Consumers are far more likely to voice their opinions if they're negative than positive.
A few reports of overheating doesn't even being to point to a "problem" with the iPad.
The people whose iPads
aren't overheating aren't going to come to a forum and post something Iike, "Hey! My iPad isn't overheating! What gives!?!?"
You can't establish the existence of a widespread problem from a few negative reports.
It's unfortunate, but some people are going to end up with bad hardware. Some are going to return that bad hardware for
more bad hardware. Is the latter likely? Probably not, but there's literally an infinite difference between improbable and impossible.
Think about it... You get an iPad. The iPad overheats when operating well within its reportedly acceptable parameters. It's probably broken. So, you take it back to the Apple Store where you got it and swap it out for another a couple days later. You go home, get ready to enjoy what
I've been enjoying (my iPad works perfectly - I don't mean to rub it in,, but that's that), and then... it overheats.
That would be terribly frustrating, and you have every right to be upset about it, but there are SO many variables to consider.
For example, it could be that your local store, right around the time you got your iPad, just happened to have received a batch of iPads that were produced on the "wrong" day (maybe something was slightly off with the manufacturing equipment for just a moment - who knows). If that's the case, maybe your local Apple Store, for the time being, is more likely than others to have bad apples in the bunch. My stores, all in Portland, Oregon, may have received iPads built on a "better" day, so there are fewer problems.
But it's not a design defect. Apple never would've shipped if that were the case. It's
not profitable to sell a device, then have to give another away because the first suffered from a known issue. Best to hang on to any potentially "bad" devices and see if minor corrections can be made to them so they work properly (like the other 99% of iPads out three (I invented that percentage, but this is conversational, so let's just run with it)).
It's
really expensive to sell lemons. It means store employees who
could be selling Apple products end up having to devote time to attending to customers with bum hardware. Then the device has to be shipped out, inspected, and put through a process to determine if it can be sold or if it has to be junked. Meanwhile, the affected customer is walking away with a brand new iPad ($500+) that could've been sold. Ultimately, when you figure in customer support costs, the potential for bad press, shipping costs, the cost of assessing whether the bad device can be fixed and put back on the shelf, you end up with quite the loss for Apple. It's not like selling two iPads for the price of one - it's selling an iPad, then having to take it back, pay for all the processing to be done to it,
and eat the cost of the one they give you as a replacement.
This isn't some Apple conspiracy. It's not in Apple's favor to rush the product to market despite known design flaws (they released the iPad when they were good and ready - there were rumors for years before it came out - that's not rushing a process - that's taking time to get it right).
But, as seen in things like commercial aircraft, the malfunction of which could cost many people their lives, there is
always going to be a lemon rolling off the assembly line from time to time. It's unavoidable.
I feel for those of you who've had bad experiences, but you're just unlucky - your experiences are likely
not representative of any major portion of iPad owners, so it's unfair to Apple to suggest otherwise.
That said, it's reasonable to expect people to be upset. I'm just saying... these things happen, and a few bad experiences aren't indicative of a widespread problem.
Good luck to those of you who've experienced these problems, though - I've been through it with other products, and I empathize with you :/
- Rory
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http://twitter.com/rory_blyth
