[OT] What's an iPad?

[Richmond Mathewson]

  On 12/04/2010 14:39, Thomas McGrath III wrote:
> I guess I should have said portable. That would be funny watching my friend in her wheelchair dragging around an old Mac trying to talk to people at the local cafe shop. ;-)
PowerBook_5300

Clamshell iBook

wouldn't go too badly with the wheelchair; as your friend is a lady she 
might enjoy having a
colour-coordinated Clamshell:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBook

If, for the sake of argument; your friend were semi-quadreplegic and had 
some motor-control problems with
her hands/fingers she might be rather well-off if she could connect some 
sort of pointing device to her speech-machine
(joystick, big trackball ?); and I don't know whether you can do that 
with an iPad.

About 30 years ago I did a volunteer spot (between school and Uni') in a 
residential home for
disabled people and, there, I came across something called a Possum.

http://www.possum.co.uk/   I remember a screen of some sort with letter 
icons on it (the first time I saw any sort of GUI)
and some sort of Rebus system for communication.

There was one chap there who was 90% paralysed
and used a chin-switch (very effectively - a wonderful bloke, full of 
joy and good humour; very humbling):

http://www.disabledonline.com/products/direct-products/switches/general-switches/chin-switch-by-possum/

I see that the iPad has a USB2 connexion - but whether the iPhone OS 
will recognise pointing devices (seems unlikely) . . .  ?

I don't know whether Wireless or Bluetooth Joysticks exist.

-----------------------------------------------------------

And on that note, perhaps I should point out that I have been wondering 
for quite some time how well
RunRev would interact with a USB foot-pedal.