Recent email exchanges purportedly between Apple CEO Steve Jobs and some customers have attracted a lot of attention – and some criticism – on Twitter, blogs and tech news sites. However, according to Apple public relations, the entire e-mail exchange being attributed to Jobs did not actually take place the way it has been reported.
The series of emails, which were published earlier this week by The Boy Genius Report, had the Apple CEO replying to an annoyed customer about the iPhone 4's widely reported signal problem.
In separate e-mail messages, Jobs supposedly told the customer:
* "No, you are getting all worked up over a few days of rumors. Calm down."
* "You are most likely in an area with very low signal strength."
* "You may be working from bad data. Not your fault. Stay tuned. We are working on it."
* "Retire, relax, enjoy your family. It is just a phone. Not worth it." (In the latest version of the BGR report, this last line is attributed to "Tom.")
However, an Apple spokesman has emphatically denied this email exchange ever took place.
Apple has been sued by iPhone customers in at least three complaints related to antenna problems on its newest model.Apple launched the iPhone 4 last week to a huge groundswell of demand. But the launch was also plagued by complaints from some customers about poor call reception on the device when they held it in a certain way.
The problems have been a hot topic on the Internet, but it is unclear how many people have been affected. The issue does not seem to have hurt iPhone sales so far. Apple sold 1.7 million new iPhones in the first three days.
The iPhone 4 represents a complete redesign over the previous model. A band around the rim of the smartphone acts as its antenna.