Hi.
I clicked on the link it provided and BBC displayed an error. However
thanks anyway, and no, by the sounds of it mobile phones are becoming
more and more inaccessible.
Ray's Home wrote:
As someone who finds most mobile phones these days a challenge to operate, I'm not to encouraged by this article I've just been reading at BBC Technology news.
Here's a bit about keyboards and the long URL that follows takes you straight to the print version of the article which saves any hunting for the start of the item.
Keypad design
One solution is called Ninespace, an interface in which every level of the
menu is presented as an animated 3x3 grid, with each option corresponding to
a number on the keypad.
Perhaps instead of trying to build a menu system around the existing keypad,
maybe it is the keypad itself that needs to change.
Certainly some makers have tried mixing things up a bit, with full qwerty
keyboards for the serious typist, or crazy keypads for those that want to
stand out from the crowd.
If manufacturers want to highlight the second function of a phone, for
example its music playing capabilities, they can build in an extra set of
controls.
When you just want to listen to tunes, swivel or slide the keypad out the
way, and your phone becomes an mp3 player.
In fact it is in a digital music player that we find one of the few real
breaks from the norm that really worked - the wheel that sits on the front
of the iPod.
It is a user interface that dares to be different and ticks all the boxes -
it looks cool, and actually makes life easier.
Whether or not Apple pinched the menu layout idea from Creative, the iPod
has become an icon, its much-copied scroll wheel has become the centre of
attention.
More at:
http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/program mes/click_online/5244584.stm
From Ray I can be contacted off-list at: mailto:ray-48@xxxxxxxx
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