peter martin

Since I blasted Apple on the iPhone 3.1 upgrade sloppiness, it’s only fair that I applaud them when they do something well…and in this case it’s something extremely important to me.

Three days ago, my iPhone stopped switching between silent and normal mode. In silent mode, the volume remained on and the phone vibrated endlessly. Thus, I was forced to remain in normal mode, which put me at risk of having my phone go off in a meeting, at a funeral, etc.

Three days from now, the original hardware warranty on my 3G was set to expire. As you’d expect, I took the first opportunity to rush up to the Apple store and sit down at the Genius bar, hoping that it would be a quick fix (but fearing that I’d lose my phone to some convoluted repair process for a week).

Well, ten minutes after my appointment, I’m happy to say that I walked out with a brand new iPhone 3G, no questions asked. It’ll be a few hours until I can restore my contacts/apps/music from my most recent backup, but that’s certainly an enormous improvement from dealings I’ve had with other hardware manufacturers and wireless vendors (I’m looking at you, Palm, Motorola, and, yes, AT&T).

So, credit where credit is due - that was a kickass response to a problem that would have been more than a minor annoyance, given my reliance on the iPhone for business calls and email. Thank you, Apple.