Of course, if a web site just asks for your mobile number and you write
none - or in my case I just leave it blank - there will be no negative
results. But when a web site asks for your mobile number so that they
can send you a code by means of texting it and then ask that you enter
the code before proceeding then that is a different matter. Is it
negative results? You might call it no results at all. Without going
into the details of what the site was all about, that happened to me
just recently. It didn't even offer any other form of identity
verification. So I finally emailed my acquaintance with the iPhone and
asked her if I could enter her phone number and if she could then email
me the code that she would get. I told her that this would not work
unless she was available right then that moment. Fortunately she was and
I was able to continue. But these kinds of identity verification
processes are becoming more and more common. The people who set up the
web sites just assume that everyone has a mobile phone that will receive
text messages and apparently do not even think of offering alternatives.
As time goes on this is going to make functioning more and more
difficult. And not just any cell phone will do either. You mentioned the
Jitterbug, for example. Well, as I recall, the only thing it will do is
to let you make and receive old fashioned telephone calls. It does not
have text messaging. Even if it did, for a blind user to use that
function it would have to have a built in voice to read the text to you.
I can just see that in the not to distant future there might be brick
and mortar stores that will accept payment only through an app on a
phone. In fact, I have never encountered this myself, but I have heard
of stores that no longer accept cash. At minimum you have to have a
debit or credit card to shop there. Why would they do that? Simply that
it is easier for them and that credit and debit cards are so common now
that they can afford to do so. It also protects them from robbery. Why
would a robber even try to knock over a store that had absolutely zero
cash on hand? But having to keep up with technology to function is
nothing new. Just look at the disadvantage the Amish put themselves to
by eschewing automobiles in favor of horses and buggies. But at least
they live in rather insular communities where they don't have to deal
with that many people who are not also Amish. If they did not have that
community of similar thinking people and had to function individually
then could they function at all? I don't think they would make it very
far if they did not start using some recent technology. So I am
comfortable with my land line phone. I am comfortable with it because
that is what I have always used. But eventually I will have to switch to
something else whether I am comfortable with it or not and whether it is
more expensive than I would like or not. I am already feeling the
effects of not having done so yet. Then there is this to consider. Just
how long will it be before the phone company stops offering land line
service? There will come a time that there will not be enough customers
using land lines to make it worth it to the phone company to continue to
maintain all their lines. And with the masses of people who have already
given up land lines that time may be closer than one would expect.
___
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 6/17/2021 9:55 AM, Miriam Vieni wrote:
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