[eevo]

It's very similar to Nintendo's position with the Wii a year or two ago. When people started throwing their Wii remotes through their TVs, Nintendo promptly apologized and started shelling out for rubberized grips, and made it very well known that there was a flaw and the grips will mitigate it. That said, I know many people never used the grips. They are big and ugly and do subtract from the sleek design of the controllers, but at least they knew Nintendo tried to do something about it. That's important.

[jonknee]

The difference being very few (if any) people bought the Wii for the remote looks. Changing its appearance was immaterial to the product. The iPhone is a stylish luxury good very much marketed based on its high-end industrial design and you can't get away with changing its looks after the fact and saving face.

[eevo]

You have a point, but what really matters to iPhone and Wii users is how they look/how they'll feel when using said product. If the Wii was essentially a $150 xbox I don't think it would have appealed to its intended audience nearly as well. I agree that aesthetics aren't as important to the Wii as the iPhone, but the solution to the iPhone issue (at least, the case; not the duct tape) is less ugly/cumbersome.