I sold my old WM2002 Ipaq to my aging Dad because I really felt it would help him remember things. It was better than a regular alarm clock because it would actually tell him what he was supposed to do in a window that fills the whole screen and demands that he choose between 2 simple options. It is simple and elegant and easily graspable, even by the elderly. Even if he gets too old to figure out the calender app, I could just enter things for him and all he would have to do is press one button or the other when the damn thing beeps.
Of course, my dad isn't just any old guy, and instead of choosing between the 2 simple options, he clicked the icon in the top-corner to close the window, causing the alarm to loop endlessly, forcing a soft reset. I used this thing for years and never had this problem. But now that we figured it out, he knows not to do it and its not a problem.
The point of this story is not to say that the old style of notifications are bad. He figured it out, and he's finding the device really useful. My point is that the new notifications are worse. Even with the super-simple format of the old-style notifications, its still possible for an inexperienced user to get confused. Now, with WM5, we have notifications that hide behind other apps and bring up tiny windows that easy to ignore. I think PocketPCs have a great potential to empower the elderly by giving them a sort of "outboard brain". It saddens me that Microsoft would take something simple and easy-to-use and make it needlessly complicated. I hope my Dad never has to upgrade.
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*IMO, my opinion is not humble. It kicks ass no matter how many people disagree with it :approve:
:approve: Get the A12 Update! It can cure cancer and get out those tough, ground-in dirt and grass stains!
never a problem for me theres a bell icon at the top of the screen that u can tap.
Well, first of all, the word "tap" says it all. I used to be able to hit "dismiss" with my thumb. Now I have to get my stylus out. Why?
Secondly, you're missing my point. Spotting a tiny little bell icon on a cluttered screen is great for those of us with young, quick minds. Not everybody has such a mind. Some people are easily confused by such things. My father is at that point, and it won't be that long for me either. You'll get there eventually. Microsoft is isolating potential customers for no reason.
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*IMO, my opinion is not humble. It kicks ass no matter how many people disagree with it :approve:
:approve: Get the A12 Update! It can cure cancer and get out those tough, ground-in dirt and grass stains!
perhaps ppl in your father's age range has been overlooked by the WM developers' focus in target marketing.
Well, then that's a shame. To me, the handheld platform has always represented technology in its most democratic form. "Non-computer people" often complain, rightfully, that computers often bring more hassles than convenience. The thing that impressed me most about handheld computers was that they were the first incarnation of the computer to give real tangible benefits to ordinary people while also working intuitively with a minimum of hassles and glitches. I would hate to think that its going to devolve into more "made by geeks for geeks" isolationism.
Maybe I'm overreacting. I just fail to see how this change adds anything useful, or does anything other than take something simple and make it more complicated.
__________________
*IMO, my opinion is not humble. It kicks ass no matter how many people disagree with it :approve:
:approve: Get the A12 Update! It can cure cancer and get out those tough, ground-in dirt and grass stains!
Well, first of all, the word "tap" says it all. I used to be able to hit "dismiss" with my thumb. Now I have to get my stylus out. Why?
Secondly, you're missing my point. Spotting a tiny little bell icon on a cluttered screen is great for those of us with young, quick minds. Not everybody has such a mind. Some people are easily confused by such things. My father is at that point, and it won't be that long for me either. You'll get there eventually. Microsoft is isolating potential customers for no reason.
ha,proud to be 20yrs old and yes u can hit it w/thumb still as long as its not hidden behind an app.
There should be a set up to select for people who need reading glasses. Larger font. cleaner screen. I hate having to find my glasses just to see what the notification was.
Also a killer app would be a cam that magnified to the screen. I hate when I find I did not bring my glasses to a meeting and somebody has a hand out. If I could get my axim to provide a small ammount of magnification. Man would that be useful.
There should be a set up to select for people who need reading glasses. Larger font. cleaner screen. I hate having to find my glasses just to see what the notification was.
Don't get me started about font size! My favorite feature of Firefox for windows is that you can re-size fonts regardless of whether the designer wants you to or not. Its not that I'm even far-sighted, I just find reading small print on a screen gives me a headache. When I think about people with real near-sight problems, I just want to smack my fellow web-designers for trying to force tiny fonts on people just so their fancy designs won't get broken.
Quote:
Also a killer app would be a cam that magnified to the screen. I hate when I find I did not bring my glasses to a meeting and somebody has a hand out. If I could get my axim to provide a small ammount of magnification. Man would that be useful.
That is just plain brilliant.
__________________
*IMO, my opinion is not humble. It kicks ass no matter how many people disagree with it :approve:
:approve: Get the A12 Update! It can cure cancer and get out those tough, ground-in dirt and grass stains!
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Why I Hate WM5 Notifications
