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Comment by broodbucket | Hacker News Reader

I wish there were more incentives for people to develop accessible software experiences. Navigating the digital world is really hard for the elderly but it doesn't have to be that way. I guess this problem will eventually go away as digital native generations are all that exist, but it does feel like we've left a lot of the populace behind (and then bemoan that they don't understand us).

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Apple has claimed to be at the forefront of design for decades,but their UIs look just as garbage as many others at elderly font sizes.

It would actually be nice if they shipped a small phone to get regular developers to care about constrained layouts, and then shipped a Pro Max Tab whatever that was the same proportions, but with everything scaled up.

> Apple has claimed to be at the forefront of design for decades,but their UIs look just as garbage as many others at elderly font sizes.

They also claim to be against waste and ecologically responsible, yet adopt the worst anti-consumer and anti-environment market practices they can get away with. Hell, they invented some.

They ship the iPhone SE. That’s about as small as you can reasonably expect any smartphone to be.

Oh how things changed when iPhone 5 (4'') was considered normal phone and anything from 5'' up was a phablet. Now you have basic phones starting from 6''.

I had an iPhone 4 and then a 5c (same size as the 5). The 4 was usually fine, sometimes a bit cramped, but the 5c really hit the sweet spot for screen size and one-handed usability. Someday I hope someone makes a decent modern phone just like the 5c.

And bring back the plastic back (albeit using recycled supermarket bags or whatever). The 5c was such a great phone.

Exactly! I had really hoped that would catch on, but I only ever saw it on some Nokia Winphones and cheaper Androids. The glass back is one of my least favorite features of modern phones and metal isn't much better (pick your poison: shatter, dent, or scratch). The 5c was also a bit of a callback to Apple's white polycarbonate era and some of my absolute favorite Macs.

I even saw some renders of a translucent replacement back for the 5c inspired by the original fruit iMacs[1]. (Shut up and take my money!)

1: https://9to5mac.com/2013/04/03/concept-imagines-low-cost-iph...

FWIW, Samsung used a plastic back for their basic Galaxy S21. I like it personally (less slippery than my old S7 Edge), but it seems to have been controversial among the user base, and they switched back to glass for later versions.

Thanks for the tip! I'll have to watch and see if it gets Lineage eventually as I don't really care for Samsung's software, but by the time I'm ready to replace my OnePlus it might be a contender.

and make it rubberized, please. so that I for once can use a phone without case

To be fair the screen to surface ratio was pretty awful before the X.

Same with cars...

I just got an iPhone SE 1st gen, for the size and headphone jack. It's great.

THE SE 1 was damn near perfect. Great size, no camera bump, headphone jack, great battery life, fantastic all-metal build quality, fingerprint sensor...

The digital native generation will also age and will face challenges such as difficulty reading small text, accurately pressing keys on the screen, or executing intricate hand gestures. However, they will all have Neuralink implants, and everything will be decided for them by AI algorithms anyway.

Intentionally restricting users from modifying client-side software running on devices they own should be considered an ADA violation.

Punishment should be being forced to be blindfolded in public for 3 months and should be levied on all senior executives.

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