I think there are also some major advantages phones have that are left out of your summary, to list a few:
- they’re super portable and, while some are expensive, the lower end is very very very affordable compared to a laptop
- phones are really great if you need to be able to get really close to a screen
- because they’re extremely portable they’re more of an option for unhoused folks, or folks who have to move a lot
So, yeah, while the software is locked down and directed towards consumption over creativity — that is less a constraint of the hardware and more of the software and ecosystem. I think a phone-snapped device has a lot to offer the creative/generative coding space if the tooling existed. A reason I love forth is that it has such minimal semantics it is pretty easy to write even longer programs in forth on a phone’s small keyboard.
> On Dec 27, 2022, at 12:01 PM, Giovanni Lostumbo <giovanni.lostumbo@gmail.com> wrote:
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> Thank you Eli.
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> You are correct about disability having multiple forms, and sometimes temporary.
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> I had a conversation with some on fediverse, a few days ago, asking a few, why they prefer phones over laptops. Multiple said that they can do more on a phone, is more portable, and can only afford two.
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> I find that somewhat sad, because a phone is designed more for content, even though it has additional tools like augmented reality software.
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> WIMP is an interface (windows icon menu pointer) for desktops and is like an assistive technology, but it seems like many users seem to prefer capacitive multi-touch to navigate a tablet or phone. Something like a 2 in 1 laptop, seems like it could accomplish all of those things except for size and affordability, but that leads to another thing: marketing, peer pressure.
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> Old laptops and desktops can be useful for those who need to type papers and multi task without using a tiny screen, other than those who use voice to text, or, even laser pens like Stephen Hawking. So why are there so many who spend hundreds of dollars on a phone when they could buy a less expensive laptop and basic android phone for the same price or even less?
>
> I remember telling someone I had an Acer monitor, and they said it was bad quality. I've used an emachines before, but I know how to fix computers too. So perhaps users are unwilling to buy things they think are good quality, if they think they will break and can't fix them. But that is due to marketing.
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> There is a scene in the movie Revolution OS, where tech volunteers would host monthly library services to help local residents to fix their computers like reinstalling an OS or replacing some bad component. This function can serve the public, like how society has lost its trust in journalism. Without local access to a reliable resource for computer repairs and literacy help, users will continue to rely on needing to buy a new computer, often thinking the company that says they need a new phone or pc could very be one that made their own product obsolete in some way.
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> I like the idea of Gemini and think most websites should offer something like it, perhaps even a script that can convert some into it. Some websites of course have some very sophisticated html5 that might limit rendering conversion/applications, but having an easy way to toggle between the two might help, even if some will not use Gemini when they're already on a different tab/window.
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> On Tue, Dec 27, 2022, 7:55 AM Eli Mellen <hi@eli.li> wrote:
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> > As an user, has anybody tried to code an accessible client/server? No idea. What about making sure your client "plays nice" with assistive technologies? Perhaps that could be a first step.
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> Gemini seems one of the “easiest” to solve technically, since it is so adjacent to the existing web stack — modern active tech can understand well structured HTML, so, using gemini through anything that converts gem text to HTML first makes gemini available to assistive tech. Granted, this sort of bring accessibility to the smol web by totally side stepping the smol web itself.
>