Steve Jobs is pretty awesome when it comes to handling customer emails. I admit I might be more prone to send something long winded and terse back to my most brash adversaries, but Jobs is always as cool as a cucumber. Fortunately it’s not a journalist this time, but instead some dude getting worked up over the iPhone 4’s antenna issues.
But this dude had a youtube video which an Apple engineer saw. So the engineer contacted ‘Tom’ (as Boy Genius names him -later called out as Jason Buford), and as with everyone else, Tom was told the antenna problem was a non-issue. The most arrogant trollish rage ensues in the emails, but Steve Jobs himself eventually intervenes with a confident nerve and appropriate demeanor.
Tom writes back to the engineer, “I assume there is no fix then. If this is legit, I have lost all respect for apple and just want to go back to Verizon and get a nice Android phone… If there is no fix just tell people so they can return their phones. We have work to do. I have bought just about every apple product made in the last 20 years and this is the 1st time I am ashamed to be a MAC fan.” In his first intervention, Jobs replies, “No, you are getting all worked up over a few days of rumors. Calm down.”
Buford: “I am really insulted… “Calm down”…. “rumors”… What arrogance. This is will be marked as the begging of the end of Apple. Seriously, DO THE RIGHT THING.”
Jobs: “You are most likely in an area with very low signal strength.”
Buford: “Stop with jackass comments. I have has every iphone made. They all had a bad signal but this is the so much worse X3. The whole country is is in a “low signal strength” in reality… all but apple campus and your house it seems? […] Steve. IT DOES NOT WORK! Geezzz I hope this this is not really you.”
Jobs: “You may be working from bad data. Not your fault. Stay tuned. We are working on it.
Sent from my iPhone”
(The jab is quite funny, as it’s the first time in the conversation he appended the ‘Sent from my iPhone’ signature. So apparently the iPhone works after all.)
Buford (Originally this was quoted to be from Jobs): Retire, relax, enjoy your family. It is just a phone. Not worth it.
Again, what compels people to be so worked up and angry? If you come to a business as a professional, they will treat you like one. I think in Tom’s case, he was looking for a reaction and never got it - being a crybaby won’t solve your issues.
You can catch all the drama at Boy Genius Report.
Update: We can no longer trust the validity of this exchange due to Boy Genius’ Update reported on their site. Apple PR rang, and said Steve Jobs did not partake in this exchange. Screenshots ensue, and it’s one of the most confusing messes I’ve ever perused through. This whole thing has become a sham – AppleInsider reports that Boy Genius Report allegedly paid for exclusive access the email. Others like CNN, however, say it’s fabricated. We’re leaning with fake on this one.
