Pride and prejudice
Sir — The media’s lamentations over the tepid response to the launch of the iPhone in India came as a shock (“Muted midnight launch”, Aug 22). The fact that reporters outnumbered buyers during the midnight-launch of the iPhone clearly indicated that the media were going all out to sensationalize this event. The low turnout of buyers at city stores probably dampened the correspondent’s spirits, prompting him to rant about India winning “no medals” in the global race to buy iPhones. It was appalling to note that the commercial launch of an inexorably priced luxury product had been turned into a historic event by comparing it to the Olympic Games. The metaphor used in this context was in very poor taste.
Yours faithfully,
A.S. Mehta, Calcutta
Sir — There is more behind iPhones than technological sophistication. The experience of the many users of iPhone has not been as pleasant as it it has been reported in the gushing news reports. I bought my iPhone in October 2007 from New Jersey and unlocked it myself. Since the last week of July 2008, the lower part of the touch screen has become non-functional. As a result, I cannot take calls or send messages or play music. Even before this, I owned an iPod 5th-generation 30GB version, which had been purchased in June 2006. This too had stopped working in December 2007.
When I visited the Apple store in Delhi, I was told that local stores were not allowed to repair either of the products as they were not authorized dealers. In fact, there is no Apple dealer in India authorized to provide after-sale services. It seems that the launch of the iPhone in India has not been supported by local service centres. This becomes even more crucial as the latest model of the iPhone has a plastic back unlike the previous models that used aluminium. As a result, there have been several reports of its cracking. While in the United States of America, the damaged iPhones are being replaced at free of cost, in India, one doesn’t know if the buyers are entitled to get the same benefits.
The media in India have given extensive coverage to the launch of iPhone. Perhaps they chose to ignore the adverse feedback from previous users. Hence, it is imperative that one takes a good look at some of the drawbacks of this ‘wonderful’ gadget. The iPhone has only a 2 mega pixel camera with no support for video recording — a facility that is available even in cheap mobile phones these days. The camera does not have a flash. There is no FM radio either, and, most annoyingly, there is no easy way of forwarding SMSs. In the case of the iPhone, one needs to install application programmes to operationalize such basic functions. There is no drag-and-drop facility for managing music, and the use of iTunes is imperative. While browsing the web, the cut-and-paste function remains inactive. A section of the media is trying to cover up the iPhone’s limitations by saying that the tool is different from mobile phones, and is hence not expected to carry such features. But that is nothing more than a clever marketing strategy.
Yours faithfully,
Siddhartha Roy, New Delhi
Sir — Before the iPhone was set to hit the stores in cities across India, retailers had hoped that buyers would queue up for hours in front of stores, just as they did in the US, Japan and in some other countries. But the sparse attendance must have dismayed the reporters who had thronged the shops at midnight. The media seemed to have forgotten that the Indian economy can by no means be compared to that of first world countries. Indians would rather invest the money that is needed to buy an iPhone on procuring basic amenities such as food, health, education and accommodation. The urban elite would surely be able to afford a luxury such as the iPhone, but the number of buyers is unlikely to be high. It is a pity that the media did not set their expectation according to the economic reality of our country. Inexplicably, they waited to see a sell-out crowd that never arrived.
Yours faithfully,
Ketaki Mukherjee, Calcutta
Sir — The 3G iPhone was received rather coldly in this part of the world. This only goes to show that there is a major disparity in technological awareness among citizens in developed and developing nations. The iPhone has proved to be a smash hit in the West. On the other hand, here in India, people hardly noticed its arrival. Affordability may have indeed been a factor, but Indians probably have little interest in electronic gadgets anyway. They shy away from exploring the benefits of high-end technology in their every-day life. If the whole of Calcutta could queue up in front of bookstores during the midnight launches of Harry Potter books, iPhones definitely deserved a better response.
Yours faithfully,
Sandeep Misra, Calcutta
Parting shot
Sir — Spam mails are a menace to those who hold electronic mail accounts. Although service providers have attached separate spam mailboxes for individual users, these unwanted mails often flood our mail boxes. The contents of spam mails are mostly explicit advertisements, or else they are fake pleas. Sometimes they even carry harmful viruses. The most disturbing aspect of spam mails is that they often borrow the names of the service providers themselves. I was once astounded to find my personal mails in the spam box, while the trash items had been saved in the mailbox. One only hopes that the service providers will think of a way to solve the problem of spam mails soon.
Yours faithfully,
Shrimonto Pathak, Calcutta