What does a post-Antennagate Apple look like?

The smoke has cleared since Apple's July 16th press conference to address issues with the iPhone 4's antenna which is proven to have problems when the item is held the wrong way... but what comes next? Apple has since offered both a free case to anyone who owns an iPhone 4 as well as a full refund if they still aren't happy... and so it might seem as if the matter is closed, but The Mac Observer has some thoughts about what the next chapter for Apple could be. In their article, "Apple’s Troubles Aren’t Over, and That Could be Good", John Martellaro speculates that Apple's days of manhandling customers and calling all the shots might be over.

In the past, Apple was able to cash in on the customer perception that Macs are better designed and Mac OS X is a superior (UNIX) operating system. Because of that implicit understanding by customers, a myriad of lesser sins were overlooked. It’s like dating a beautiful actress with a great body. Some, perhaps many, quirks are overlooked for the overall good.

Now that many more people are in the Apple fold, Apple can’t expect to uniformly cash in on that good will. For example, if Consumer Reports says it can’t recommend the iPhone 4, then that will be reported on by all the TV news outlets. It spirals out of control, independent of the technical arguments. Apple could, in the past, depend on its Mac customers to understand those extremely technical arguments in a the relatively closed, family ecosphere, punctuated by a Mac oriented WWDC.

Though Martellaro raises good points, he may still be missing the bigger picture and making the same mistake other journalists have and treats the iPhone antenna issue as if it will define the company for generations to come. Good products from a company have a way of erasing the public's memory of bad products that came before, and consumers can be quick to forgive and forget once they have what they want in their hands. It's true that Apple could be in some trouble if defects akin to the one that plagued the iPhone become a pattern instead of an isolated incident, but Apple fans -whether discriminating electronics consumers or simply kool aid-drinking fanboys- still want what Apple has to sell. Most importantly: Nobody is currently offering an alternative that's so good iPhone fans will run to it when Apple screws up.