[Electronics-Talk] Smart Phone for the Blind

[Steve Jacobson]

Hi,

I would very much like to complete the electronic part of the discussion
surrounding a Smart Phone for the Blind.  After going to the website on this
particular device, I couldn't help but think about what it is that we might
need in terms of a special smart phone.  First, I tend to take the approach
that if a company markets their product honestly and they succeed in drawing
customers, it really does not matter if I think their product is a good one
or not.  The demand proves that the product has something to offer.  In this
particular case, I can also see the advantage in being able to pull out a
phone and use it easily without the need to pair another device, pull out a
separate keyboard, or pull out a braille display.  I am an iPhone user and
have successfully used a keyboard and a braille display and realize that
both approaches work and that both approaches are sometimes inconvenient.  I
frankly don't know how sighted people use touch screens on a bus.  <smile>

What I am wondering, though, is whether people who feel we need a special
phone are really going to be happy with a phone like this.  I have had
frustrations with learning and using an iPhone, but frankly, many of my
frustrations are related to bugs or unpredictable behavior in the operating
system itself.  Some may be related to VoiceOver but some are not.  This
smart phone is apparently an Androidphone which, of course, is different
than the IOS operating system used on an iPhone.  However, I also have a
BrailleNote Touch device in my household, which is an android device, and I
see some of the same unpredictability there as well.  As an experienced
computer user, I have little trouble dealing with it, but the mechanical
keyboard and the specialized Keysoft software does not eliminate Android
processes from interrupting the workflow, for just one example.  It means
that the user has to consider which automatic updates to turn off and which
need to happen.  In other words, there is a lot in a complex operating
system that will still impact the user and will probably be the case on even
a specialized Android phone.  

Moving back to phones, as has been the case with other specialized phones,
this one only works on certain networks, being a GSM phone.  The website
itself says this leaves out Sprint and Verizon.  We also don't know, as far
as I can tell, exactly what one is getting for a phone in this special smart
phone.  While the price is not unreasonable for a good Android phone, is it
reasonable for what is being offered as the base phone?  Which Android
phones only can use GSM, for example?  What is a fair markup for a special
phone for the blind?  

My wife gave up on using an iPhone and we purchased one of the Alcatel
phones that Sprint has with a built in voice.  It is a flip phone with a
keyboard that is fairly easy to use.  However, even on this phone which is
not an Android or an IOS phone, there are periods of silence where one does
not know what is happening, and some of what is spoken is not clear.  This
is a relatively inexpensive phone and it is working better for her than did
her iPhone, but it isn't the perfect solution I had envisioned when I
started my research, even though it might well have been the best choice
that could have been made at the time.  I would frankly hesitate to say this
phone would work well for a Senior who doesn't have some understanding of
technology.  The Odin phones seem to me to be pretty good, but their use is
limited to certain networks, and there has been rumors that the cellphone
technology they use will soon be phased out.  It seems likely that they
started out with an older phone as the base, although I don't know this for
certain.

As usual, I am finding this issue to be more complex than I thought when
first looking at it.  We need to be careful to completely define the problem
that is being solved and be a little careful before putting down $500 or
more for a special phone that may leave many problems unresolved.  To really
judge these new phones fairly, we need to hear from people who have some
experience with them.  This is a topic that is worth some intelligent
discussion.

Best regards,

Steve Jacobson