Slashdot Mirror
Is Google Home Fit For Elderly and Disabled Users? (vortex.com)
Chances are either you or someone you know received a Google Home over the holidays. Not only are they being marketed heavily by Google but they seem to have appeared in almost every "Holiday Gift Guide" on the internet. Slashdot reader Lauren Weinstein brings up an interesting dilemma: is Google Home fit for the elderly? Weinstein writes: You cannot install or routinely maintain Google Home units without a smartphone and the Google Home smartphone app. There are no practical desktop based and/or remotely accessible means for someone to even do this for you. A smartphone on the same local Wi-Fi network as the device is always required for these purposes. This means that many elderly persons and individuals with physical or visual disabilities -- exactly the people whose lives could be greatly enhanced by Home's advanced voice query, response, and control capabilities -- are up the creek unless they have someone available in their physical presence to set up the device and make any ongoing configuration changes. Additionally, all of the "get more info" links related to Google Home responses are also restricted to the smartphone Home app.
I don't know. Can it pick stuff up around the house? Can it actually help a person with physical needs?
Quit buying crap that doesn't do stuff. "Tells you things" is not doing things.
Until they make 911 calling available on it, it's greatest potential benefit will be missing.
Instead of just flicking a switch.
And that's assuming it works and everything magically configures itself, which never happens.
People are so fucking stupid. Bad enough they inflict this on themselves, but their elderly relatives? Dear god. These devices deserve to go the way of the dodo.
Agree -- No. I'm nearly 80 and find myself without a smart phone, tablet, facebook account and other necessities of modern life. I dislike small screens, lack of a real keyboard, and the fact that you can't even pick up many devices without inadvertantly changing their current settings. I pay Trakfone $7 a month to maintain service for a cell phone that I use maybe six times a year.
My car is 12 years old and thankfully missing most of the bizarre "features" of newer models. I've added an aftermarket GPS, rear view camera, and a radio with MP3 capability. I'll probably add an aftermarket collision avoidance system when the aftermarket devices get a bit better and cheaper. I find the UI on my wife's 2013 car to be Kafkaesk.
We have an Amazon Echo around the house somewhere. It works really well. I was impressed. But we never use it and it isn't currently plugged in.
Many of our kitchen appliances have digital interfaces. Most are usable. But the older mechanical equivalents worked just as well, sometimes better, and were repairable.
We have TV streaming -- Amazon, Hulu,, Netflix. Works pretty well. And it means we no longer have to deal with Comcast. But the User Interface is mediocre and the need to use multiple remotes (one for the TV a different one for the rokus) in annoying. Sometimes, I find myself opting for OTA TV just because it's easy to use -- turn it on and change the channel. My kid is a network engineering major and I let him run things. I COULD run them myself if I had to, but only because I've dealt with networking for decades. Most of my fellow octogenarians probably couldn't. Not because they are stupid. Because they don't care. My wife, who is in no way shape or form a stupid lady, is totally baffled by any computer problem.
User interfaces are hard to begin with and UIs designed by millenials to satisfy mangers who are only a bit older leave a lot to be desired for the elderly. What's this white on light-blue crap? The desirability of CONTRASTING colors in UIs was recognized about 12 hours after the first color displays were introduced. And while I'm ranting, a large percentage of North American users are familiar with the menu bar. Quit trying to replace it with things that are even worse. (Wrap it on small screens). And icons. They suck. Always have. Always will. Pick a widely used language -- English, Spanish, or Chinese -- and use it in your UI. Everywhere. And be consistent. Don't use four different words for quit/exit/finished/end
So yes, I have doubts about Google Home's appropriateness for many of the elderly.
You can't see ANYTHING from a car, You've got to get out of the goddamned contraption and walk...Edward Abbey