Roger,
I find that on many websites, they ask for a mobile phone number. I write,
"none", and there's no negative result. Second, if there is a way to shop from
home with a mobile phone, then there's a way to shop from home with your
computer. If you need to go to the store to shop, I'd question how easy it
would be for a blind person to walk through that store independently, pointing
one's phone at stuff. And the last thing I'd mention is that I have a
son-in-law who attempted for years to use the same smart phone rather than
upgrading because he hated to spend the money for a new phone. He has the
money, but that's not what he's willing to spend it for. That didn't work out
well at all. True, it wasn't an I phone but the principle is the same. When it
died, he lost all his data.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Roger Loran Bailey
(Redacted sender "rogerbailey81" for DMARC)
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2021 11:40 PM
To: blind-democracy <blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Phone ideas?
Thank you for the information. I might fit one of those qualifications, but I
doubt that it applies in West Virginia. Nevertheless, my contemplation about
what kind of phone to get has reverted to very slow again. The urgency was
quashed. I found out that the problem with my land line phone was that the plug
that went into the wall socket for electricity was loose. A good hard push
repaired it. I still think that the world has moved on to the point that to
fully function I need some kind of mobile phone and a smart phone would be
best. I described that company that provides one with a sighted agent to
describe things for one thing, but it would also be really convenient to make
purchases just by pointing the phone at something that will deduct the price
from my account. For that matter, I have signed up for Wallmart + because that
is the cheapest way I know of to get grocery delivery, but with a smart phone
with their app on it I could just walk through the store picking up items and
scanning them and walk out of the store without bothering with the checkout
aisle. But right now the urgency is gone. With my land line phone working again
I can relax and slowly contemplate what I will do about phone service in the
future. If I keep running into web sites that just assume that everyone has a
mobile phone and won't let me use it unless I can give them a mobile number
that future might come sooner than I would like.
___
Irvin D. Yalom “Truth," Nietzsche continued, "is arrived at through disbelief
and skepticism, not through a childlike wishing something were so! Your
patient's wish to be in God's hands is not truth. It is simply a child's
wish—and nothing more! It is a wish not to die, a wish for the eveastingly
bloated nipple we have labeled 'God'! Evolutionary theory scientifically
demonstrates God's redundancy—though Darwin himself had not the courage to
follow his evidence to its true conclusion. Surely, you must realize that we
created God, and that all of us together now have killed him.” ― Irvin D.
Yalom, When Nietzsche Wept On 6/16/2021 5:58 PM, Frank Ventura wrote:
Hi Roger, I apologize that I took so long to get back to you. I have been
overwhelmed at work and am working on about 3 hours per day of sleep. The
gestures you will need to learn for the basics are:
Swiping, which is moving your fingers horizontally left to right or
right to left Flicking which is moving your fingers up or down Tapping
which is as the name implies tapping your fingers on the screen The
good news is that the gestures are the same throughout the system no matter
what application you are in. I don't know what resources are available to you
there in West Virginia. Here in Massachusetts you can get an iPhone for free
if you fall into one of the following categories:
Have an open VR case (working, in school or seeking employment) Are
retired, over age 55 and are below 3x poverty level for income.
Are registered with the commission for the blind as being
multiple-handicapped (deaf-blind for example) Even if you purchase the phone
yourself the commission for the bind will provide training for anyone who
requests it. If you are over 55 and are income eligible the MassEDP program
will even pay for the cell service. I can't take advantage of it myself since
blind employees of the commission for the blind are banned from taking part
in any publicly funded services. Assuming there is nothing similar where you
live you can get relatively low cost refurbished iPhones on Amazon.
Here is an example:
https://www.amazon.com/Apple-iPhone-GSM-Unlocked-64GB/dp/B0775MV9K2/re
f=mp_s_a_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=renewed+iphone&qid=1623880598&sr=8-4
There are many tutorials online such as:
http://applevis.com
I am not encouraging you to get involved in the organized blind movement but
look for groups of blind folks in your area who may be willing to sit with
you for a few hours and show things to you.
Frank
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Roger Loran Bailey
Sent: Friday, June 11, 2021 11:33 PM
To: blind-democracy <blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Phone ideas?
If there was any justice one would expect that if your employer mandates that
you use it then your employer should pay for it. Your comment that it is easy
to use is encouraging, but can you say anything about the blind experience of
using that touch screen? Are the gestures only a few that are repeated from
app to app or do you have to memorize a lot of them? I really would like to
have an iPhone, but the price tag and that touch screen kind of makes me wary.
___
Irvin D. Yalom “Truth," Nietzsche continued, "is arrived at through disbelief
and skepticism, not through a childlike wishing something were so! Your
patient's wish to be in God's hands is not truth. It is simply a child's
wish—and nothing more! It is a wish not to die, a wish for the eveastingly
bloated nipple we have labeled 'God'! Evolutionary theory scientifically
demonstrates God's redundancy—though Darwin himself had not the courage to
follow his evidence to its true conclusion. Surely, you must realize that we
created God, and that all of us together now have killed him.” ― Irvin D.
Yalom, When Nietzsche Wept On 6/11/2021 10:13 PM, Frank Ventura wrote:
Roger, I use an Apple iPhone. It cost me a ton of money, about 5 times what
I paid for my first car and the reason I chose it is that my employer
mandates that we all have one. It is easy to use but the product lifecycle
is only a few years.
Frank
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Roger Loran
Bailey
Sent: Friday, June 11, 2021 9:39 PM
To: blind-democracy <blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [blind-democracy] Phone ideas?
I have a question. Maybe I should say questions plural. On a list where
people think that fifty-two-year-old music recordings are something new this
might not be the best place to ask, but I am not subscribed to any lists
right now where this would be on topic. So since nothing is off topic here I
thought I would at least start here. My land line phone is acting up. Right
now I am lucky if I get a dial tone instead of some kind of mysterious
beeping and incoming calls are being cut off before I can answer. I have
called the phone company to fix it now twice and both times it started
acting up soon afterwards. So I am thinking that the problem might be in the
physical phone rather than the line. That would call for buying a new phone.
If I buy a new phone I am thinking that it might be about time for me to get
myself into the twenty-first century like everyone else and give up my land
line for a cell phone as my only phone. But if I do that I am going into it
blind in more ways than just that my eyes don't work. I have been wanting a
smart phone for a long time because I am fascinated by the many and varied
cool things that one can do with them, but they are expensive and I don't
trust myself to be able to learn using a touch screen very well. I always
have been a lot better at learning things that you know than I have been at
learning things you do. That is why I used to be able to take a lab and
lecture
course and ace the lecture and nearly flunk the lab. I know that
there are a lot of choices that are not smart phones too and some that
actually have buttons. I think I could get along much better with buttons.
But I don't know a lot about all the choices that are available and which
work better for a blind person. Most of the people I know are so sight
oriented that they can't imagine a blind person working any device. So does
anyone on this list have any advice? Do any of you use a cell phone
yourselves? If so, can you say something about why it was a good choice for
you and how much it costs and anything else you might have to say about it?
___
--
Irvin D. Yalom “Truth," Nietzsche continued, "is arrived at through
disbelief and skepticism, not through a childlike wishing something
were so! Your patient's wish to be in God's hands is not truth. It is simply
a child's wish—and nothing more! It is a wish not to die, a wish for the
eveastingly bloated nipple we have labeled 'God'! Evolutionary theory
scientifically demonstrates God's redundancy—though Darwin himself had not
the courage to follow his evidence to its true conclusion. Surely, you must
realize that we created God, and that all of us together now have killed
him.” ― Irvin D. Yalom, When Nietzsche Wept