My comments on the Braille Monitor Article concerning the iPhone

the June 2014 edition of the Braille Monitor contained an article by 
Curtis Chong titled Knowing what Is Good about the iPhone and What is 
Not. I was intrigued by the title. I have to admit that I’ve become 
quite the Apple fanboy of late and I would have a very difficult time in 
coming up with a list of ten objections or things which are “not good” 
about the iPhone. In fact, I’m having a very difficult time in coming up 
with a list of one or two things which are “not good” about the iPhone. 
However, no product is perfect and I can handle objectively written 
product evaluations. Unfortunately, this article was not one of them. 
I’m going to reprint each of the objections stated by Mr. Chong in their 
entirety, with my comments below each objection.
What Is Not Good About The iPhone
1. If you don’t want to pay for a data plan, the iPhone has no option 
for that. A data plan will cost you about twenty dollars a month. You 
need a data plan for the iPhone to be able to communicate over the Internet.
Response: you need to pay for a monthly plan to get anything on the 
Internet. If a consumer already has an Internet connection in his home, 
he can buy an iPod Touch or an iPad. These devices run iOS and don’t 
require an additional monthly data plan. The fact is that any computer 
or device that accesses the Internet is usually going to require you to 
pay for some sort of access plan.
2. It is very inefficient to make a simple phone call with the iPhone, 
particularly if you don’t have a person in your contacts list. You can 
dial a phone number that you know much more quickly with a keypad that 
has real, physical buttons.
Response: not at all. You can simply press the home button and command 
siri to call any number, such as saying “call 302 555-1212.” That’s 
hardly what I’d call inefficient. Also, a consumer can order screen 
protectors from Speeddots containing tactile keyboard overlays.
Finally, the rivo keyboard, while insanely expensive, gives you a keypad 
allowing for quick telephone entry and it also provides keyboard 
commands which let you control many other functions of the iPhone.
3. On the iPhone touch typing for texting and email is very slow as 
compared to a regular keyboard; this has been somewhat mitigated by 
Braille apps, of which there are now two. However, you should know that 
research has shown that, on average, a blind person entering data using 
the touch-screen QWERTY keyboard is writing at about three words per 
minute. By contrast, users of the built-in Braille apps have been 
clocked at around 23 words per minute.
response: you can use any number of Bluetooth keyboards if you want to 
compose a lengthy email or text message. For short text messages, 
composing one is as quick as dictating the text to Siri, just as you can 
use your voice to place a call.
4. The iPhone is very much a technology requiring good hand-ear 
coordination. People who want real buttons that they can operate 
silently by touch will be very disappointed in the iPhone.
As I stated in a previous response, you can purchase affordable tactile 
overlays from Speeddots. Besides, in the section in the article covering 
the iPhone’s strengths, it is stated correctly that the iPhone 
demonstrates, with a properly designed user interface, that blind people 
can successfully operate a touchscreen.
5. Battery life for the iPhone is still an issue. You have to charge it 
at least once a day—a lot more if you use GPS.
Response: yes, I long for the days when products like the Braille ‘n 
Speak could give us 30 hours of battery life from one charge. However, 
this is a non-issue. During the day, I connect my iPhone to my 
computer’s USB port and when I get home I connect it to my computer for 
a few hours before going to bed. Turning off Bluetooth, if you’re not 
using that service, and turning your screen brightness down to zero 
percent will do a lot to save battery life. Besides, it’s not exactly a 
major inconvenience to plug the thing into a computer or a wall outlet 
every night.
6. The iPhone is not small. It is bigger than a lot of flip phones.
response: are you serious? Really, are you kidding me? My wife’s 
Motorola Droid Ultra has a wider form factor. The iPhone fits very 
comfortably in one hand. I mean, we’re not talking about a device like 
an iPad or a Kindle 8.9 HDX.
7. For a lot of people the iPhone is a lot more technology than they 
want. It is not for someone who just wants a phone to make and receive 
calls.
response: true, but once blind people discover that the iPhone can act 
as their digital book player, restaurant menu reader, Web browser, email 
client, money identifier, barcode scanner, radio tuner, game player and 
object recognizer they might just want to use it for more than just 
making and receiving phone calls.
8. The iPhone is not cheap. Even with a two-year contract, the basic 
unit can cost $200. The full retail price of the iPhone is approximately 
$650.
I received my iPhone 5C, 32 GB version, for free if I agreed to sign a 
two-year contract with Verizon, which I was more than happy to do. 
Admittedly, that particular deal expired on March 31 of this year but I 
have heard that at least one other carrier was offering a similar deal. 
It is likely that consumers who do a bit of searching will be able to 
acquire an iPhone for a fraction of the actual cost if they are willing 
to sign a contract with the carrier.
9. First-time users of the iPhone have reported initial frustration with 
this powerful technology. It is not uncommon for these people to feel as 
if they want to throw the phone away during the first month. Answering 
calls and hanging up calls seem to be two particularly difficult 
problems for beginning iPhone users.
Response: does this mean we shouldn’t recommend JAWS or NVDA to some 
consumers who are new to Windows because we can find a percentage of 
users who experienced frustration with their screen reader during the 
first few weeks or months of use. It is common for people to find a new 
piece of hardware or software frustrating or difficult to use when 
they’re first learning how to use the product. Yes, using a product with 
a touchscreen is a very different way of interacting with a device and 
frustration can occur. This is true, by the way, with sighted consumers 
as well as blind consumers so this really is a very silly objection.
10. The iPhone requires a fair amount of dexterity and the ability to 
tap quickly. People who have motor issues or poor dexterity will likely 
not benefit from this technology.
Response: I don’t believe this is correct. I’m no expert on this but I 
remember reading about how the iPhone can be adapted for consumers with 
difficulties with hand movement.
I acknowledge that Mr. Chong also compiled a list of many advantages of 
owning an iPhone; I was amused that he listed that one of them was that 
NFB Newsline was available as an app. However, I found this list of 
things which were “not good” to be misleading and an example of 
irresponsible journalism. Mr. Chong is entitled to his opinions. 
However, the NFB is a very influential organization and many of its 
members as well as readers of the Braille Monitor take these articles 
very seriously because they are being published by a well-known and 
well-respected organization which claims to represent the visually 
impaired. I am concerned that this article could convince many blind 
people, as well as friends and family members who support them, that the 
iPhone will not be a good product for them. This is tragic, as it could 
potentially be responsible for deterring blind consumers from enjoying a 
device whose functionality is unmatched by any competitor. It is my 
sincere hope that Mr. Chong would examine the validity or lack thereof 
of the objections which he states in his article and that he would 
consider writing a follow-up piece to correct these statements.
-- 
Feel free to visit my new Web site http://www.DavidGoldfield.info Feel 
free to visit my LinkedIn profile 
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http://www.twitter.com/davidgoldfield David Goldfield, Founder and Peer 
Coordinator Philadelphia Computer Users' Group for the Blind and 
Visually Impaired


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