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Monday, July 2, 2007

The Arrival of the iPhone- Is it a Good thing?

The much touted iPhone is finally avaliable for public consumption. But wait a minute is this phone really good for everyone? Let me be a bit more clear on this, is this good for the disability and aging community. When we look at the concept of Universal Design or the value of of accessible technology the point is that new technologies are designed to make things easier, to even the playing field so to speak. While the iPhone looks really cool & has new amazing features and applications I worry that this is not a phone that ALL consumers can use. In the reviews I've read by Walter Mossberg of The Wall Street Journal and David Pogue of the New York Times the one thing that clearly stands out is the touch screen. Will people who have arthritis or visual impairments be able to really utilize this technology easily? In full disclosure I have not done any focus groups or have begun to research on this. However, for me it seemed like red flags just kept popping up the more I read about the features of the new iPhone. I wonder what Steve Jobs would say if he were posed these very questions? Hmm...

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