It was either the height of arrogance or sheer stupidity. But knowing that Apple CEO Steve Jobs was involved, anybody should be forgiven for thinking it was the former.

Last week, there were media reports of the iPhone 4's vanishing radio signal and of Jobs' blunt dismissal of initial customer complaints by telling those whiners to "just avoid holding it in that way." An Apple statement, meanwhile, reminded everybody listening that many other smart phones were equally guilty of this fading signal.

While media coverage of customers complaining about the world's most popular smart phone might not be enough to have an impact on the overwhelming consumer demand for the iPhone 4, it doesn't change the fact that Jobs and Apple might have had a misstep or two.

This corner, however, wishes to remind Jobs that being the coolest maker of the coolest gadgets does not give him or anybody else the right to blame consumers for a product's flaw. Telling users not to hold the iPhone in a way that diminishes its antenna's ability to grab radio signals is never going to work.

Of course, Apple can always put the blame on the company's contract manufacturer. Jobs could not do anything if some factory workers forgot to apply the required coating to the phone's built-in antenna.

Of course, Apple would certainly continue its merry way of selling millions of the iPhone 4 smart phones.

Software Update

Some of those millions of consumers who bought themselves iPhone 4 smart phones need not fret about their handsets' missing signals. There is another option beyond holding their phones "properly" or buying a $30 casing for their iPhones.

There are reports of rumors (Why is it that everything that Apple does first emerges as a rumor?) that the Apple is preparing a software update for the iPhone's baseband. Online discussion groups are overflowing with speculations about the cause or causes of the iPhone's signal difficulties, dubbed by some observers as the "death grip."

By the way, users have also reported experiencing similar signal disappearances on the iPhone 3GS.

Droid X

Everybody knows by now, no smart phone is likely to "kill" the iPhone. Aside from further enhancing the Apple smart phone's market standing, dubbing every other handset as the "iPhone killer" is a surefire jinx — a kiss of death, in fact.

The iPhone will remain the world's coolest smart phone because of the following: iPhone ecosystem; coolness factor (Mac's halo effect); high quality of user experience; and the extreme loyalty of Mac fanatics.

However, it is becoming clear. The iPhone's nemesis is the Android platform and all of the Android smart phones. With an increasing number of manufacturers coming out with Android phones that are always better equipped than their predecessors, the iPhone might have finally met its match.

That's all for the meantime, folks. Join me again next time as we keep on watching IT.