- Hey guys, welcome to another episode of "Double Tap" on YouTube. I'm Steven Scott. - And I'm Shaun Preece, hello. - Hello. Shaun, I think today we should do something that I'm told on YouTube is a bit of a no-no, it's a bit of a, hmm moment. - Wow. Are you sure? - That's, no, it's all right. We're not going down that road. I mean, don't get me wrong, if it gets the numbers up, I'll consider it, but I think somehow it wouldn't go the way that the bosses think. Certainly not gonna bring in any money, I'll tell you that. We're gonna delve into the comments because we got so many comments in all these different videos. - Oh. - Yeah. - Dangerous. - Don't worry. - Dangerous. - No it's fine. Look, I'll tell you. - I'm nervous. - No, don't be. And I'll tell you why. Because we are nowhere near famous in any way. So, you know. - Ah. - We're not being targeted by the trolls. You know, it's not Adele sitting here, right? It's a Dell computer that's sitting here. That's what we've got in front of us. - Well done. That old joke made it in. - I'm gonna applaud myself on that one actually. I think I might. I can't imagine the comments after this video, but let's get into some of the comments. So this is following a number of different episodes. The first one I'm gonna talk about is remember the getting the best signal episode we did? It's where you and I talked about you changing wifi provider and also getting, I say wifi, internet provider and getting a new wifi system, a new mesh system into the house. Remember that? - Yeah, that's right. Yeah, I have the Orbi and I got the new Google 6E Pro mesh system, something like that. - Catchy, yeah. - Yes, I know. - Well, Tim Dixon writes, great conversation. I have an old BT Whole Home Wifi disc set up that I have ethernet plugged into each to ensure best performance. It's a bit long in the tooth now and due an upgrade. My wife says very similar as well, but for different reasons. Anyway, he goes on to say, I use a PFSense firewall, but it's falling out of support and needs replacing. I'm on the lookout for my next setup. He says the Eeros from Amazon are appealing for the lower cost and ease, but I'm also tempted by ubiquity and the ability to use the ethernet to power them, rather than power cables themselves, which is kind of cool. That means he says I could use a UPS, that's an uninterruptible power supply, I think, centrally to keep all the wifi up in an outage. I should say he knows what a UPS is. I was just trying to work out what it meant for me. - Yes, yes. - Yeah, I mean look a lot in there. I mean Eero from Amazon, that's what I have and I love them. They're very good, and they do seem to do the job. It's one of those things that in theory, if it's good enough, you'll forget it's there. That's the point, right? It should just work. - That's what you want, yeah. Set and forget, I believe they call it. Well firstly, I mean I'm resisting the urge to shout out nerd because. - Oh wow. - You got your system set up really nicely there. - Nerd. - And when it comes down to which system you get next, you mentioned ubiquity, which is very much I would say it's almost prosumer, that's very high end and you do pay a price for that. But then that is exactly what you're talking about, Steven, set and forget. But yeah, probably for most people, the Eero system, the Google Nest mesh system, Orbi, anything like that is gonna be more than enough. But it does seem like everything you get now is gonna be a mesh system anyway. - Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Well I wanna also bring in Greg Hay's comment on this. He sent in this voicemail to us. - [Greg] Steven, Shaun, this is Greg from Phoenix. I was just watching your YouTube video about connectivity. Shaun, I have a feeling this is not gonna be easy, but I think the only way you're gonna get proper speed to your shed is to get that ethernet cable all the way back to the main unit where your fiber coming in is. If you're connecting ethernet to one of the mesh routers, unfortunately, you're gonna get the speed of the wifi between the two mesh routers. It's going to slow you down. And then you've got the ethernet going out from there. So again, I'm sure it's not simple. And then getting cable all the way back to that main box might be difficult. But that's the only way you're gonna get proper ethernet speeds to your shed. Keep up the good work, guys. Love your YouTube and your podcasts every day. Bye. - Thank you Greg. Don't you do that? Is that, are you saying, were you saying before that you were actually taking the connection from your shed so that ethernet cable you've got connected in your shed, back to the house and then into a mesh router or one one of the mesh boxes? - Yeah, that's right. So the main router where the internet comes into my house is by the front door and then it's connected wirelessly to a satellite router in the living room, which is why I connected shed to via an internet cable. So it's a cable to a satellite and a wireless connection to the main router. And Greg is absolutely right. And that is the issue I was running into. - Sorry, let me just clarify. Greg is absolutely right. You're an idiot. - Well, no, no, no, no, no. Wait though. The Google Nest system, that wifi connection between the main router and the satellite, wasn't strong enough. I was losing a lot of speed, but I swapped that out for the Netgear Orbi mesh system and I get full speed, even with that wireless step in there. So it does depend on the system. The Google Nests are a great wifi system. I still have them up and running 'cause all the family, everyone else upstairs, it all works fine for them. And so you get. - Every possible combination going. - Well, the thing is that they are slightly smaller, a lot smaller, and the wifi signal isn't quite as strong. The Netgear Orbi, my partner absolutely hates 'em 'cause they're ugly, look like massive shoe boxes. But the fact is that they pump out a really strong wifi signal, which means I get full speed ethernet through that wifi step to the shed out here. So you are right, but it does depend on the router. - Okay, all right. - All right, all right. - I think Greg was correct, but. - Oh no, he's absolutely correct. He should be. - But if it's working for you then fine right? That's the point, as long as it works for you. - And I have no choice. Let's not forget I did mention I have a partner and the chances of me digging up the floorboards and running an ethernet cable around are zero. So this is my only choice. - Yeah. - But it does work. - Yeah, there's no answer to that that I can give that because to be honest, I completely know where you're going with that. I want to argue with you, but I'm finding it difficult. That's logical. That's logical. - Well done, thank you. - Thank you for that Greg. I appreciate the voicemail and if you do wish to leave us a voicemail you can. It's 1-877-803-4567. I did not nearly forget that number. - No you didn't. - 1-877-803-4567 is the number. No listen, Razz writes in following an episode for, which is something I've been saying for a little while now, which is enough with the robot guide dogs. Okay. - Oh. - That was the title of the episode. It's also something I've been saying. Razz writes, oh man, yes to all of this. I keep seeing these places bringing back the robot guide dog and every time I can't help but think that they have never talked to a dog handler. I don't want a crappy metal box that only works in very limited conditions and was designed by people who have no idea about the history and real work my dogs do for me. And that's before the cost, which so many of these companies don't seem to understand that the blind community has a very high unemployment rate still and we're practically forced to live in poverty. So how do they think we'll get the money for this thing or pay for a subscription? And it's the same trouble with the canes they keep trying to build from the ground up when it's clear they don't know how very well engineered our canes really are. What we want and need are things like web accessibility that's actually enforced, or I would be pretty happy with a braille display that a human being could afford and which can read EPUBs, haha. Hmm, I struggle to argue with that. - You can't argue any of those points. He's absolutely right. Every, almost seems like every couple of years, I hear about the new robot guide dog, whether it's in the form of a suitcase you can hold onto that will guide you around or whatever, an actual robot guide dog. But do these ever see the light of day in a practical sense? So far, not. That doesn't mean we shouldn't look into it and the research, but I think he's absolutely right. - I think the technology is moving along. - Yeah. - I think that, you know, clearly there's a desire to create this, whether there's a need for it or a want for it. I don't know. I honestly don't know. I've not met anybody who said, goodness me, I wish I could get Apple music on my cane. So, you know, if there's that person out there, then let me know. I think innovation is good and I think we should always encourage it, but I think we also need to, and my point is always the same, which is we've got to make sure disabled people are in the room when these things are being discussed. Because what we don't want is for a developer to go and create something, to then have a situation where seven or eight months later, the product comes to market and no one buys it. And the developer says, but I made this for you blind people. You don't want it. No, 'cause no one asked for it. So you gotta have - Absolutely. - That conversation. You gotta have a conversation. But we will always be interested in engaging. But what we will not be are beta testers at the tune of a thousand dollars every time. Not doing it. Just not doing it. - You're right, absolutely. - Simon writes as well, he wrote a comment on this. He says, I definitely agree that the actual users need to be consulted more before the products become available. And especially with things like Zoom, Teams, or things like that, it would be a lot easier to do, but still does not appear to be being done. Talking, of course about web accessibility and all of that. Again, I would definitely be interested in a device that genuinely met my needs. I have to say, that I'm probably one of the more demanding people as I have no sense of direction, get lost super easily, so really need pinpoint accuracy guidance. So yeah, I think, yeah, I think that's a very interesting point actually that, and you're not alone in that. I mean, you know. - [Shaun] I'm exactly the same. - I'm not pointing at Shaun, but I'm pointing at Shaun. - Yes, I get lost so easily. I get lost on the pavement on the sidewalk. It is so easy to get disorientated. So yeah, I look, the point is if there's any of this tech that makes our lives easier, then absolutely. Of course we're not gonna say, oh no, I don't want that. I want to stay with the traditional ways. But the fact of the matter is that there's no proven technology out there so far that really cuts it in terms of replacing a guide dog or a cane or even adding to it, making the experience better. - Yeah. - I haven't found that yet. - Josh writes, you said that the answer to allergies is the white cane. Of course, I'm just talking about dogs and many people have got allergies. So that, you know, means that, you know, oftentimes a guide dog will not be suitable to someone. And the white cane therefore would be. That certainly is the case today, Josh. But he goes on to say, you forgot to mention the other answer to allergies can be guide horses. Yeah, that's absolutely true. - Factually, that's true. Practically, practical wise, I'm not entirely sure. No, they are a thing and they do exist and it's, I think even here in the UK, I know of one or maybe two people that use a guide horse because they're, that a dog just isn't appropriate. But there is a lot of practical things. I'm not sure how many people could make use of a guide horse. - Hmm, yeah well, Abraham writes, does anybody know about any guide dog schools in the USA? I can't find any information about them. Thank you. Oh, I'm gonna put that out to you guys 'cause I have no idea. I honestly don't know about, especially in the USA, although it's something we're gonna be talking about soon on the show and not so much guide dog schools, or guide horse schools I guess you would say. But something we will be definitely covering on a future at "Double Tap." So stay tuned for that. Now, another video that came up, you remember I talked about, the video was called "A Plea to a Startup," and I was talking about the Freewrite Alpha and various other devices as well that are essentially typewriters, modern day typewriters. They have e-ink screens on them instead of paper coming out of them. They are e-ink screens. You can essentially work on them. The working title I think or the working phrase these days is distraction free devices. You're not gonna get an email pop up. It's not gonna, you know, give you a FaceTime call right in the middle of it, you know, as so oftentimes is the case. In fact, it just happened to me right there. Someone calls me right in the middle of a recording, that's what happens, right? So, you know, that's a bit of a nuisance. But the question is, how accessible were these devices? And the answer is not very, there's no audio output from them. So I can't get a screen reader in there. And that's something that really bothered me. I know that you're a little bit dismissive of this, but Matt writes in, and I think you might agree with this, he says, seriously? It's a typewriter. Typewriters have never had audio output. If you want audio output, buy a laptop. You can get one cheaper than the Freewrite anyway. Or get a Fire tablet that you can dictate to, and it will read your words back to you. Every device cannot be accessible. - Ooh, controversial. But yeah, I tend to agree. I'm just not sure of this particular device, what do you call it, genre, is gonna take off. I mean, basically we're talking about Bluetooth keyboards you can type on and remembers what you typed. This is a QWERTY note taker if you want. Unless this is almost a throwaway price tag, I can't see this taking off when you can pick up a laptop for a few hundred dollars. - We also talked on a recent episode about gaming consoles and the title was, "Is it Time to Buy a Gaming Console?" You and I discussed the value considering that so many more accessible games are coming out, which is great. - Yeah. - And Dan writes, and my last console was a PS3, which I only played a few games on. I lost the rest of my vision fairly rapidly where I couldn't play them much except the Soul Caliber titles. I knew them so well, I could play them with very little vision. I would like this, I would like to add that this experience of playing that game without vision was very different, but I eventually learned a new way to enjoy it. It wasn't the same, but it is possible. I suspect if I actually had in-game support for non-visual play, that I would have found similar levels of enjoyment and engagement. Yeah, I mean look, I mean, I think that the question is can we really enjoy these games without sight? You know, these are visual experiences and yes, there are audible components being added to them. Be it a screen reader or be it a voiceover, an audio description, whatever it might be. - Audio cues, yeah. - Audio cues, all of that. Does it allow us, I think that there's two parts to this. One is, can it give us the same experience and should it? It absolutely should. And I think for people who want to play these games, they should have the right, you know, we should be able to play these games. Of course we should. Why shouldn't we? The person who just said, you know, not everything can be accessible. Well, I disagree. I think we should try and consider that at all turns. Now, it may not be possible for some things. I mean, Grand Theft Auto 6 is coming out soon. I would love to play that game. - Yes. - I think it's highly unlikely that I'm gonna get a huge amount out of it, but I'd like to be proved wrong, or I'd like them to try and figure it out. So I think it's about the trial really, isn't it? It's about trying to make it accessible. I do, well to some degree not everything can be, 'cause I mean, I've talked recently about the Apple Vision Pro not being, you know, like needing to be accessible was my argument. - Disgraceful. - I think we've got comments coming up on that as well. - Well the thing is, I think, I tend to think that not everything can be fully accessible, but the trouble is, but if you come at it with that mindset, it means you never try. Who thought the touchscreen could ever be accessible? And the fact of the matter is, it totally is, right? But back in the day, I would've said no, you can't have that being accessible. So I suppose it comes down to that for games as well. And when you mentioned GTA 6, absolutely, I totally agree I'd love to play that. But would it be the same experience as I remember when I used to play GTA back in the day when I was able to see it with low vision? That's the thing I can't quite get my head around, that's it's the same experience. - Hmm, you got me thinking though, because you just said there, you know, you never thought the touchscreen experience would work for you. And I guess everything we say that follows that has been answered. We can use a touchscreen. Is the experience the same using an iPhone with speech to using it visually? I'd say that it's different. - Yes. - And it's similar. And maybe that's where we need to get to. Maybe that's the answer. I think you may have solved the world's problems, Shaun Preece. - Not for the first time. You're welcome. - Excellent, well done. Well let's move on. Can you really understand blindness by pretending? This was the video, if you remember we talked about those sim specs that do the rounds and James Wrath, the blind filmmaker, did a video with I Justine, the YouTuber. And he was showing her not just how to use technology to simulate vision problems, but also to go one step further than that to actually show her how to do things. And I was quite intrigued by watching her try out, for example, using voiceover and the, and you know, showing her the challenge of that. But actually, you know, showing her a positive experience, showing her that she could use technology. And my argument was, you know, I think this is a good thing if it's being used in that way, but just to simulate vision loss when the stats tell us that, you know, more people who try this tend to come away with a more negative attitude towards visual impairment. We need less of that in the world. So that was the thread behind the conversation. And Aoife writes in, great conversation on a very interesting topic. Completely agree that persons with lived experience have to be involved. I find it gives deeper understanding when undertaken correctly. Yeah, and that's the other point. You've gotta get some blind people in the room when you're doing this kind of thing. It can't just be someone who's sighted telling a bunch of sighted people, here's what being blind is like. That just doesn't marry up with anything. I've said this a million times, take the word "blind" out and put any other words you can think of in. And it will not make sense as a sentence. So I think that, you know, blind people, disabled people, have to be part of that conversation as well. - Well it's something we keep coming back to no matter what the topic is, that blind people or whatever disability that you happen to be talking about or looking into, then that person with that disability needs to be in that conversation, no matter what it is. - Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much for your comments. I can only imagine there'll be one or two that follow this. Keep that conversation coming. We'll do this again soon 'cause it's been a lot of fun. Thank you so much for being with me again, Shaun. We'll do this again soon, and we'll catch you guys on another "Double Tap on YouTube. - Thank you, bye-bye.