Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Yayagram

twitter.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 183 posts

Re: Yayagram

#21

Post by zackbloom »

tectonic wrote: post #18
zackbloom wrote: post #17

I work on a company that is squarely targeted at the market of people who don't have Internet. Nearly 10% of Americans don't have Internet, the vast majority are older. During COVID, at least in my family, it was pretty stark. My grandmother didn't see a video of my nephews for essentially a year, as she was quarantined and doesn't know how to use a smartphone or tablet. She also doesn't have WiFi, so 'smart frames'…

Are there LTE “dumb smart frames”?

Not to my knowledge. If anyone is interested in building one get in touch, it would be a fun thing to build. Right now we let people to mail videos [1]. Think a greeting card, but which plays your home movies.

[1] - https://sendheirloom.com

Re: Yayagram

#22

Post by ISL »

sdflhasjd wrote: post #11

When I'm asked to find some phone or other technology for an elderly relative, I'm always concerned about the usability of devices. A lot of companies and people don't realy appreciate how much training is really needed to operate even the simplest of mobile phones. I've not really seen any solutions other than making buttons bigger and reducing menu options, I'm sure these are great for those with deteriorating eyes…

The biggest problem we have faced, unfortunately, is the proliferation of modern security features.

Chromebooks are awesome in many ways for the elderly, but the fact that you can't disable password entry at startup has been a dealbreaker for my aging father. He can't type easily and is beginning to struggle with passwords.

Paradoxically, this means that he's still running his Ubuntu laptop (he has been using UNIX systems since a DEC Alpha) but getting left behind on a lot of accessibility features and has minimal support from nursing-home staff.

Struggling with passwords has also meant that he is endlessly resetting passwords or creating new accounts, compounding confusion.

It is a tricky set of problems, with no easy answers.

Re: Yayagram

#23

Post by samjbobb »

zackbloom wrote: post #21
tectonic wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are there LTE “dumb smart frames”?

Not to my knowledge. If anyone is interested in building one get in touch, it would be a fun thing to build. Right now we let people to mail videos [1]. Think a greeting card, but which plays your home movies. [1] - https://sendheirloom.com

Hey this is cool! Looks like a great idea for an underserved market, well executed.

Re: Yayagram

#24

Post by zingplex »

mdtusz wrote: post #20
zingplex wrote: post #5

The use of an XLR cord is a stroke of genius. Having the state of the machine clearly visible and manipulatable by people with fine motor problems solves 90% of the problems I encounter when volunteering with the elderly.

It appears to be using an 1/4" patch cord, not an XLR cable! XLR is the cable (and connector) with 3 pins as is used with microphones and carries a balanced signal - 1 leg is ground, then the other two are inverted signals to minimize noise.

Yeah, you're right. My brain made the association between XLR and generic audio cables without thinking.

Re: Yayagram

#25

Post by [deleted] »

zingplex wrote: post #5

The use of an XLR cord is a stroke of genius. Having the state of the machine clearly visible and manipulatable by people with fine motor problems solves 90% of the problems I encounter when volunteering with the elderly.

[deleted]

Re: Yayagram

#26

Post by nanna »

nanna wrote: post #16

This is cute but bearing in mind most of today's grandparents (at least in the West) have had decades of using computers professionally and at least a good few years using tablets and smartphones, I really think the pitch should be directed elsewhere. I especially don't think they would appreciate a 'telegram' feature! Also, I know it's not meant literally, but its genderisation as 'granny' is a really problematic cl…

Look, let me put this another way, since I'm being downvoted.

I think my 70 year old mum, who is a grandma, would find it patronising and sexist to have a device pitched to her as an easier to use version of the iPad she is a bloody master of in every way. She's far more adapt than my dad, bless him, but even he can use WhatsApp and the like fine after being shown.

Re: Yayagram

#27

Post by ad404b8a372f2b9 »

ISL wrote: post #22
sdflhasjd wrote: post #11

When I'm asked to find some phone or other technology for an elderly relative, I'm always concerned about the usability of devices. A lot of companies and people don't realy appreciate how much training is really needed to operate even the simplest of mobile phones. I've not really seen any solutions other than making buttons bigger and reducing menu options, I'm sure these are great for those with deteriorating eyes…

The biggest problem we have faced, unfortunately, is the proliferation of modern security features. Chromebooks are awesome in many ways for the elderly, but the fact that you can't disable password entry at startup has been a dealbreaker for my aging father. He can't type easily and is beginning to struggle with passwords. Paradoxically, this means that he's still running his Ubuntu laptop (he has been using UNIX sy…

I have the same problem with my parents and I initially thought the Windows 10 pin screen was quite good for this. You only need 4 numbers, I set it to my birthdate and it's made things somewhat easier for them.

That was until my mom phoned me telling me her keyboard was broken. Took me a while to diagnose that she was trying to enter letters into the pin-field and it gave no indication that you weren't supposed to do that, it just didn't input any characters.

Also turns out the Windows account metaphor has gotten really confusing since they introduced microsoft accounts that are both local and online but don't necessarily share the same characteristics and now you have like 3 different passwords for the single "account" concept.

Re: Yayagram

#29

Post by paxys »

thirdlamp wrote: post #12

On top of the points others in this thread have made, I think this is also a lesson for UX designers. It's really obvious how the Yayagram works and how to use it and this is how our UX should be.

What's the lesson here? Yes this is a simple UI, but if put next to an iPhone which one will a billion+ people pick?

Re: Yayagram

#30

Post by lacker »

sdflhasjd wrote: post #11

When I'm asked to find some phone or other technology for an elderly relative, I'm always concerned about the usability of devices. A lot of companies and people don't realy appreciate how much training is really needed to operate even the simplest of mobile phones. I've not really seen any solutions other than making buttons bigger and reducing menu options, I'm sure these are great for those with deteriorating eyes…

A lot of companies and people don't really appreciate how much training is really needed to operate even the simplest of mobile phones.

I completely agree, but at the same time it's funny that you can take a two-year-old without any formal technology training at all, accidentally leave an iPad where they can get it, and before long they're showing you gesture commands you didn't even know about.

Post reply on HN