It comes with the territory. Apple can't expect endless adulation over its products without those same people thinking small problems are huge issues.
Choice quote: "to Apple, the iPhone is unlike every other phone on the market — except when there is a problem, at which point it’s just like every other phone on the market. "
I agree with you, except I don't know that a lot of iPhone 4 users consider this a huge issue. I remember people getting upset about slight color imperfections in the iPods a couple of years back. People tend to consider Apple products more than just a phone/mp3 player/whatever, so even minor problems are considered huge issues.
I think they feel that most of this reception frenzy has been whipped up by people who don't own/use the phone, and whose basis of determining the usability of the device is a series of youtube clips.
I respect the shouting and screaming from those who made the 0.55% of AppleCare calls regarding this issue, and the 1.6% who returned the phone. But I think the majority of the noise is made by others, which feels a whole lot more lika whining to me. And I'm hard pressed to respect whining.
Choice quote: "to Apple, the iPhone is unlike every other phone on the market — except when there is a problem, at which point it’s just like every other phone on the market. "