What is Digg?58 Comments
- SomeImagination, on 10/22/2007, -7/+17The real question is, should your mum be more accessible
- uberfu, on 10/23/2007, -0/+6Voice activated features would suffice in several Apps on the iPhone_ But Apple is not the first to go this route with a touchscreen and one or 2 buttons_ I had one of the original iPaqs from Compaq years ago_ It was the same basic setup - a large touch-screen with one button [multi-use] navigation_
Devices with built-in physical keyboards - of this size - tend to have keys that are so small and bunched together that they are nearly impractical to use for people without disabilities - muchless folks with limitations to boot_
There is no right or wrong answer here_
Analogy - Roller Coasters at Busch Gardens Theme Parks - like The Montu and Sheik-Ra are not handicap accessible_ Even if they provided space to accomodate some physical limitations - they would still have to prohibit a good percentage - just on practical items such as G-Force pressure asserted on the body_ They also tend to have warnings for Pregnant Women and folks with heart conditions_ Again - it would be impractical for these folks to climb aboard_
Same thing goes for Sky-diving companies and white-water rapids type-Tours_ You can't make a set of Category 4 rapids "safety" effective for someone with certain limitations_ What are they gonna do - take the boulders out and calm the water down?
This is actually a good arguement to open the iPhone up and allow 3rd party developers access - so they can make software and hardware add-ons to cater to people with impairments_
Apple has always tended to respond to disabilities with it's OS software and they've made great steps in progressing development for this - I wouldn't be suprised if the iPhone plays catch-up in the coming years_
We have to remember folks - the other companies that Apple is competing against here - have been in the market for years and are in a rut releasing "tired" products_ Apple's Version Number 1 Product [iPhone] is leaps and bounds above anything on the market_ And they still have plenty of room for improvement and development for their Version Number 2 Product [iPhone 2?]
Apple has a good track record for doing things right - right out of the gate and then making that stuff better and better_ iMac - iPod - Final Cut Studio - OS X - even Aperture [which still has a way to go] is turning heads_ - gibson424, on 10/22/2007, -2/+7no. people need to know what they're buying and stop trying to be DIY hackers.
- fallenone05, on 10/23/2007, -1/+6Are you saying anyone has access to your pocket? perv...
- HollowMarkeD, on 10/22/2007, -2/+7I'm just awaiting the voice recognition software to get good enough I don't even need to bother lifting a finger. I liked the link to the future of mobiles, yet it didn't mention a design coming out that sits like a ring on your finger, and you can exchange numbers with people via a handshake. Pretty neat stuff :)
- fallenone05, on 10/22/2007, -0/+4"exchange numbers with people via a handshake"
From your comment and your icon, I conclude you have a hand fetish. - 1derfulWally, on 10/22/2007, -0/+3I agree. I am not disabled, but I when I've been drinking heavily I have a hard time typing on my iPhone ;)
I joke, but seriously maybe they could just incorporate a second keyboard mode where you turn the phone sideways and use an on screen keyboard with larger keys. It would help both the poor sighted and the casual inebriated user.
Bonus points if it gets triggered by turning the phone while typing. - Aitese, on 10/23/2007, -5/+8I'm no lover of the iPhone but these constant attacks are rediculous. Why on earth would a person with impared vision choose the iPhone over more suitable handsets? My Nokia N95 is also totally unsuitable for the blind and the slide out keys are way too small for those using it with unsteady hands ie the elderly or one suffering from Parkinsons.
The idea that Apple are trend setters and therefore everyone else will copy them is a compelling although flawed one. Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson etc have all been in the handset business far longer than Apple and although the might try to ape the more poular features to remain competative they will not wholesale change their business model. They produce and release several types of handset for varying levels of usability and price every few months...Apple can't compete with that. There are parents that want to give their kids a cheap handset with a pre pay plan to keep in contact and safe...an iPhone would only be baught for a spoiled rich kid...the majority of parents would see that such an expensive phone is not suitable for little Stevie. - imcquill, on 10/22/2007, -0/+3The majority of visually impaired individuals have partial sight. I have heard that for these individuals, the iPhone is the best handheld device, because the screen is giant, clear, and one touches the actual button on screen rather than something abstract and virtual representing the button. I'd imagine the lack of a physical keyboard would actually be a big advantage to these users.
This obviously does not help individuals with no sight. That needs to be addressed somehow for sure. - jkoke, on 10/22/2007, -0/+3Do you have trouble typing periods? What's with all the underscores?
- WasntMe, on 10/22/2007, -2/+5Should there be world peace?
- madblunted, on 10/22/2007, -0/+3Handguns can be purchased for less than 500 bucks here.. come on over....
- uberfu, on 10/22/2007, -0/+3the australians_
- wrestlingnrj, on 10/22/2007, -3/+5Here I am
- roberto_deneero, on 10/24/2007, -0/+2All of you little babies whining about what the iPhone SHOULD do, SHUT THE F*** UP! Who in the hell buys a product, THEN tells the manufacturer that they should have XYZ built into the unit, and becomes insanely mad over the fact that the product only does ABC. Don't like the iPhone? DON'T FREAKIN BUY IT and shut your annoying, whiny, bitchy, geeky mouths. If other phones are that much better, GO BUY THEM. If you're buying an iPhone and bitching about it like a woman on the rag, two things are painfully obvious: 1. you need estrogen to calm your nerves, 2. you really love the iPhone as is or you wouldn't have shelled out $400 for one.
- ramo13, on 10/22/2007, -0/+2seriously, this has been discussed to the point that it has become irrelevant
- HollowMarkeD, on 10/23/2007, -1/+3My secret is out. See my digg history on kinky black iPhone fingers. Rawr. :)
- nape, on 10/23/2007, -4/+6what about mute quadriplegics who are blind!?! how are they supposed to use the iphone?!? This is an outrage!
- thewump, on 10/23/2007, -6/+8More accessible? It's right here in my pocket. How more accessible could it be?
- Sairynn, on 10/22/2007, -2/+3Rock you like a hurricane
- madblunted, on 10/22/2007, -1/+2I wish I could get an iPhone, I plopped down over 500 bucks to get an HTC PPC 6800... I live in South Dakota, and we have not enough GSM towers here to make the iphone practical. Although, I seem to be happy with my HTC, I have love the almost same features it has compared to the iphone. The onboard wifi is the best. I almost kept my old cell phone and purchased an ipod touch, for the simple fact that it has the onboard wifi... oh well if the iphone ever comes out in cdma, i'm there!
- Spoomeister, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1The better question is, "when is someone going to wake up and realize that there's a ridiculously huge market for an accessible iPhone-knockoff"? A good looking phone, with physical controls and tactile feedback, that has most of the core functionality (phone, calendar, browser) with some decent text to speech... how hard can that be? Hell, do all that and make it so that it isn't tied to one carrier and I bet you'd get some sighted / fully mobile people buying it too.
Microsoft, are you listening? Of all the times and all the ways to be a cheap ripoff of Apple UI, this one might actually do you some good... - sdlvx, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1The more accessible it is, the less secure and less stable it will become. You Apple guys gave up freedom for stability and ease. If you don't like it, go buy a phone with Linux or Windows.
- uberfu, on 10/22/2007, -1/+2is the gun handicap accessible ?
- uberfu, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1Actually - "little Stevie" [Jobs] already has one_
- halohunter, on 10/24/2007, -3/+4First, it should actually be released. We still cant buy it in Australia!
- cubs2234, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1Is this really a question?
- xdeliriumx, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1haha. you got me. +1
- edwartica, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1You don't get it. Its about apple ignoring a certain percent of the population - saying they really don't care about them.
- edwartica, on 10/24/2007, -0/+1You need therapy.
- Aitese, on 10/25/2007, -0/+1Now I did not know this...
- dmazzoni, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1Actually it's funny you mention the Nokia N95, because that phone is actually quite accessible to the blind. Nokia and Symbian (its operating system) are very supportive of third-party accessibility software, and so you can purchase either "Talks" or "Mobile Speak", install it on your N95 (or lots of similar models), and your phone will read all of the text on the screen out-loud to you. You can edit your phone book, send SMS, send email, set alarms, use the media player, and on some models even browse the web.
As opposed to the iPhone, which could never be accessible because it has no tactile keys.
I do agree with the article, though - every single phone does not need to be accessible as long as some of them are. It would be disappointing, though, if too many of the best phones all ended up without any tactile buttons at all. - championchap, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1I actually look forward to spending that money come the UK release.
- dmazzoni, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1I'm not sure if you noticed, but for web browsing you CAN rotate the iPhone on its side and get a larger keyboard! If only they would support that feature for email, too.
- HollowMarkeD, on 10/22/2007, -1/+2Digg comment system is a little buggy, it made two replies when my excited little finger clicked the submit button.
- championchap, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1http://www.lolwut.com/pics/mythbusted.jpg
- pault107, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1Reported. All of Jordans comments are spam:
http://www.zuubu.com/default.html?selectedtab=comm ... - edwartica, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1Why not? And this is more than just the blind here. A big one is those who have limited motor functions.
- bsonline, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1I'm fully in love with the (hacked) iPhone. However, I never thought that Apple should have to do anything with it as far as opening it up for people to program for. Things like that should always be for the consumer to decide with how they spend their money.
That is, of course, until I found out that the iPhone is treated like a computer as far as Apple support is concerned. 14 days to find a glitch... after that, you end up with a refurbished or repaired phone. Even iPods get 30 days... - jlungu, on 10/22/2007, -1/+1C'mon, if a GUI is a requirement for operation -- then there will be a certain %age of the population that can't use it. Last I checked an iPhone was not *essential* for quality of life (I'm sure someone will dispute this) and there are options for those who can't use it. When was the last time you saw a blind person driving a car?
- CarbonAndroid, on 10/22/2007, -1/+1If you bought it, it is yours.
- starkruzr, on 10/23/2007, -2/+2This is a little ridiculous. You cannot have the iPhone be the product it is AND be accessible to the blind. You might make a very good case for a cellphone designed FOR the blind specifically, but the iPhone is not and cannot be it.
- roberto_deneero, on 10/24/2007, -1/+1Just because the .1% of the population can't see or walk doesn't mean that someone who makes a product for the other 99.9% doesn't care about that .1%. How about this: why doesn't that ADA population care enough to invent technology that adapts their disabilities to use products for the normal population? They just want everyone to cater to them. Wahhhhh. Yea, it sucks that you're blind, deaf, or in a chair for life, but get a friggin grip. The whole world is NOT going to accomodate you. You're indeed a minority. Go look up the definition of the word. ADA can drop dead. What a waste of time and money.
- xdeliriumx, on 10/22/2007, -2/+2whocares?
- edwartica, on 10/23/2007, -2/+2Its not a matter of "we want to be able to use this too!," its a matter of designers considering that there are people out there who do not have the same abilities as the rest of the population.
The disabled are the largest growing minority in the country. And yes, they are a minority. Wouldn't everyone be pissed off if say, an African American couldn't use an iPhone?
Its more about a mindset. There are NO accessibility options included with the iPhone. There should be at least some. It just shows that apple doesn't care about the disabled.
And before you flame me, my girlfriend is disabled. - dcharti, on 10/22/2007, -3/+3I don't think of mobile phones and many other consumer electronics as, say, public buildings. Buildings need to be accessible because you never know who might need a special form of access to that specific building. Mobile phones are different though—they all offer the same fundamental thing: making a phone call. I don't see why accessibility needs to be applied to one specific phone or across the entire industry, as it stands to reason that there will always be companies—plural—who cater to the needs of accessibility.
- bloaty, on 10/22/2007, -3/+3I think I saw one of those once.....
edit: Nevermind that was on the Mythbusters.
BUSTED
XD - harvinator24, on 10/22/2007, -4/+3yes....
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