[Electronics-talk] Mobile hot spot question

Wed Sep 17 04:39:19 UTC 2014

Many sighted people have given up there PC's in place of their tablets 
or smart phones. In fact, I suspect this is more common amongst the 
sighted since they're a bit more efficient with the virtual keyboard.

I'm not sure the battery is a concern since people have been giving up 
their desktops for laptops for years now, and the smart phone batteries 
last longer than your laptop batteries.

You don't have to give up your wifi access to use a smart phone. If 
people have PC's, chances are they have wifi, and they could still use 
that with their smart phones.

Finally, no one is saying everyone can give up their PC for a smart 
phone. Smart phones and mobile devices are great for consuming content, 
surfing the web, keeping up with social networks, reading your email, 
streaming music, podcasts or videos and so on. Jotting down a text 
message, updating your status or sending a short email are all doable on 
a smart phone, especially with a bluetooth keyboard attached. There are 
a lot of people who pretty much use their PC's exclusively for these 
kinds of activities, and these are the people that are dumping their 
PC's for their mobile devices. There are others who do a lot of content 
generation on their PC's, writing articles and papers, programming, 
editing audio and video content, updating web sites and so on. For these 
people, it may not make as much sense to leave their PC behind, but I 
don't think anyone ever said everyone should give up their PC and jump 
to just using a smart phone.

On 09/16/2014 11:21 PM, Ashley Bramlett via Electronics-talk wrote:
> hi,
> while I would not get rid of land lines since I believe they are more
> stable, I do understand why many opt to do so.
> But the question was if you can use a smart phone like a pc. I told
> Daniele that no. its limiting. so  unless you have constant wi fi
> access, using your cell network to do heavy data use  is a bad idea.
>
> I would also think your battery would run down fast with using it like a
> pc.
> Sighted people have smart phones plus some other electronic notetaking
> portable device; usually a laptop, ultrabook, or tablet.
> So, I think we need more than one tool. besides, I've not met one blind
> person who can type efficiently on a touch screen. For all us writing 20
> page papers, we need our keyboards! For those business people writing
> long reports, they need their keyboards and functionality of a word
> processor! So,  I don't think your smart phone should replace your pc.
>
> That's all.
>
>
> -----Original Message----- From: Christine Szostak via Electronics-talk
> Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2014 12:15 AM
> To: James Aldrich ; Discussion of accessibleelectronics and appliances
> Subject: Re: [Electronics-talk] Mobile hot spot question
>
> I too got rid of my landline and know a lot of people who have and have no
> regrets doing so. It costs less for me and at this point, I have no
> interest
> in going back:)!
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "James Aldrich via Electronics-talk"
> <electronics-talk at nfbnet.org>
> To: "Ashley Bramlett" <bookwormahb at earthlink.net>; "Discussion of
> accessible
> electronics and appliances" <electronics-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, September 16, 2014 11:11 PM
> Subject: Re: [Electronics-talk] Mobile hot spot question
>
>
>> Hi Ashley and all,
>>
>> I gave up my landline and have no regrets.  I get my Wi Fi from
>> Charter Cable.  I have fewer unwanted calls especially nice during the
>> political elections.  I certainly don't mind getting away from my
>> phone for a while especially while it is charging!  My phone is in the
>> bedroom charging and I'm in my patio writing this post!  If IOS8 goes
>> according to what is rumored, I may be able to place calls through Wi
>> Fi which are known as VOIP calls,
>> and I may be able to place calls in this way with my IPhone, IPod and
>> IPad.  Time will tell!  This would work for anyone, not just facetime
>> video or audio calls.  We'll see what happens tomorrow or in the next
>> few days.  I could use external batteries to charge my phone while I'm
>> enjoying the fall air, but I plugged it in this time!  I can tell you
>> those face time audio calls sound wonderful especially when both
>> parties have good wi fi connections!  I think 911 could find me if I
>> needed to call 911.  There are new options in IOS8, stay tuned!
>>
>> Everyone is entitled to their preferences!
>>
>> Jim
>> Sent from my iPad
>>
>>> On Sep 12, 2014, at 11:22 PM, Ashley Bramlett via Electronics-talk
>>> <electronics-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>
>>> Linda,
>>> No, do not give up your land line and regular internet service.
>>> A mobile hot spot is a wi fi connection from your smart phone.
>>> This really should not replace hard wired internet, particularly if
>>> you use your internet a lot. Cell phones have issues and personally I
>>> find traditional phones best; yes a young person being old fashioned.
>>> but I hate the unreliability. Cell phones break up calls, drop
>>> signals, run out of batteries, and don't even ring sometimes when
>>> people call you. I can attest to the fact that my verizon phone does
>>> not get all calls and it goes to voice mail; and, it will drop calls
>>> too. Would you really wish to give up the reliability of a land line
>>> for solely cell phone coverage?
>>>
>>> As others said, there are limitations to it. I think you should use
>>> your regular pc and internet service regularly at home.
>>>
>>> I say this due to expense and limitations. Such issues were brought
>>> up, but they are the following.
>>> 1. your phone is slower loading internet pages particularly graphical
>>> pages; and connected to a laptop, you will not only drain the battery
>>> but use your data plan.
>>> 2. You may be charged extra for your heavy use and therefore really
>>> not save any money by cancelling your ISP.
>>> 3. Wi fi strength varies and may not be as strong as your land pc
>>> connection. Your wi fi  connection may be slower.
>>> 4. Only one device can be hooked to your phone at a time.
>>> 5. Hot spots don't always connect. My dad tries this often and he has
>>> to turn the phone off and reconnect things. Its not an exact science.
>>> So, consider if you have the patience for tech glitches. Think about
>>> whether you can handle spotty, slow wi fi connections versus the
>>> stable land connections you have now paying for your ISP and phone line.
>>>
>>> Hot spots are great for access when they work. Dad has used it on his
>>> phone a lot. but if we used it every day permanently, we would run up
>>> the bill which would be bad since its his work phone. you have a data
>>> plan cap to consider.
>>>
>>> Some  food for thought.
>>> Ashley
>>>
>>> -----Original Message----- From: Linda via Electronics-talk
>>> Sent: Friday, September 12, 2014 1:38 PM
>>> To: Discussion of accessible electronics and appliances
>>> Subject: [Electronics-talk] Mobile hot spot question
>>>
>>> Hello,
>>>
>>> I want to make sure I have the proper understanding of what a mobile
>>> hot spot is before I give up my landline and internet service.
>>>
>>> I heard that a smartphone can somehow be connected to my iPad so that
>>> I will still be able to use it or my laptop.
>>>
>>> Is this tru?  Is it easy to connect to the mobile hot spot?  Thanks
>>> for your assistance.  I have never been without a landline, and want
>>> to make sure I'm doing the right thing in getting rid of it.
>>>
>>> Linda
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>>
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-- 
Christopher (CJ)
chaltain at Gmail