Apple disappearing Consumer Reports iPhone 4 forum mentions.

     It seems like Apple is banishing forum posts which mention the Consumer Reports findings of degraded phone reception when bridging the iPhone 4's antennas...  I.e. holding the phone.
     It's not really a surprise - if I recall correctly Apple seems to have a propensity for doing things like this.  They don't like discussions which go against the company line appearing on their forums.  I can understand that, but I think binning them isn't the smartest move.  They should know that once something makes it onto the web once it's almost impossible to erase.
     You could argue that it was the tone of the removed thread (cached here, by Bing for all the conspiracy theorists!) they weren't keen on - there's a fair bit of snippiness between posters.  Given there's a bunch of removed posts with those when googling the Apple forums though, it's hard to believe this was the sole reason.

     Personally I don't see why this is still such a big deal, both from Apple's side and from those covering it.  Any phone you hold is going to have its signal somewhat degraded, just because there's a lump of meat in between the mobile tower and your phone.  The iPhone 4 is going to cop this, as well as (I believe) an extra impact from having its two antenna modules bridged by somebodies sweaty palm.  Personally, I'm not a radio expert - I've no idea how much impact that bridging is going to cause.  Some people seem to think it's very significant, and some that it only has a minor effect.
     I do think it's likely to be a real issue, and I believe Apple should step up and acknowledge this to a greater extent than they have done - but I'm not sure it's as much of a problem as it's been made out to be.  Only more testing will prove that out, one way or another.
     I would love to know if Apple product engineering is madly testing painted/dipped clear coated metal bands though - but only from curiosity, if I get one I'll be putting it in a nice grippy silicone case anyway.