This is appalling. Perhaps my feelings are wrong but I can't imagine Steve Jobs having alowed such a calamity.

What ought Apple to have done to avoid this? - What any self-respecting , let alone trillion dollar manufacture would do, (I would have thought), as a standard step in quality control ... think and test and check - and then do it again - not just within the company confines but, as you suggest, in the real world, with real users of various needs and habits.

If they wanted to keep their pre-release experience in-house, they could certainly still have replicated the 'real world' experience. If Apple don't use focus groups, retailer and client feedback, industry commentators and reviewers, and etc. to inform their choices about client needs and preferences then, in my view, there is something seriously wrong. If they do listen to such sources, then I fail to see how this iPhone could turn out as it evidently has.

As an Apple consumer since the days of the Apple II, the only comfort I can take from this disaster is its vindication of my decision, long ago, not to buy any new product, (not only of Apple), until it has been around for a significant period of time and any issues have surfaced and been aired.

I can't say that I enjoyed reading this article, given my regard for Apple products but that you've written it may help many others avoid a sad mistake.

Thank you.