@talkingstove: Brand loyalty isn't stupid; people are stupid. There are good reasons to be brand loyal just as there are bad (which you alluded to).

@Andrzej Lipski: You misunderstood AT&T's offer. AT&T moved up your upgrade eligibility from 18 months into contract to 12 months. This is why people (like me) who bought a 3GS early were also able to get full subsidy pricing on iPhone 4.

@FritzLaurel: I think it was particularly high this time around because more people were eligible for the full subsidy pricing, at least here in the U.S. Plus, many people are not satisfied with AT&T. Assuming that only a portion of those people were still willing to switch to AT&T anyway, I think it's safe to assume…

@twothefutureandbeyond: Either you had an iPhone and upgraded to a new one or you didn't. If it wasn't available in your area, then you fall in the latter category.

@cassiemajestic: I think it was particularly augmented this time because AT&T offered early upgrades. For example, I bought my iPhone 4 on the 15th, but I would have stuck with my 3GS if AT&T didn't offer me the full subsidy. I'm sure I'm not the only one.

@DingoJunior: You misunderstood my tone. The purpose of the poll and the post was to find out if this problem affects people when they're using the iPhone 4 as they normally would. My intent was to say that if it doesn't affect people as they use the phone normally, it isn't a problem, using myself purely as an…

@maythetechbewithyou: Yes, perfectly. In fact I hold it that way a great deal of the time because I'm a rightie and prefer touching the phone with my right fingers.

@erichg14: Did you notice a drop in data transmission, or did you just notice yourself doing it because it's been called to our attention?

@Sean Robertson: The more important thing to look at is whether or not it's actually affecting data use and speed. I can make the bars drop on mine when I try to but have yet to see a dip in call quality or data speed when just using the phone normally. Maybe my bars have been all over the place without me realizing…

@Brutalitarian: I'm actually wondering if this is based on the quality of your signal (which we would expect to be worse here in the U.S.). I've been at my parents' since getting the phone, and we normally don't get more than two bars here on any phone. iPhone 4 gets four or five, but will drop down to one or two if I…

@paulrules: Calling your own phone while you're in the same room and deliberately covering the antennas is, in fact, the exact OPPOSITE of normal use. You were deliberately trying to reproduce something, not using the phone as you typically would.

@dlm2100: Did you restore your iPhone 4 from a backup? The iPhone sometimes requires you to reenter passwords after restoring as a security measure.

@paulrules: Did it affect normal use? If not, then you're the one who deserves to be laughed at.

@konfused: I must disagree with you about this being true news. Based on my admittedly brief three days with the iPhone 4, this has never, ever happened to me during normal use. In fact, the iPhone 4 has had better reception here in semi-rural Pennsylvania than any phone I've had for the last decade.

@DingoJunior: If it doesn't affect real-world use (as it hasn't with me), then you can't really call it a problem, can you?

@maythetechbewithyou: Yes, because messing around with a friend's phone for 20 minutes makes you a better judge than those of us who have had the phone for two or three days. I had a 3GS, and the 4 blows it out of the water.

@ThisCharmingMan: I agree 100%. Haven't noticed anything when using the phone normally.

@pixelpushing: My experience is just like yours, except I have been able to replicate the issue. But I have to be TRYING to replicate the issue for it to be an issue; hasn't affected real world use.

@LoPan12: Or perhaps they noticed that most of the time, reception was better. This has been my experience. I'm getting 5 bars at my parents' where no other phone has ever gotten more than two. I have yet to experience this problem during regular use, but if I had, I'd probably choose better overall reception while…

@dazsalt: Actually, I would think this would be a bigger problem for righties because they'd be holding the phone in their left hand while touching it with their right (as I do). This is most likely why the majority of scenes in Apple's videos have people holding the phone "wrong".