People can look around and see new things they bought over the last year, but if they think a little deeper they might realize how some of their workflows also changed. Yes I bought a few new gadgets in 2016, but some of that was to support changes in my thinking and planning for better workflows in the near future.
I’ve had 2 talking medical thermometers in the past, the second of them quietly dying in 2015, I’m not sick often but decided having a way to take my temperature was a good idea, but instead of finding another blind-centric device I bought the Pyle in ear thermometer. It has bluetooth, pairs with an accessible iOS app and will even save temperatures along with date and time to my calendar; a workflow I hope to not need for some time yet. Oh, and it takes body temperature in about 2 seconds instead of 3 minutes like old traditional thermometers, that is game changingly awesome.
I replaced my corded hand vac with a cordless dry-wet vac, already finding no cord a nice convenience which might actually mean I use it more.
In the kitchen I now have the Instant Pot 7 in 1 programable pressure cooker, with bluetooth, really the only way to go for a blind person. Today I ordered the Waring PVS 1000 vacuum sealer, (refurbished because the price of unboxed models jumped $75 when I wasn’t looking) which among things may allow me to try some sous-vide cooking; along with preserving fresh food longer. I also got the Drop digital kitchen scale to measure food by weight instead of volume, I can also now answer the question of “What do you know” with a penny weighs 2 grams.
Since iBooks came out in iOS 4 back in 2010 I’ve been reading almost daily on my iPhones , but when the cool automatic scrolling-reading option in voiceover broke in the first iOS 10 beta last June, I started using the voice dream reader app; which I knew was awesome and had bought 3 years earlier, just hadn’t used it much. The voiceover bug was fixed in beta 3 but I still read now almost all long text with that app. I wish the voice dream reader had an Apple watch app, then I’d have the smallest ebook reader ever; and since I’m blind and not screen dependent, it would be awesome.
Already this year my 2009 MacBook pro died, and thanks to one of my cool friends, I now have a maxed out 2013 11 inch air on loan. Another workflow change is I installed Homebrew instead of Macports this time around. The newer air also means VoiceOver thus far is busy much less of the time, so I can finally play more with Xcode; and I’ll have a working battery when I speak at Cocoaconf Chicago in late April.
What kinds of changes in your workflows did you see last year, how might new workflows in the new year help you in the future. Rather than just coasting through life, it’s way better to “live on purpose”.
Accessibility Insights 