Apple Announces Press Conference on iPhone 4

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Nero, I mean Steve Jobs, is apparantly ready to lay down his fiddle while Rome, I mean Cupertino burns. Apple, last night, announced it will hold a press conference on Friday at 10 a.m. PST to talk about the iPhone 4. And, it's about time. Let's hope Mr. Jobs has something more substantive to offer than just telling customers to stop gripping the phone the wrong way.

I think he will.

Being the wunderkind of PR hype, surely he recognizes that he is quickly sinking in PR doo doo. I don't want to get ahead of myself, however.

It's been a bad week for Apple (almost as bad as its been for the customer who camped out in a lawn chair overnight to spend hundreds of dollars on a phone that doesn't work right).

You know it's time to call a presser and stop the bleeding when:

1. Consumer Reports publishes an article recommending customers not buy your new iPhone 4.

2. You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a tech writer demanding you recall your new iPhone 4.

3. David Letterman is lampooning your new iPhone 4 in his nightly Top Ten List (that's almost as bad as the CR article). By the way, Letterman's best joke on the iPhone 4: "They don't like to be held, like my first wife".

4. Your stock price has dropped nearly 8 percent since you launched your new iPhone 4.

5. Analyst Mike Abramsky from RBC Capital Markets estimates you may be losing as much additional $200 million every week that goes by while you fiddle.

6. Microsoft thinks it has enough moral high ground to start making fun of you. (At Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference this week, its COO Kevin Turner referred to the iPhone 4 as Apple's Vista. Oh my! That's funny on so many levels.)

You can follow me on Twitter @oricchio, if you are so inclined.

Renee Oricchio is a technology writer and former supervising news producer for CNN Financial News. She has been covering the computer industry since 1987. @oricchio