LOL! He's still here folks. Sooo cute.
So why did you bring up Amazon at all? Were you planning to make some kind of point?
Yes. That user reports
wherever they may be are useful for making purchasing decisions.
AT&T unlocks phones. Apple does not. iTunes just reverts some settings. Apple has nothing to do with the quality of your wireless service or support. At all.
You're hilarious. I never complained about the quality of AT&T's service or support because I didn't deal with AT&T. Apple makes locked phone and Apple makes unlocked phones. Even though Apple has the ability to unlock without involving AT&T (that's how it was done before AT&T allowed the user to request an unlock), that's not the point: Apple should not have replaced an unlocked phone with a locked phone. I never said "they should have unlocked this locked phone for me." I said they should not have replaced an unlocked phone with a locked phone. Got it? They are not different models. They should have grabbed from one stack instead of another. As for Apple's involvement with the carrier, they are obviously able to update the IMEI/ESN on the carrier's billing system so that the replacement phone stays under contract for those who still have contracts and can still be blocked/banned for non-payment and such. Apple has just as much access for unlocking phones.
Tell me how a product release cycle has anything at all to do with failure rates. You couldn't shift those goalposts with an aircraft carrier.
LOL! Talk about "shifting goalposts." You started this particular conversation thread with one of those anecdotes you hate so much by reporting that none of your phones have ever had a problem while simultaneously trying to get me to shut up about ALL of my phones having problems. You very quickly jump the shark and say that problems need to reach Microsoft XBOX 360 red-ring levels of failure for people to make informed buying decisions from a confluence of user reports. LOLWUT?!
There is a SOLID like of logic in my responses from start to finish. You were incorrect in saying that rumors should never influence buying decisions and I used a personal experience that says otherwise. No goal-post shifting here, you just seem unable to follow. I remember laughing at all the self-righteous users commenting on every iPad mini story with crap like "Stop reporting on rumors and speculation! Apple hasn't announced anything yet!" Was that you?

I was glad they were reporting the rumors and we acted accordingly with BUYING DECISIONS BASED ON "RUMOR."
Apple has pretty solid reliability ratings. I'll take that over anecdotal evidence.
I've never had problems with any of my phones.
How about you take that WITH anecdotal evidence?
...
Remember when Microsoft refused to admit that reliability statistics on the XBOX 360 were worse than industry norms? Yeah. It took massive public ANECDOTES to force their hand.
Are you suggesting that will happen to Apple?
No. Does it need to for people to make buying decisions?
Yes, because people need to make informed decisions. Acting on a rumor is not an informed decision.
Bull. Based on the "rumors" of the iPad mini, Ichinisan got maximum value for his iPod touch 4G and avoided the mistake of buying an iPod touch 5G. He canceled the preorder and got an iPad for $30 more.
Am I supposed to know who that is or what the scenario was?
As I explained, he made a smart purchase decision based on rumors which flies in the face of your silly assertions. Other people were still screaming at ModMyI and other iDevice news outlets for reporting on "rumors" of the iPad mini, as if you had to wait for Apple to announce it. If you did that it'd be too late. Apple carefully controls such announcement to avoid cannibalizing other products.