Article over at USA Today on one big problem being caused by the ever-shrinking size of gadgets: they’re getting so small that it’s hard for anyone with less-than perfect vision to figure out how to use them.
[A]s the gadget-buying population of the USA grays and the rush to miniaturization accelerates, the disconnect sometimes seems to be widening between what designers believe we want and what we find we can comfortably use. Take the Palm PDA, which later this year will appear on the screen of a Fossil watch. The $199 time tool will push the limits of the human eye. People who may have strained to check appointments, addresses and directions on a standard 2.25-inch square Palm display will face a 1-inch screen.The concept “shows total contempt for the majority of consumers,” says usability guru Jakob Nielsen of the consulting firm Nielsen Norman Group. “They have these young, hotshot engineers and designers; they don’t have vision problems and don’t believe anyone does. To them, all that matters is cool teenagers, and the rest of us are irrelevant.”
The solution? Gadgets with bigger, brighter displays which use OLED rather than LCD screens.
