Three things iPads do well for seniors
Forbes has put together an interesting list of three things the iPad does well for seniors. The writer points out that Apple's iPad makes it easy for seniors with bad eyesight to adjust the text inside apps like Safari or iBooks. Safari's pinch to zoom text adjustment is especially easy compared to iBooks because there are no menu button commands to tap.
Forbes relates a touching story of a man in a nursing home whose hands were crippled with arthritis. Normally he wouldn't be able to hold pictures in his hands if he wished to look at memories of a family vacation. However, with the iPad's ability to navigate photos just by swiping a finger (or any part of a hand) over the screen, the man was able to browse all of the photos his family loaded onto the iPad.
Forbes also says Apple got one thing wrong. They say that most people over 40 don't like looking at pictures of themselves, and that facial reflections in a dark (sleeping or powered off) iPad screen are an oversight on Apple's part. That's an idea I frankly find ridiculous. However, maybe Forbes will overlook that when they see all of the gesture accessibility menu options that are added in iOS 5.
