[Electronics-Talk] Feature phones and smart phones [was "Re: LG flip phone [was "Re: Android Cellphones: Are They Worth It"]"]

Christopher Chaltain chaltain at gmail.com
Sat Mar 26 17:43:24 UTC 2016


I'm not one of those people that think blind people have to use a smart 
phone to get an accessible phone. IMHO, as long as feature phones are 
available to the sighted then they should be available to the blind. If 
a sighted person doesn't need or want a smart phone then a blind person 
should have the same choice. I try not to impose my decisions on others. 
I don't presume to know how everyone else uses or should use their phones.

That being said, I've never had a feature phone. I started using a smart 
phone around 2002, when I got my first Nokia phone running Talks. After 
three Nokia phones with physical keyboards, I made the jump to a touch 
screen phone in 2012 when I got the iPhone 4S I'm still using today.

I remember that first weekend I tried to setup and figure out my iPhone. 
I was practically in tears. Even after listening to podcasts and reading 
tutorials, I still found it incredibly frustrating. I remember the key 
for me was when I realized that I didn't have to double tap exactly on 
the object itself. Once I heard VoiceOver read something, I could just 
double tap anywhere on the screen to activate the object. That was a 
huge turning point for me that weekend.

I would agree that once you master one touch screen device, you have an 
advantage when you move to another touch screen device, but this can 
also trip you up. I know a lot of people who try to move from a Windows 
machine to a Linux machine or from an iPhone to an Android device, and 
they get tripped up when things don't work the way they're used to. I 
don't have a problem with people wanting things to be familiar when 
moving from device to device, but if you want your Android phone to be 
identical to your iPhone then I think you'll be disappointed, and you 
should probably just stick with your iPhone.

I too am curious about different technologies, and I'm willing to learn 
and invest some time in experimenting with and playing with other 
devices. That's one reason why I went out and got a Nexus 7. I wanted a 
tablet, but I didn't want to pay the price for an iPad, and I wanted to 
see what Android was like in case I wanted to switch my phone to an 
Android phone, so I got a Nexus 7 running Android. As I said, there are 
things I prefer doing on my Nexus 7 over my iPhone, and some of that is 
because it's a tablet and some because it's running Android.

As I see how I use my phone and what Android looks like versus IOS, I 
would be more comfortable jumping to an S7 now then I would have been a 
few years ago. Part of that is because of the advances in Talk Back, but 
part of that is also because the areas where I see VoiceOver is superior 
are areas that I really don't spend much time doing on the phone. 
Hierarchic navigation in web pages is a good example. If I spent a lot 
of time in Safari on my iPhone then I'd really miss not being able to 
navigate by heading, table and so on, but as it turns out, I prefer 
using apps instead of web pages, so I just don't spent that much time in 
Safari on my iPhone, so I won't miss those features if I jump to an S7. 
Even though I said I'd be more comfortable now jumping to an Android 
phone then I would have been a year or so ago, I still haven't made that 
jump, and I'm not sure if my next phone will be an Android phone or an 
iPhone. I'm used to how my iPhone works and Apple just flat did a great 
job with VoiceOver.

On 25/03/16 22:46, Arlene via Electronics-Talk wrote:
> Christopher, I was just thinking how crazy this has been with no change
> of subject line for the lg thread and the android thread. I got so
> involved in reading the messages since both threads have been
> interesting to me, that I didn't think about changing the subject line
> to lg phones or something like that. Unfortunately with all the
> questions answered for me concerning my modo g from the android group I
> just haven't gotten the knack of navigating the screen, even with all of
> the suggestions and help, not yet anyway. All of what I just said is far
> from a complaint, I'm going to see if I could find someone that I could
> get together with in person to help me a little more.
> Anyone going to  from an android to an iphone or iphone to android is
> way ahead of someone that never used a touch screen, you would think
> they would be curious to experiencing the other. If I ever get the knack
> of the touch screen with my modo g, and really get use to it, that will
> be curious me, as I would want to try the iphone out and continue to
> learn more about the android. Not everyone is that curious though.  I've
> listened to a number of podcasts of how too shows of both android phones
> and iphones, and the people doing the demonstrations make it sound so
> simple. I hope I get there one of these days. There's so much you could
> do with these touch screen phones, as much as you could do with your own
> desktop. Each system is different, just like  in the case of the 2
> feature phones that I have, that I can do basically the same things with
> both phones, but there's some very minor differences in how they both
> work. Neither one is better than the other, just a little different.
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Christopher Chaltain via
> Electronics-Talk" <electronics-talk at nfbnet.org>
> To: "Discussion of accessible home electronics and appliances"
> <electronics-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: "Christopher Chaltain" <chaltain at gmail.com>
> Sent: Friday, March 25, 2016 10:54 AM
> Subject: [Electronics-Talk] LG flip phone [was "Re: Android Cellphones:
> Are They Worth It"]
>
>
>> I was going to respond with this information as well, but they aren't
>> asking about Android phones they're talking about this LG flip phone.
>> One of those unfortunate negative side affects when people hijack an
>> existing thread or don't change the subject line.
>>
>> On 25/03/16 10:43, Jim Barbour via Electronics-Talk wrote:
>>> Yes, you can deathly do all that with an android phone and talk back
>>> or the screen reader from Samsung.
>>>
>>> Jim
>>>
>>> Written While on the Move
>>>
>>>> On Mar 25, 2016, at 8:29 AM, Carol Feazell via Electronics-Talk
>>>> <electronics-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Can you access your call log, contacts, previous messages and such?
>>>> Can you
>>>> easily enter new contacts? I have always really liked flip phones
>>>> and at one
>>>> time I thought LG was the best thing going, at least for my
>>>> satisfaction.
>>>> Right now I have the Odin VI, the simple phone and am happy with it
>>>> other
>>>> than I wish it had the word mode for texting but I make it work. I
>>>> had one
>>>> that didn't last long, though, and so I am wondering about this one.
>>>> The
>>>> only quirky thing I have found is that even though I have a nice
>>>> protective
>>>> case, if I would drop the phone in the simplest manner, I have to
>>>> take out
>>>> the battery and put it back in to keep the phone from going into
>>>> emergency
>>>> mode. Never have had that experience and I wonder why.
>>>>
>>>> Carol Jean
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: Electronics-Talk [mailto:electronics-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>>>> Behalf Of Marsha via Electronics-Talk
>>>> Sent: Friday, March 25, 2016 10:42 AM
>>>> To: Discussion of accessible home electronics and appliances
>>>> <electronics-talk at nfbnet.org>
>>>> Cc: Marsha <marcatony at yahoo.com>
>>>> Subject: Re: [Electronics-Talk] Android Cellphones: Are They Worth It
>>>>
>>>> HI
>>>>   The model of the LG cell phone is LG450.  It is a flip phone.  It
>>>> is 3G
>>>> capable.  It has Bluetooth connectivity.  It is a straight phone
>>>> keypad. It
>>>>
>>>> can do E-Mail, text messaging, and internet, I don't use this
>>>> feature. Text
>>>>
>>>> to speech and voice commands.  It's nothing fancy but a nice little
>>>> phone.
>>>> I know it works on T-Mobile and Family Mobile.
>>>>
>>>> Marsha
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
>>>
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>>
>> --
>> Christopher (CJ)
>> chaltain at Gmail
>>
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-- 
Christopher (CJ)
chaltain at Gmail




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