So it is the iPad

[SueM in MN]

A problem that I see with the iPod Touch would be the small touchscreen. Someone with Ataxia may have touching a desired icon/key on the small touchscreen. This is where the iPad could be of help. The 9.7" of touchscreen real estate, larger icons, and 1000 multitouch sensors could benefit many disabled people.

The iPad utilizes the iPhone Operating System. Both the Dynavox Vmax and the iPad have bluetooth and Wifi. Many text to speech and environmental control apps are already available for the iPhone Operating System. Someone is even developing an iPhone App to control power wheelchairs. These give the iPad the same functionality as the Vmax. The one exception would be the Eyetracking technology that is available for the Vmax. While the iPad touchscreen is 2.7" smaller than the Dynavox devices, I see some possible advantages that the iPad may have over the Dynavox Vmax and similar AAC devices.

The iPad is much thinner and also 1/3 the weight of the Vmax. The iPad could be mounted on a wheelchair using the same type of mounting hardware as the Vmax. I've attached a photo to show you the Vmax mount that I have seen. Because the iPad is so light that it may not need such a "heavy-duty" mount. Plus, the iPad is light enough to be placed on a basic wheelchair tray. Also, the form factor may be easier for some disabled people to grip and hold.

The biggest advantages I see for the iPad over the Vmax are availability and price point. The things that annoyed me when I went out on my own to design my wheelchair were: the "red tape" involved and also the inflated price of medical equipment. The iPad will be readily available. Also, the $499 price point would be more affordable to parents and schools/organizations than the $8000 Dynavox Vmax.

My DD has been using devices like the Dynavox for many years. Our insurance would not pay, so we paid out of pocket for her equipment.
That's where something like a iPod or iPad gets really beneficial for some people because of the cost. Her iPod touch plus the talking software cost less than just the cost of the mount for her first Dynavox!
And, you are correct that a much lighter weight, less expensive mount could be used for the iPad (a mount for a switch would probably be able to be used with an iPad).

She did have a Dynavox 2C for many years (one of the predecesors of the Dynavox Vmax). It was supposed to be super tough, but we had to send it in at least once a year - just the sending it in part cost over $200 (insurance to send something valued at over $8000 costs a fortune), then we had to pay for repairs. And, Dynavox was changing models about every 2 years, so once the machine was a few years old, it could not be repaired any more because the company was no longer supporting it.

When it broke and could not be repaired, I thought I would be smart and get a regular ruggedized consumer computer and Dynavox software to run on it. The cost was only about 1/2 the price of the Dynavox (which was good for us, since our insurance would not have paid for a new Dynavox.
Sounded better than it was, as the Dynavox software did not play well with Windows and every 2 months I had to have everything reloaded. Also, because the computer was not a 'run of the mill computer', I still had to have it sent to California for repair.

So, our next purchase was a totally different company - Prentke Romich and their Vantage device (this is the new Vantage, DD's is similar, but an older model). That has been a much better device - it's 4 yrs old and has not needed a repair yet. (They do have a similar device to the Dynavox Vmax, called the ECO2). It was a major undertaking to bring DD's Vantage to WDW with us though. It weighs almost 4.5 pounds plus has a mount that weighs almost as much.

Last Spring, they were looking for Beta testers for Proloquo2Go and I signed up. It's not perfect for DD because of the size of the iPod screen, but the graphics are good and the picture is clear. Here is a screen shot of the second part of a page I made for DD's ipod before our WDW trip last March.

We've brought the iPod with us for 2 trips now and it was nice to have something small enough that I could throw into my purse!!
After years of being reliant on whatever the communication companies want to provide, it's great to be able to walk into Target or Best Buy or the Apple Store and buy the equipment we need. That's truly revolutionary for someone with special needs.

 

[dmwang9]

not having Flash on the iPad is a dealbreaker for me...

I'm in the same place. I get a laptop from my school for my work-related stuff, so my home laptop is purely a personal machine. An iPad will do everything that I use Serenity (my home laptop -- what, you don't name your electronic devices?) for, EXCEPT that the iPad doesn't support Flash.

I have hopes that when the iPhose OS 4.0 rolls out, we'll see some sort of Flash support....

 

[soupy11]

and I didn't think the iTouch was worth the money when I already had an iPod that holds my entire music collection.

Sure, you can use Skype or Vonage on the thing, but like the NY Times said this morning-aren't you going to feel a little funny holding this giant clipboard to your ear? And how much battery life would Skype suck off it?

I'm sure there are folks that will buy it the first day (Hi Pete!) and love it. I just don't think it's going to be another game changer like the iPhone or the iPod.

Thought these pics were kind of funny...

 

[Justin Jett]

Sure, you can use Skype or Vonage on the thing, but like the NY Times said this morning-aren't you going to feel a little funny holding this giant clipboard to your ear? And how much battery life would Skype suck off it?

For $33 per month and no contract, I would not mind looking funny. The phone, web, and 9.7" inch screen has me very interested. The features that Sue mentioned could also help me.

Plus, people would use an earpiece microphone, instead of holding it to their ear.

I will not rush to buy one, but I will rush to try one.

 

[Dale-Not-Chip]

I wouldn't hold your breath for Flash support. Jobs has made it pretty clear he does not like flash.

A frankly Flash competes with Itunes. Why would you buy movies and tv shows if you can watch them for free on Hulu and netflix.

 

[ScottOKW2K]

After 10 pages all I can say is one word :

IHype

 

[doconeill]

I posted this in another thread, but it seemed worthy of here:

I was thinking the other day that two years from now, Jobs will be introducing the next "game changer" - a table running the iPhone OS. And then everyone will be saying how Microsoft had that 4 years earlier...except that no one wanted to pay $12k for a coffee table. But Apple will release it, it will cost $20k, and people will be drooling all over it...until it shorts out the non-replaceable battery.

What would it be called? iTable? iDesk? iKea?

 

[dpuck1998]

I posted this in another thread, but it seemed worthy of here:

I was thinking the other day that two years from now, Jobs will be introducing the next "game changer" - a table running the iPhone OS. And then everyone will be saying how Microsoft had that 4 years earlier...except that no one wanted to pay $12k for a coffee table. But Apple will release it, it will cost $20k, and people will be drooling all over it...until it shorts out the non-replaceable battery.

What would it be called? iTable? iDesk? iKea?

iStool

 

[doconeill]

iStool

Ooh...I like that one. And it keeps with the theme of the last one...

 

[dpuck1998]

Ooh...I like that one. And it keeps with the theme of the last one...

yea, sounded better than iSuppository

 

[Dale-Not-Chip]

yea, sounded better than iSuppository

No that will be the new apple banking device.

 

[Demosthenes]

I am a big Apple supporter, and tech junkie. My credentials? I own a 20" iMac, a 24" iMac, a 4 TB MacPro with 30" Apple Cinema Display, an iBook G4, a 17" MacBookPro, a 13" MacBook, a MacBookAir, a first gen iPhone, two iPhone 3GS 32 GB (one for me and one for my wife), three 140 GB Apple TVs, two iPod Shuffles, 6 iPods (various generations)...I even own the Apple Hifi and the Apple Bluetooth headset (two previous iFails). I love the quality of their products, the Apple OS, the look and feel of their products, their functionality, how revolutionary they have been, etc. etc.

The iPad...I just don't get it. No camera? No USB input? No flash? Single App usage capability? At 7.5" wide and 10" tall, it is almost the size of a standard sheet of notebook paper; how do you hold the device and type on the keyboard? If it is truly "the best web surfing experience ever," where is the flash capability? If it is a computer, why must I have another computer to sync content? This is a disappointing concept; not just disappointing execution. The iPad 2.0 needs some drastic overhaul to make it appealing to me.