Four Reasons Not To Stand in Line For The iPhone 4

You've heard all the hype. You may have even seen people queuing up overnight to be among the first to get one. Now that real people are starting to get their hands on the new Apple iPhone 4, reality is setting in—and that reality might make you think twice about joining the hordes in line.

The iPhone, in many ways, is targeted at boomers: it's a media consumption device as much as a phone, and its simplicity of design and operation make it a lot more accessible than some of its competitors in the smart phone market.  But like the iPad, the iPhone 4 is a radical rethinking of the iPhone, and with radical rethinkings come unexpected troubles.

There are several reasons why, even if you're a die-hard Apple customer, you may want to defer the heroic efforts required to get an iPhone 4:

1. Reception.  The new iPhone 4's metal frame doubles as its antenna—a design move that was supposed to help eliminate issues previous iPhones have had with reception. Some customers have said it has the opposite effect: when the phone is held firmly in the hand, customers have documented that the phone loses its signal. Apparently, this is more of a problem for lefties.
2. "Tough" glass apparently isn't tough enough.  Apple has said that the glass that covers the front and back of the iPhone 4 is 30 times harder than plastic, and made from the same glass used for helicopter canopies. Helicopter canopies don't get dropped that frequenty, but iPhones do—and some iPhone users have reported the glass on their phones have already been scratched or even shattered. This should be good for business for the iPhone accessory manufacturers selling "bumper" cases for the new phone.
3. Tinted windows.  Some iPhone 4 owners have complained that the glass over the iPhone display has yellow splotches in it. This is apparently due to a manufacturing problem; Apple hasn't commented on how it plans to handle requests for replacement glass yet.
4. There's a cheaper iPhone that doesn't have these problems.  The iPhone 3GS, the predecessor of the iPhone 4, is now selling for half of what its successor is, and it can handle the multitasking and other features of the new iPhone operating system, iOS 4. If you're still carrying around an older iPhone, the 3GS is looking pretty good right now.