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Apple unveils new accessibility features

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Re: Apple unveils new accessibility features

#361

Post by ngcazz »

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #115
simondotau wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same. Returning to 1x speed makes people sound (to my 2x-abused ears) drunk and slurring their works. If I want to listen to something slowly and carefully, I will just about tolerate 1.25x. What really frustrates me is watching/listening to discussion of music, because I am forced to listen to the talking at 1x because the music sounds wrong (and is wrong) at anything other than 1x.

The funny thing is that slow talkers sound normal at 2x speed. It's jarring when you hear their actual speech.

Norman Finkelstein is a notable example of this.

Re: Apple unveils new accessibility features

#362

Post by vkou »

pasc1878 wrote: post #353
MBCook wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I liked the TouchBar. There were two problems with it: 1. It replaced the F keys. I suspect pros wouldn’t have complained so loudly if it didn’t. And it was too expensive for the cheaper computers where it may have been more popular. 2. They never changed it. Ok the first version wasn’t a big hit. Other than bringing back the escape key they never did anything . They sent it out to be a hit or to die and gave up ther…

I would note that Steve Jobs would have probably supported removing the F keys. See the NeXT keyboards - no F keys. http://xahlee.info/kbd/NeXT_computer_keyboard.html The ones with the command key beneath the space were nice - except for the help key being so prominent.

Steve Jobs also thought that the abomination that was that stupid circular mouse was the pinnacle of UX.

Requiring the use of two hands in order to right click is also a fascinating hill to die on. I'm surprised that the operation didn't also require a foot pedal, all to, presumably, not confuse their users with the inclusion of a second button on their mice.

Re: Apple unveils new accessibility features

#363

Post by lynguist »

SmirkingRevenge wrote: post #194
JeremyHerrman wrote: post #168

Apple loves to stealth test new tech in full public view by sneaking it into relatively mundane places, so debuting agentic AI via accessibility is very on brand. A few other examples: - The Touch Bar was much more than an OLED strip, it was Apple’s first move in the transition to Apple Silicon on macs. The Apple T1 chip in the 2016 Touch Bar MacBooks was the first solely Apple-designed processor to appear in a Mac a…

Man I miss the touch bar. Never got why people hated it so much

The touch bar and the butterfly keyboard were the only Apple features in recent memory I ever hated. I hated them because they introduced them for (what felt like to me) anti-consumer reasons. It felt pretentious and useless and prone to breaking and created problems instead of improving product use.

Re: Apple unveils new accessibility features

#364

Post by crooked-v »

HDBaseT wrote: post #319
yreg wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Maybe just don't wear them in a car? Why not?

We probably do need laws to prevent people watching movies in an Apple Vision Pro whilst driving. We have harsh laws on using phones whilst driving, a Vision Pro (if configured in a specific way) could entirely block your vision with a Movie or Show and this is dangerous.

This is for a passenger.

Re: Apple unveils new accessibility features

#365

Post by yreg »

HDBaseT wrote: post #319
yreg wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Maybe just don't wear them in a car? Why not?

We probably do need laws to prevent people watching movies in an Apple Vision Pro whilst driving. We have harsh laws on using phones whilst driving, a Vision Pro (if configured in a specific way) could entirely block your vision with a Movie or Show and this is dangerous.

This might come as a surprise to some, but most people sitting in a moving vehicle are not driving. Trains and buses exist. Even in cars you usually have multiple seats and the ability to transport passengers.

Also, in what country is it legal to drive around with a VR headset?

Re: Apple unveils new accessibility features

#366

Post by ksec »

JeremyHerrman wrote: post #168

Apple loves to stealth test new tech in full public view by sneaking it into relatively mundane places, so debuting agentic AI via accessibility is very on brand. A few other examples: - The Touch Bar was much more than an OLED strip, it was Apple’s first move in the transition to Apple Silicon on macs. The Apple T1 chip in the 2016 Touch Bar MacBooks was the first solely Apple-designed processor to appear in a Mac a…

And they do it with products on relatively small volume. A lot of these used to happen on Apple Watch. And at one point I thought Apple Watch would be the place to do a lot of testing work.

Until Apple Watch became so popular it is now back to volume manufacturing and operation efficiency mode.

Liquid Metal never got anywhere because Apple couldn't figure out how to mass manufacture it at a cost they were willing to pay.

Re: Apple unveils new accessibility features

#367

Post by gsquaredxc »

troupo wrote: post #360
JeremyHerrman wrote: post #295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're underestimating Apple's meticulous planning, which has only become more intense in the Cook era. Bad feature/UX or not, each one of those decisions was calculated. Read this ars quote from 2010 [0]: >Apple used the small part—one that is not integral to the device’s functionality—to see if the company was capable or producing a custom design to Apple’s specifications. Typically, manufacturers prefer to have at…

> You're underestimating Apple's meticulous planning, which has only become more intense in the Cook era "Meticulous planning" and then: butterfly keyboard, wireless charging, Mac Pro, Liquid Glass. And those are just off the top of my head.

I think you confuse long-term planning with long-term success. Just because something is meticulously planned doesn’t guarantee the plan wasn’t flawed fundamentally.

Additionally, wireless charging is viewed as a flop? MagSafe (wireless) is a really strong product option. Lightning vs USB-C doesn’t matter, no need to fiddle with anything in the dark, etc. MagSafe for mounting in a car is also a strong offering. Most Android phones use Qi as well.

Re: Apple unveils new accessibility features

#368

Post by Almondsetat »

RobMurray wrote: post #219
Almondsetat wrote: post #24

I have difficulty trusting this. There are plenty of videos online of LLMs making up stuff like "I just ate a hot dog, is there mustard around my mouth?" "No, everything is clean" while there is a big yellow stain om the guy's face

Most of those videos are chatGPT voice mode, which still used gpt 4o last time I checked. it is far from SOTA.

I mean, if you want AI to help you real time... you'll need slimmer models. How is what Apple is doing any more SOTA than ChatGPT?

Re: Apple unveils new accessibility features

#369

Post by djeastm »

bonoboTP wrote: post #312
satvikpendem wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I listen to a lot of podcasts and YouTube videos at 3x or 4x speed now, having slowly built up the skill over a few years. It's pretty nice now and saves time, and it's remarkable how well the human brain can adapt to such input.

I took a course in speed reading, learning to read straight down the middle of the page, and I was able to go through War and Peace in 20 minutes. It’s about Russia.

Isn't that a Woody Allen joke?

Re: Apple unveils new accessibility features

#370

Post by trissylegs »

postalcoder wrote: post #64

One thing Apple really needs to get right is speech to text transcription. They've nailed accessibility in so many ways and yet it feels like they're a decade behind on properly transcribing voices. At least half a decade. Input on the iPhone is so dreadful nowadays. Their palm rejection is definitely worse than before, so mistyping is more frequent. Their text-correction algorithm for typing is worse than before, an…

Every time I get something in my missed called in Voicemail the speech to text seems like I've been called by some wimslical gnome talking to me in strange riddles.

Eg: "Audrey, just swing up the sailors". (My name is not Audrey)

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