It was a really good show. Sal talked about a very eventful Mother’s Day Celebration that involved a dead dog, a barbeque, and a lot of beer. Mike schooled everyone on why certain rap or reggae artists such as Bob Marley (who died on this day in 1981) and get airtime on rock stations.

DOWNLOAD THIS SHOW HERE!

Click the picture below to join Stitcher and listen to our shows from just about any mobile device.

If you haven’t already, subscribe to The EDGE to download automatically to your Apple devices, and Zunes. We also have an iPhone app available. You can listen to any show without having to download it. We also have an Android app, and ways to listen from any mobile device!

Here’s some stuff we touched upon….

• Rapper Common White House invite
• Sonny and Cher’s daughter/son (we didn’t get to this one…but wanted to share)
  Chastity Bono Then
  
  Chaz Bono Now
  
• Women lie down, men lie up. What do they lie about? Listen to find out.
• Evil spirit cleansing scam
• How to tell if she’s faking an orgasm
• After oral surgery, a woman wakes up with a Transylvania accent. Talks like vampire
  
• The freak flag is still at half mast
• Edge FM’s new Friday episode, The Fifth Circle, and cum omelets
• Man airlifted to hospital after fight with house cat
  
• Roadkill, dead goose, hunting, and weird delicacies
• Sal blesses your sister’s cunt, but refuses to bless Mike and himself, who are currently battling fevers
  Intro Song: AC/DC- Hells Bells
  
  Break Song: Velvet Revolver- Slither
  

  EllisInPhilly Requested Hot Blooded, by Foreigner
  

  Another song touched upon….I guess because of Mike and Sal’s health
  

Now, you can listen to Mike and Sal’s past episodes from any mobile device….for free!

Stitcher is a leading mobile audio company that provides a revolutionary media service which allows audio content to be easily aggregated, organized and shared on mobile devices. We feature the most up-to-date and relevant content in business, sports, politics, entertainment, and current events from the media industry’s premier content providers. By focusing on the growing market for mobile content distribution, the company works to provide an innovative platform for listening to audio content on-the-go. In turn, Stitcher offers significant value to advertisers seeking to achieve greater effectiveness in their campaigns over current digital media and radio placements through enhanced targeting and interactivity.

Click the image above, or visit stitcher.com to download the program for free. Currently, if you have an Apple, Blackberry, Android, or Palm device, you can download Stitcher for free.

After a week without Sal, the duo returns to reset the “standard for random talk on Wednesday nights.” Mike gets an A on his Shock Site test, then tries to figure out ways to make Aperah Winfrey laugh. More importantly, Edge FM debuts it’s mobile chat for Android and Apple IOS users.

You can download this show right HERE.

If you haven’t already, subscribe to The EDGE to download automatically to your Apple devices, and Zunes. We also have an Iphone app available. You can listen to any show without having to download it. We also have an Android app, and ways to listen from any mobile device!

Here’s some other things we touched upon….

An phone app/STD test

A Batman vs Spiderman fight breaks out between Mike and listeners live on the show (who’s better?)

Oral sex demanded at knifepoint by stinky-snatched woman

Mike’s Cripple of The Week: Danniepoo

An email to the show

I am currently 16-years-old and turning 17 in three months. My problem is that I’m worried that I might have a small penis. Can you please tell me how big it’s supposed to be at my current age? Is it normal for it to be the size that it currently is? What natural things can I do to make it bigger? My penis is about one-inch long when it is sleeping and about two-and-a–half inches when I’m hard. I have masturbated since I was about 12-years-old. When I first started, I would masturbate three times a day, but I don’t do that much anymore.

Please help me; I need your advice about my small penis.

What do you think about this kid’s dilemma?

Intro Song: Black Stone Cherry- Blind Man

Break Song: Five Finger Death Punch- Bad Company

Outro Song: Cartman- Taco Flavored Kisses

A Song For Sal, Requested By Sal

Ever since I was a young grade-school lad, I’ve always had a dislike toward Apple. I’m not really sure as to how it began, but the earliest memories I recall involve using an Apple ][ in the school computer labs to do basic word processing and playing Oregon Trail. I was also first exposed to Windows PC's around this time (Windows 95 had been a brand new release around then). In school, we would continue to use the old Apple ]['s while I would use Windows elsewhere. My preference was to use Windows, with the two-buttoned mice and much nicer user experience than the Mac OS of the early 90s. This seems to be the earliest memory of my dislike of Apple.

Now, most people would say that memory is a terrible reason to start disliking a company, and I agree. There is no real arguable basis in that other than what a young grade-school child preferred to use. It gets better, though... and the reasons and rationale starts to build in later years.

Remember this thing?

That made no sense to me at the time… why would you pay for songs that were only playable on the computer you bought it on and the device you put the songs on? If I bought something, I’d want to play it wherever I wanted. Little did I know that DRM (Digital Rights Management) was only just beginning to become a trend at the time, and Microsoft would later come to use it on their ‘Plays For Sure’ devices. Hearing the news about the restrictions on this iPod just made me shy away from using it. As I kept trying to tell people about this and explaining how it’s wrong.. it was to no avail. Almost everyone wanted the iPod, it was getting great press because it was ‘simple’ to use… as long as you used what Apple wanted you to use.

Over the following years, Apple would release new iPod versions (the Shuffle, the Mini and later, the Nano) and keep churning out new revisions of each version on a yearly basis with the odd new feature here and there, mainly cosmetic changes to the hardware. It was obvious that they were simply (and still are) just trying to milk their consumers for what they could…. and it worked. Everytime a new iPod would come out, there’d be a rush to discard the old one and get the new one. If you were going from the 3rd gen with no color to the 4th gen with color.. or 4th to 5th with a bigger screen, that’s a worthwhile upgrade. From 5th to 6th gen however, they just changed the look of it and increased the hard drive size. Unless you were seriously going to use all of that hard drive space, there was no real reason to upgrade. YET, most people did. This trend would only continue over the years… and it always irked me that people would fall for the crap Apple was pulling. I still had my Archos AV320 (which still had more hard drive space than any iPod at the time, and even to this day) and chugging along with my entire music collection on it as well as videos. In 2007 however, Apple took things to yet another height. If I thought things were bad now, they were about to get much worse. On July 29, 2007, Apple released the iPhone.

Apple’s first-gen iPhone

Jobs introduced the iPhone as a combination of three devices: a “widescreen iPod with touch controls”; a “revolutionary mobile phone”; and a “breakthrough Internet communicator”.

Almost immediately, people started tossing out their iPods that they had just gotten a bit over a year prior, signed a two year contract with AT&T (the sole provider of the iPhone in the US, to this day) and started falling in love with Apple all over again.

Now, let’s pause history for a bit here. I don’t have a gripe with Apple innovating technology and moving forward. They’re a hardware/software company and it’s what they do. They helped push touch-screen devices into the mainstream and I commend them for that. What I don’t commend them for is milking people on a yearly basis with a rehash of what they got a year before.. or releasing an incomplete device. What do I mean? Let’s remember back to 2007 and the original iPhone. It was released, but there were certain things you couldn’t do with it. What were they? Cut/Paste, No MMS (picture/video messaging) support, multitasking, stereo Bluetooth support and even the ability to add a background wallpaper (lock screen wallpaper was there) just to name a few. Over the years, support for the these features were slowly added in via software updates and new hardware revisions. Not until this year, 2010… did Apple finally get it right. The iPhone 4 (released last week) is the phone that should have been released three and a half years ago. It’s shocking (to me and most other non-Apple sheep) that it took THIS LONG to get it right. Not until now.. was someone able to add a wallpaper to their background (but here’s the best part), but you must have a 3rd generation iPod Touch, iPhone 3GS or an iPhone 4 to do so.

WAIT, WHAT? *record scratch sound* My 2nd gen iPod Touch, which is fully upgraded to iOS 4 can’t do something as simple as have a wallpaper in the background? What kind of crap is that? Now, I can understand the multitasking only being available to the newer hardware.. it’s got more memory and is faster. I had an old flip phone back in 2008 (my first phone on Sprint) and I changed wallpapers to my hearts content… but my fancy iPod Touch which surfs the ‘full web’ and is an iPod and everything else can’t? There’s been no explanation as to why, either… but here’s why. They want you… the person who’s been with Apple since the first iPod, to keep buying their latest and greatest creation. That’s the only reason why. There’s nothing different aside from internal hardware upgrades that makes my 2nd gen iPod Touch any different from the 3rd, besides a couple of small features.

It’s THAT kind of crap that has me not liking Apple. The fact that every year (around the same time), they release a new version of what’s been out, hail it as the coming of Christ, entice everyone to get it… rinse and repeat. They know damn well they have a lock on the market and are doing what they can to fill their pockets while the masses keep drinking the kool-aid. It’s also the dumbass sheep consumers who are all about ‘my friend has the new iPhone, and I need it too!’ trend of thinking.

My first smartphone was an HTC Touch on Sprint (with Windows Mobile 6.1). I had cut and paste, multitasking, ability to change wallpaper and everything the iPhone 4 does now.. and this was back in early 2008. I wasn’t ‘cool’ though.. no one thought anything of it, simply because it wasn’t Apple’s product. The consumers who hail Apple as the almighty are among the other group that I strongly dislike. They stand up for Steve Jobs, his creations and his company as if it was the only thing in life worth living for. They adopt Jobs’ smug, smarmy attitude and basically become one of his drones. Now, they hail the simple thing of changing wallpaper as a ‘feature’ that is groundbreaking and is worthy of shitting on competitors everywhere.

My first smartphone – the HTC Touch on Sprint

Now, along with the recent launch of the iPhone 4, there’s been a few issues with the new iPhone revision. First up, was that the screens on some new iPhones had a yellowish haze spot in certain parts. It ended up being that was a temporary issue with the bonding used to hold the screen down. They apparently shipped out the new iPhones too quickly after manufacturing to allow the bonding to dry enough. The second, and bigger issue was with the reception and the new design of the antenna. Rather than try to explain myself, here’s a quote from an article on Neowin.net -

Steve Jobs’ first reply to the issue was somewhat arrogant and void of any responsibility. “Just avoid holding it that way” he said in a reply to a customer email. The problem occurs when you grip the phone in your left hand, bridging both sides of the black strip in the metal band around the phone. Apple’s PR outfit tried to play down the issue by claiming “gripping any mobile phone will result in some attenuation of its antenna performance.” Apple’s official response is to “use one of many available cases” to halt the issue.

I recommend reading the full article for the full explanation of the reception issue… but the way they designed the antenna, and the possible problem of holding it with your left hand.. all to be told to ‘avoid holding it that way’ by Jobs is madness. I’m a lefty, and if I bought an iPhone 4, I’d be holding it with my left hand… and I should avoid that because YOUR product doesn’t work the way it should? Fuck off, Steve.

In closing, that is my real major beef with Apple… their attitude toward competitors and the way they treat their consumers. They think they’re hot stuff and that they’re right when they’re clearly not, and that attitude tends to rub off on some of their consumer base… while the rest of the sheep just continue to drink the kool-aid and give their money subserviently.

Thanks for taking the time to read this… hopefully now you can understand a bit better why I intensely do not like Apple.

FOOTNOTE: Yes, I own an iPod Touch… but I did not pay for it. I won it in a contest and I mainly use it for purposes of testing out iOS, using certain apps and viewing how my websites work in Mobile Safari. I use a few apps, such as AOL Radio, Wunderradio and a couple of games but it is not my primary media device. That would be my Microsoft Zune HD 32GB.

My current media player of choice – the Zune HD