That, unfortunately, is their image.
They release flawed products, that eventually get fixed. The flaws are dismissed as not necessary, useless, or a waste. Eventually the features might get added, or the flaw fixed. All too often, I hear from Apple fans to wait until after the 1st generation.
So that's their image.
While I think a lawsuit is pretty silly this early on (thought not unwarranted if they knew about the problem before launch), a solid release would do their image better then always fixing flaws.
In the UK, an 'unsubsidized' i4 starts at $630. Even if you only use it as an expensive iPod Touch HD with an unused 3G antenna, the phone costs more than $200 to own, any way you want to look at it.
Orthogonal to that, I think this whole antenna kurfuffle is ludicrous hysteria.
He's stuck with this phone for two years.
I'm surprised Apple isn't taking the Nexus One approach. Buy the phone with the radio that you want, and use it on any network. No ETF, no subsidy, just a phone.
There should not be an ETF if the product has a major flaw (it is the iPHONE, so the phone part not working is pretty important imo).
I have no doubt that Jobs was being perfectly transparent when he said that and meant exactly what he wrote. However, you're right that it's not exactly the best way to diffuse the situation, so he did say:
"You may be working from bad data. Not your fault. Stay tuned. We are working on it."
reasonable, yes?
"