iPhone 3G Not Actually As Fast As Advertised. Tears Shed

by Jody Mitoma on August 14, 2008 at 12:15 am

Okay, what’s the big deal here, folks?

Apple/iPhone blogs across the web have been sharing a video as of late, showing exactly how much slower the iPhone 3G’s loading is in comparison to what they’ve advertised on the tv spots.

Here, have a look for yourself. I know you want to:

You mean to tell me that Apple’s iPhone 3G commercial is in fact a hoax? The new iPhone 3G can’t actually load an entire web page in 1.5 seconds? Awwe man! I was hoping that Apple’s 3G connectivity would be better than 3G connectivity on any other cellphone!..

Duh, come on guys! Don’t play stupid. You do understand how expensive it is to run a 30 second television advertisement, right? Yes, Apple has the money, but I’m sure the marketing team only gets a certain percent of this cut to play around with. And besides, who wants to sit around for nearly a full minute just staring at an iPhone trying to load a full web page of text and images?.. Not I!

Give Apple a rest. They’re not miracle workers, albeit, rather close.

4 Responses to “iPhone 3G Not Actually As Fast As Advertised. Tears Shed”

MM said:

August 14th, 2008 at 1:48 am

A lie is a lie, don’t use the ‘appeal to common sense’ argument. Common sense is relative, and a lot of people do fall for it.

Here’s another article you can also dismiss:
http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/08/whats-wrong-wit.html
Eric March said:

August 14th, 2008 at 11:24 am

Your link points to an article about 3G reception problems on the AT&T network, which has nothing to do with the marketing vs. reality of 3G speeds, so we’ll ignore your strawman.

Most importantly, common sense is common because, by definition, it is obvious to the majority of people. Those whose sense falls somewhere to the left of the bell curve to the extent they they take advertising at face value even when alleged claims are vaguely implied rather than explicitly stated is either just looking for a reason to bitch, has never heard the term “creative license,” or is incredibly naïve.

Also, “appeal to common sense” (or more accurately, argumentum ad populum, Appeal to the Majority, or Appeal to Belief) is only a logical fallacy when used as a cite against a point of fact. Since Jody was arguing for a case of common knowledge (advertisements commonly take creative license in presenting product features in order to symbolically convey a point of fact for the sake of brevity rather than accurately portray it, especially when the accurate portrayal of said fact would require more time than is available to do so) and not a point of universal fact, then “Appeal to Belief” is a perfectly acceptable argument to make because it is at the foundation of the argument in the first place.

Also, the complaint that actual speeds are not as fast as the commercial portrays is at odds with the explicit statement made in the commercial that the 3G is “twice as fast” (as the previous iPhone). If you are going to make an argument comparing speeds, compare them on that basis alone. Otherwise, you’re picking an argument based on a false premise derived from an implication in the ad while conveniently ignoring the explicit, contradictory statement made in the same ad — since we’re talking about logical fallacies and all…
Matt Burris said:

August 14th, 2008 at 4:19 pm

“And besides, who wants to sit around for nearly a full minute just staring at an iPhone trying to load a full web page of text and images?.. Not I!”

I’m not sure if that is supposed to be intentionally sarcastic or what, but I have to admit that was pretty funny.
Jody Mitoma said:

August 14th, 2008 at 4:59 pm

Of course it was sarcastic! hehehe… Great site you’re running there, Matt!