walking . is . overrated

I love my iPhone, it has to be said. It is one of the few of many unnecessary pieces of technology I’ve bought in my life that I’m yet to feel that familiar twang of ‘buyer’s remorse’ over. If you don’t know what I’m talking about and think the iPhone is some space transportation device then shame on you, and check out full in-depth reviews over at Engadget or CNET.com. If you have heard that the iPhone is the sexiest piece of gadgetry ever, then not only are you right, but I bet you’re also wondering how it suits those with various disabilities, right? Well then. Read on, friends…

Well, for a start I can say with confidence that it’s probably not the best phone for those of you who are blind or have a visual impairment. Given its tactile-free (but gorgeous) 2.5 inch screen, the iPhone gives no feedback when a button is pushed or letter is typed, so it’s important to note that you’ve got to have reasonably good vision to use this thing.

I don’t know about other wheelchair users out there but for me, talking on my phone and operating my wheelchair at the same time was always quite a challenging task, and I imagine it’s even more onerous for those of you who use a manual chair. With one hand on my joystick and the other holding my phone, what happens if I want to scratch my nose? Or carry a drink?! And sure, you could buy one of those ridiculous-looking handsfree kits but they look so awfully pretentious, I swear most men wear those obnoxious earpieces as an extension of their manhood! The iPhone changes all that. One of the coolest - and least talked about - iPhone features is actually the microphone which is actually built-in to the headphones cord! Allow me to explain.

Say you’re wheeling along, rockin’ out to your favourite ABBA track on your iPhone (hey, don’t judge), and all of a sudden someone starts ringing you. Here’s what happens. First: your music begins to fade out. Way cool. Next, your ringtone begins to fade in (you’ll hear it in your earbuds)! To answer the call, simply squeeze the little white button on the headphones cord (see picture), and you can start talking! You’ll hear the other person in your earbuds, and just talk away like normal, it’s amazing. Once they hang up, your music will fade back in from where you last left it, and away you rock! It has truly changed my life. Previously when I listened to my iPod, I would always miss my phone calls because I couldn’t hear the phone ring! Now, I can listen to my iPod, receive phone calls, and even change music tracks, all without having to compromise my wheelchair-driving or nose-scratching time!

Something else worth mentioning in this accessible iPhone review is the keyboard. And yes, it’s a full-size QWERTY keyboard, none of this press-9-four-times-for-a-Z rubbish. The twist to the keyboard, and why it’s received so much attention in the press, is because it too is entirely touch-based, unlike the other tactile slide-out keyboards you may have seen on other ’smartphones’. So it pops up on the screen when you want to send a txt, write an email, or surf the web (yup, you can do all that and a whole lot more!) Personally, I love the iPhone’s keyboard, namely because of the lack of effort required to type a letter, or dial a number. You can simply brush the screen and it picks it up! I’ve owned many a phone with fiddly buttons or ones that require reasonable pressure to use, and so as someone with cerebral palsy the iPhone’s keyboard is fantastic.

I also like the iPhone’s bulky size and weight. It weighs 135g, which is weightier than your average phone, and is about 11cm x 6cm in dimension. There’s nothing worse than having to deal with an impossibly small gadget with an equally pathetic screen size when you’re trying to call someone or hell, even hold the thing! It even has a physical switch on the side to put the phone into silent/vibrate mode, none of this fluffing around in the settings when you’re about to go into a meeting!

So quite truthfully, the iPhone gets a whopping 10/10 in my books. It holds 8 gigabytes of your standard iPod stuff, like music, photos, movies, TV shows etc, which all look phenomenal on the iPhone’s bright, virtually scratch-proof 2.5-inch screen. It handles phone calls, txt messages, email, web surfing, and it even has an inbuilt 2 megapixel camera. Right now it’s only “officially” available in the US, Canada, and parts of Europe, but you can pick one up over at Parallel Imported Ltd, which is already unlocked and works perfectly on Vodafone’s network, using your existing SIM.

Forget the pricetag, go get one now!