Samsung was putting warning labels on some of its phones as far back as 2006. The label, which was on the back of the phone, told customers they shouldn’t obstruct the bottom of the phone during a phone call.

Anyone remember the Blackjack?

A few uncomfortable truths for anyone who woke up Monday morning, ripe and ready to poke Apple a few more times over the iPhone 4 antenna issue:

Users want sleek devices.

Phones must have antennas.

Good antennas -- as dictated by physics -- are mostly very ugly.

You cannot break the laws of physics. Not even if you sit on Apple's board of directors.

Had Apple applied a sticker, we probably wouldn't be having this discussion.

Had Apple applied a sticker, they wouldn't be Apple.

When is the last time Apple irritated you with any ancillary crap upon opening a package? Right around the time John Sculley was cashing his last paycheck. Stickers, warranty cards, crapware, cheap smelly pvc wrap; Motorola perfected the concept of packets of crap you'll never read, never need and yet find yourself unable to throw away.

I guess what I'm saying is, what did the marketplace expect, really?

It expected the sleekest, most advanced mobile phone in terms of materials and manufacturing to magically solve the age old problem of antenna performance vs. antenna obtrusiveness. Is it actually so shocking that the market was let down?