[AppleChic]

There has been a recent storm of lawsuits against Apple by dissatisfied iPhone 3G owners who say that the advertisements that claim the iPhone is "twice as fast for half the price" are misleading. Apple has responded to one such lawsuit with a 9 page legal statement that claims their ads are truthful, but one paragraph basically says in legal speak that anyone who fully believes their ads is a fool.

The response is to the lawsuit filed by William Gillis, a 70 year old San Diego resident, who says he was mislead by untruthful advertisements when he decided to purchase an iPhone. The legal speak in question that Apple responded with is as follows:

"Plaintiff's claims, and those of the purported class, are barred by the fact that the alleged deceptive statements were such that no reasonable person in Plaintiff's position could have reasonably relied on or misunderstood Apple's statements as claims of fact."

Gillis’ lawsuit is one of many that claim Apple has misled the general public with overstating the iPhone’s performance abilities. Complaints range from dropped calls, sluggish broadband speeds and the inability to stay on 3G before it switches to the slower EDGE network.

Apple has acknowledged some of these problems but has said the 2.2 OS would fix them. While early reports suggest that the 2.2 software has reduced the rate of dropped calls many still complain about reception issues.

This coupled with the fact that the U.K. Advertising Standards Authority recently banned two iPhone 3G advertisements for being misleading in the UK does not look good at all for Apple.

…One thing is certain; Apple somewhat calling its most loyal customers fools for believing their ads does not do anything to help their negative image of being an elitist company.

Do all you iPhone owners think the ads are misleading compared to the actual performance?

Source: Apple: Our Ads Don't Lie, But You're a Fool if You Believe Them | Gadget Lab from Wired.com

[cricketlang]

good luck to anyone trying to fight apple on this one. some woman already did this....EPIC FAIL

[hitman10]

i think that gillis is correct and i'm pissed off at apple if the statement is true. but id like to see it first.

[Magnum]

Yeah it's misleading as h311!!! We don't get the ENTIRE Internet as they say we do...it does not load as fast as It shows on the commercial...commercial is suppose to represent the device...if you ask me that's more of an iPhone 5th or 6th generation iphone representation wit it runnin that fast...it's faster then the first gen...but not twice as fast...BUT wit all that said....it's still faster than any other phone...and I still Own the best mobile phone out...I mean come on, it's a revolutionary mobile device....RIGHT?...but I wish apple would live up to their word though...

[JacquesChirac]

The ads are completely misleading. So much of the country doesn't have 3G network that thousands are paying for a service that does not exist. It's like marketing a cell phone service throughout the country that only has reception in twelve states, and on top of that boasting about its incredibly high quality service.

Apple is selling the 3G based on the premise of faster speed. That's it.

If it wasn't for the 3G's faster speed, it would be essentially identical to the 1st gen iphone. Once that premise is debunked, the 3G is not only the same as the 1st gen iphone, it's $160 more costly after paying 24 months for a nonexisent 3G service and the 200 texts that used to be free with the 1st generation.

So for thousands of Americans, the 3G is the same speed and $160 more, not twice the speed and half the price! (If you want me to show you the math, I would be happy to do so.)



.... and while we're on the subject, I saw that mac ad the other day making fun of microsoft for spending so much money on windows ads instead of dealing with its Vista problems. But isn't it ironic that Apple was actually spending its funds on this advertisement instead of dealing with its issues like the 3G problem.... There are a LOT more mac ads out there than windows ads.

[dLeFTW]

Misleading or not. I'm happy with my 3G IPhone and Macbook. It's always about the CONSUMER in the end anyways.

[ALL DAY]

The speed on the phone in the ads is really misleading; some good video editing, there. Even on sick wifi, nothing loads anywhere close to as fast as that NYTimes page...

[Happy Noodle Boy]

This is like trying to sue a fast food shop for not serving you a meal that looks like the ones from commercials. You know the ones I'm talking about, the ones with oh so delicious perfectly cooked meat, perfect melted slices of cheeze, the right amount of fresh tomatoes and lettuce and just enough mayonnaise to finish it up. Actual meals NEVER look like that. Do I care? No.

The phone still rocks, and as a previous 2G user, the 3G is faster, louder, and better.

Stupid.

Come to think of it, I can't think of a single commercial where the device/product in question ever plays exactly as it's shown.

[elr0y7]

Corporatism = Lying

[M4tt Dam0n]

Of course it's not gonna be as fast as in the ads. God people need to get a life. And I still don't know why we're still talking about reception problems. I had the 1st gen iPhone and the 3G since the launch and I have yet to experience any problem. In fact I am very pleased with the 3G speeds. Maybe it's just AT&T. Here in Canada we may get raped with high plan prices but at least the network is good. Still hate the retarded 7$ monthly "access" fee.

[globol]

I'm sick of people suing for stupid ish. If you're not happy with it then buy yourself one of those "iphone killers" (lol) Iphone rocks! The 70 man who's suing probably doesn't know how to even use an iphone to let alone complain about its speed. And the ads being misleading? The phone is so "FAST" because its using wifi. And the web pages and map features loaded so fast because its already stored in the cache memory. Only people who has any legitimate say about the iphone's speed are the ones who at one point owned both phone. That 70 year old man that is suing, most likely never even owned the first version. These lawsuits are ridiculous. If your 3g speed sucks go complain to AT&T.

[bytebak]

My first gen phone (week 26) has seen every update since release,Jailbroken since ibrikr,dropped,has spent 80% of its life in my pocket with my change and keys,and still does more better faster than any phone ever put on the market.my complaint is apple policy,but their product rocks.where i live they just got 3g a few weeks ago,but they have been selling the service for years,at&t even took 19.99 a month internet off the market (because its was cheaper than a regular plan i believe).a 3g iphone is ok but a 2g on tmobile is awesome!

[chazzzzy]

How are you supposed to show 5 features in a 30 second ad without jumping to the features quickly?

The ad is supposed to show you all the things you can do with the iPhone... not the actual speed.

I've seen a billion ads for PCs where the computer powers up right away or they click on a website and it loads in 1 second.

Even Blackberry shows things happening faster than they do in real life. This whole argument is lame.

Imagine an iPhone ad that DOESN'T show you all it can do, as that's all you'll be left with.

[461am]

Fools indeed. Seriously, how brain-dead do you have to be to actually base your purchase completely on an advertisement.

[ALL DAY]

^Exactly why I'd never sue for anything like that; it's dumb. I was just saying, it's obviously not like on the commercials, which I expect some people to believe.