iPhone 4 Day One Play by Play

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It's selling out everywhere. No surprises there. People are standing in lines wrapped around buildings like it's Jaws playing at the theaters in 1974 (or bread lines during the Great Depression).

More interesting to note:

There is already a growing drumbeat online from consumers of what may potentially be a big problem. Remember the metal band around the new iPhone that is part of the antenna? Customers are already complaining that when you grip the phone in two places or more it all but kills reception. When you let go - Voila! It's back to four bars.

See this Gizmodo article by Jason Chen with a great round-up of customer testimonials demonstrating the problem via Youtube.

There's also a new study (by the sub contractor that fixes iPhones) that is reporting 26% of all iPhones break within two years.

Before you get too alarmed, the fine print of the study offers some reassurances:

1. It's getting better. Newer models, like the 3GS have a better record. The first iPhones had actually a 33% chance of breaking.

2. Most of those breakages were from people actually "breaking" the &^%$ phone. The flipside of that, of course, is the iPhone is a bit "precious" for drops, etc. But, if you can avoid dropping your phone (especially in the toilet, for example), you do have a fighting chance of keeping it intact for the long haul.

Last but not least, a joke:

Did you hear the CEO of AT&T just got married?

Good service, lousy reception.

Hope I don't get a cease and desist letter for that one. 

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