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October 13 At A Certain Age, Simplicity Sells in High-Tech GadgetsAll right, everyone under the age of 40, go run around the block or something. This column is not for you. It is for people like me, inching toward 50, who are, let us say, not technology-averse, but do not embrace it with the unquestioning love that our children do. For them, no gadget is unnecessary, no add-on excessive, no upgrade superfluous. Now, I know this is not just a generational divide. Some people of any age — we all know a few — buy every new gizmo, the more bells and whistles and buttons, the better. And some people in their 20s and 30s are not enamored with the high-tech side of life. But for those of us who remember getting off the couch to change the channel, technology is not necessarily as innate a part of our lives as it is for those chronologically behind us. I’m sure many of you have played the game with your children, seeing what most shocks them: “We had to watch movies in theaters!” “Phones were attached to the wall!” “We only had an AM-FM radio in the car!” And my personal favorite, “I typed my college senior thesis on an electric typewriter, and used Wite-Out for mistakes!” O.K., enough dawdling on memory lane. The point is that technology does not always come naturally. And everything seems to be getting more diminutive and more complex just as I am getting older and slower. “There are folks who are feeling that things are getting too complicated,” said Jim Barry, a spokesman for the Consumer Electronics Association. “The good news is that you have a lot of choices. The bad news is that you have a lot of choices.” This, of course, is not only true with electronics. Go to any supermarket and try to sift through the different cereals or juices or teas, and choice often seems more like a burden than an opportunity. It is in technology, however, where the biggest advances are being made and where it is easiest to feel as if I am slipping further and further behind. But, on the brighter side, I am trailing the baby boom bubble. And as their (and my) eyesight falters, their fingers become less dexterous and their minds less adaptable, the trend toward ever smaller gadgets with ever more features suddenly does not seem so appealing. Consider the ubiquitous cellphone. Two models of phones, Jitterbug by GreatCall Inc. and Coupe by Verizon, offer the most basic services available. One version of the Samsung Jitterbug, for example, has only three buttons: one you can program to call one number, say a friend, work or home; another to call a live operator; and a third to call 911. The other Jitterbug is more like a regular phone, but both have dial tones and larger keypads. Each Jitterbug costs $147, with minutes extra. There is no contract required. Although the Jitterbug is being marketed primarily to older people (hearing aid compatible), with no cameras, games or confusing icons, I can certainly see the appeal. My children, however, laughed when they heard about the phone. “What’s the point with no games?” my older son asked. Consumer Reports, in fact, called the Jitterbug a cellphone “for the technology weary.” The Coupe ($40 with a two-year calling plan) is aimed at a similar market. It has a few more features than the Jitterbug. Both phones have received mixed reviews from users. Microsoft and Apple have certainly noticed this growing market. Last year, Microsoft began selling the SeniorPC (Memo: may want to think about a name change). Hewlett-Packard’s computers, available as desktops or laptops, come with mental acuity games, prescription software (that provides reminders when to take medication at the correct dosage and when to reorder, as well as medical history), financial software and the option of a keyboard with larger buttons. They can also be used with a simplified desktop screen that hides options, for those who need just a few functions, said Rob Sinclair, director for accessibility at Microsoft. “A lot of technology was originally developed for people with severe disabilities,” Mr. Sinclair said. “But these solutions are proving valuable to a much broader range of people.” Many of these features, known as “ease of access settings,” are automatically available with Windows Vista, like screen readers that audibly describe what is on the screen, screen magnifiers, colors and fonts for easy reading and speech recognition, which allows you to direct the computer with your voice. We have Windows XP, the earlier version of the operating system, and it is easy to click into the accessibility options, which do not include speech recognition, through the control panel. But it has a wheelchair icon, which has been eliminated in the later version. “We now talk about ‘ease of access’ to a computer rather than ‘accessibility,’ ” Mr. Sinclair said. “The subtle change in language reflects a significant change in our approach.” For all the Mac users out there, I would like to tell you about similar options, but unfortunately an Apple spokesman said no one was available at his company to talk about them. He did direct me to JupiterResearch, though. Michael Gartenberg, vice president and research director of JupiterResearch, said a hallmark of Apple design was its accessibility. Although as the years march on, I may get more and more chained to my computer, I assume I will still leave the house once in a while. Right now, we don’t have a Global Positioning System device, but I know that there are plenty of people who swear by them. And companies have also realized the advantage of simplifying them — offering “glance-ability,” as Elizabeth Sherman, a spokeswoman for Cobra, put it. Cobra’s NAV One 5000, introduced in January, comes with a five-inch screen — about an inch larger than a regular portable G.P.S. device — and larger text. Basic gets you from Point A to Point B, and allows you to look up points of interest in the area, while advanced gives more options. The TomTom One XL G.P.S. models also offer larger screens, 4.3 inches, along with bigger fonts and fewer buttons to go through screen options. A special adapter offers weather and traffic updates. The more advanced XLS offers text to speech, meaning anything appearing on the screen will be spoken as well. But if you want to attach your iPod or Bluetooth device or find all the gas stations in a 30-mile radius, and the ones with the cheapest fuel prices, you’ll have to buy their higher-end systems. My father, who at 83 is no technophobe and has a better computer system than we do, says it is not age that makes him reluctant to try new or improved gadgets, but the inability to get fast, efficient responses to queries. A recent e-mail problem, he told me, took about four hours to clear up — the first two hours on the phone to someone who fouled things up even more, and the next two hours with another “technician” to straighten it out. “And that’s not the exception,” he said. “I’ve spent as much as 10 continuous hours, including holds, to work out a problem.” Maybe, as we all get older, more cranky and even less willing to spend precious hours with unsupportive “support,” companies will realize that we do not need yet another feature on our cellphone or high-definition television, but rather a helpful and knowledgeable human at the other end of the phone when things inevitably go wrong. Talk about futuristic. For more information on the SeniorPC, visit www.EnableMart.com/SeniorPC. Aricle courtesy of ALINA TUGEND, The New York Times. Microsoft Provides Accessibility Programming Model to Industry Group Devoted to Interoperability and Accessibility
REDMOND, Wash., Jan. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Microsoft Corp. todaycommitted to contribute its UI Automation specification to theAccessibility Interoperability Alliance (AIA), a new engineering workinggroup dedicated to making it easier for developers to create software,hardware and Web-based products that are accessible to people withdisabilities. The UI Automation specification describes Microsoft's latestaccessibility framework technology, and will help developers includeadvanced accessibility functionality into implementations designed for useon any operating system. To view the full article, click here! January 21 Microsoft Leads Accessibility EffortMicrosoft is heading a group of technology companies that will collaborate on creating IT products for the disabled. Microsoft is looking to make it easier for disabled people to use technology. The software vendor is chartering an initiative called the Accessibility Interoperability Alliance. Announced Dec. 10, the AIA is an engineering collaboration between assistive technology vendors, IT companies and key nongovernmental organizations. The group's goal is to enable developers to more easily create accessible software, hardware and Web-based products that will reduce barriers to information and communication technologies for people with disabilities, Microsoft officials said. The AIA members also will collaborate on engineering projects to increase interoperability between existing technologies, deliver new technologies and work to create better developer guidelines, tools and technologies, and lower development costs, Microsoft said. The group initially will focus on four areas: Consistent keyboard access; interoperability of accessibility APIs; user interface automation extensions; and accessible rich Internet application suite mapping through user interface automation, AIA officials said. In addition to Microsoft, founding members of AIA include software and solutions companies such as Adobe, BayFirst Solutions and Novell, hardware companies such as Hewlett-Packard, and assistive technology companies such as Claro Software, Dolphin Computer Access, GW Micro, HiSoftware, Madentec, Texthelp Systems and QualiLife. "Today, developers must work across divergent platforms, application environments and hardware models to create accessible technology for customers with disabilities," Rob Sinclair, director of the Accessibility Business Unit at Microsoft, said in a statement. "The AIA is an opportunity for the entire industry to come together to reduce the cost and complexity of accessibility, increase customer satisfaction, foster inclusive innovation and reinforce a sustainable ecosystem of accessible technology products." This article retrieved from eWeek. For a copy of the full article, click here. January 18 'Tis The Season: EnableMart Family Finds Hope with A GoTalk
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