# I-phone, it's so funny.

Category: Geeks r Us

## Post 1 by Nem (I just keep on posting!) on Wednesday, 08-Jul-2009 11:10:05

Now this is not my own writing. I got permission to post it from the original poster from a list that I belong to. If you use the I-phone, or are thinking about buying an I-phone, please, weigh in.
N
Hi everyone
Last night the dog destroyed my Nokia 6120 Classic, along with a box of
Nespresso coffee capsules. I'm not sure which was worse. I decided that I
didn't want to replace the phone with another 6120 Classic as I haven't been
happy with its reception characteristics. But what I found when researching
the options is that it's a minefield: trying to figure out which phones are
current, which are being phased out, which haven't arrived yet, which are
the same as but have different model numbers in different suburbs, which are
Telstra Next G (i.e., 850 WCDMA), which are only 3G, or 2.81256g, which ones
that are listed on the Mobilespeak site are actually supported by Talks even
though they aren't listed on the talks site because they're a bunch of
slackos there, which ones are kind of supported except for the functions you
want to use, which ones have keyboards that are friendly to people with
fingers bigger than matchsticks .. it goes on and on. I found myself wishing
nostalgically for a phone with a rotary dial that you could keep for 20
years, was canine-proof, and which had no functions other than to dial a
phone number (which, strangely enough, is all we ever wanted back then).
But then I thought, maybe the dog was trying to tell me something (I
certainly told it a thing or two). Could it be that an apple a day keeps the
dog away. One company one device, one screen-reader, as the Westside Story
song almost said. And I remembered how good it felt last Thursday night to
go into the Harris Technologies computer shop and use their Macbook Air
there and then (or maybe it was then and there). It's a pity that the
Macbook Air has only one USB port otherwise I may have bought one instead of
worrying for the past week about whether Jaws can split the Atom.
I've read and heard a lot lately about the Mac, the IPhone, Voiceover, and
Apple. The NFB review of Voiceover has certainly got everyone talking and
thinking about accessibility, and that's surely a good thing, irrespective
of what you think of the original review or the equally polarising response
to it.
But what I'm missing is a focus on the extent to which the Mac, and the
IPhone, and Windows for that matter, can be used to do the things you want
or need to do in ways that would be seen as efficient and effective. Having
accessible applications and lots of gesture-based configuration options and
keyboard shortcuts doesn't help much if it takes you five minutes to dial a
phone number or if you can't actually create a slide presentation (which you
have to be able to do if you're in Year 6 at school these days). Knowing
what's accessible is only part of the story: another part of the story is
how functional aka usable things are. I have tried using a braille display
with a mobile phone and a well-known screen-reader that everyone talks
about. Yes, I could get braille appearing on the braille display, but it
was, to all intents and purposes, useless because a lot of things didn't
work properly and I couldn't do the things I wanted to do (like read a
document in the Quickoffice viewer, even though the document was read fine
with speech). Sure braille is supported, but what isn't supported is the
ability to use it functionally.
I realise I've conflated several ideas in this message, but, hey, it's
stressful trying to use a mobile phone that has had its keys chewed off and
its screen punctured - and I can't even give myself the jitters with a
six-pack of caffeine (oh, and the latest research on that, incidentally, is
that caffeine can alleviate the effects of Alzheimer's Disease in mice, and
that's all the excuse I need because I have nightmares about becoming a
demented mouse and having no keyoard support to call on). I've decided that
I won't rush in and buy an E51, or an E75, or an N86 with all the
crossgrading and upgrading and downgrading of talks that would be thereby
entailed. I'll check out the IPhone - maybe even buy. But it would be good
to see some discussion that goes beyond the wow factor to focus on the
ergonomics and the functionality - some task-based analysis if you like -
comparison of the usability against core competencies.
I'm open to suggestions about what to do with the dog (have started doing a
search for "Korean Restaurant" with my Braillenote GPS), but don't call me
on the mobile, because for the moment I don't phone.
Bruce
PS: for those who think that we have it all with Windows and that this is as
good as it gets, just try running system diagnostics that require you to use
a bootable CD, or try restoring a system after a hard drive replacement
using the Symantec Recovery Environment, and you might be forgiven for
thinking that we live in a visual world.

## Post 2 by Blue Velvet (I've got the platinum golden silver bronze poster award.) on Wednesday, 08-Jul-2009 14:18:26

Nem
Your friend is such a great writer! I'm sure he is very frustrated, but he sure knows how to entertain while expressing his frustrations.
I posted some info on the iPhone that lists a couple email lists for blind users of this device and also some other links with information. It shouldn't be too far down on the accessible electronics board. You can copy and paste the info into a message to your friend. I hope it helps.
I hope the dog knows he is skating on thin ice and starts behaving. LOL

## Post 3 by Nem (I just keep on posting!) on Wednesday, 08-Jul-2009 18:10:11

Hi Becky, does your links address the questions asked in this amusing letter?
Nem

## Post 4 by WillieTheWoof (I'll have the last word, thank you!) on Thursday, 09-Jul-2009 10:38:10

Wow! I really enjoyed that post. But, what kind of dog was this that showed such wisdom and character in trying to steer his owner in the right direction? That post described every reason why one should consider an IPHone. May I speak from a few points of view? I have used both Symbian and windows mobile phones and now own, use and prefer the Iphone. First, let's be very clear about one thing. Although there are challenges in picking the proper solution we now have choice and this is a concept that is being left behind. The IPHone is excellent and brings out of the box accessibility to all but still there are choices and we need to acknowledge this. As a professional in the adaptive technology field the mobile phone is my primary phone that I do most everything with. TExting, E-mail, surfing the Internet, and of course making phone calls. Clock and calendar are also things I use as well as google maps for directions. So, what's the learning curve here? It can be anywhere from easy to frustrating but once you take the time to work with it and live with it what you will find is that there are no commands to remember, everything is on the screen and a tap away, the screen changes to accommodate the app you are using making menus a thing of the past and once the position of items turns in to a reflex for the fingers typing and making calls is easy. Any type of office app does not presently exist to the best of my knowledge so your not going to do a spread sheet or a major report on the IPHone. There is a notes function for jotting quick things. My windows and symbian phones are tucked happily in a drore and the IPHone is getting easier and easier to use. It's quite intuitive and also, believe it or not, fun! Give it a try.

## Post 5 by Blondie McConfusion (Blah Blah Blah) on Thursday, 09-Jul-2009 20:02:43

where do i get these esspresso capsules?

## Post 6 by SFAIdol (the Zone BBS remains forever my home page) on Saturday, 11-Jul-2009 17:24:05

Haha, that was funny. The friend does bring up a good point, though. People are so excited that we have more options, as far as accessible phones goes, that we have to remember that we need to be able to use them as well.

## Post 7 by monkeypusher69 (I'll have the last word, thank you!) on Sunday, 12-Jul-2009 11:34:54

Yes very ture .. I think alot of people are so happy they can join the masses pop culture and be like everyone else, or just don't understand the technology well enough, that they rush out and get something as soon as it's "accessable"