I’ve had several opportunities to reflect on 50 years of Apple in the past week. I’ve also been reading my share or recollections by others – many of whom are friends. And I’ve noticed that the loopbacks come in two flavors – stories about bumping up against Apple, the company, in the person of executives or memorable product moments. Or, people have written personal stories about how things that Apple made changed their own lives. I didn’t know this when I wrote about my own beginnings as a Mac user. But I quickly realized that I preferred stories about users,…
Shelly's Web of Wonder Posts
On the anniversary of Apple’s founding, I wrote for Six Colors about my Mac nerd origin story. I soon discovered I was far from the only one moved to do so. I’ve told versions of it on podcasts over the years, but it was good to write it out with a bit more detail. Actually, I left out a few things that I later threaded up for social media. In case you missed those bits, I offer them below: I wanted to aim higher with my brand-new journalism degree, but most starting-out reporter jobs in those days would have sent…
The Blog Returns
Posted in Announcements, and Random Personal Nonsense
Lately, I’ve had a lot of thoughts about technology, accessibility and the world at large that have no natural place to go. So I’m going to try and blog about it. Wish me luck!
Updating iOS Access for All
Posted in Access and Disability, and Announcements
It’s fall tech season again. Even before the calendar confirms the season’s change, Apple has given us one of the traditional markers – new hardware and a date on which we’ll all be downloading the new versions of its software. And I’m working on the update to my book, iOS Access for All, like I do each autumn. Anyone who buys the current (iOS 14 edition) from now until the update is released will receive the brand-new iOS 15 edition when it’s ready. Such a deal!
NanciNet Days: How Nanci Griffith’s Music And The People Who Loved It Kept Me Going
Posted in Random Personal Nonsense
Gonna pack up my two-steppin’ shoes And head for the Gulf Coast plain Gonna walk the streets of my own hometown Where everybody knows my name. – Nanci Griffith, “I Wish it would Rain” I typed the above lyric from memory. Admittedly, that recollection has been made sharper during the week since Nanci Griffith passed away. I’ve been listening to her music a lot, and I produced a radio remembrance about her. But I think my memory would’ve been just as accurate before I heard the sad news. The song meant so much to me when I was living in…
Quite an Honor
Posted in Access and Disability, Announcements, New Media and Tech, and Pods and Presos
I got a phone call a couple of months ago letting my know that my audio documentary, 36 Seconds that Changed Everything: How the iPhone Learned to Talk won a Barbara Jordan Media Award. These honors are presented annually to media professionals and students in recognition of positive and inclusive representations of people with disabilities, here in Texas. There was to be an awards ceremony at Texas A&M, last month, but the pandemic put a stop to that. The folks at the Governor’s Committee on People with Disabilities had award recipients record messages, which have been assembled into a (very…
Pandemic Feels
Posted in Random Personal Nonsense
On some level, it’s true. We are all supposed to be practicing the same measures to keep ourselves safe. But what I learn when I talk to people in those little video squares on my computer is that there are a lot of ways to feel and be right now, and that, well, I haven’t heard exactly the way I feel expressed out there. I don’t have kids. That’s the first thing my work colleagues let me know – not me personally, but me and my fellow childless as a group. For parents with kids at home, this whole thing…
Note: These videos, and lots more, have migrated to YouTube. Subscribe to my Cheryl Wheeler Kitchen Songs playlist to be notified about each new video as it arrives. I’ve maintained a mailing list for fans of singer-songwriter Cheryl Wheeler since 1996! Like a lot of us, Cheryl is at home right now. Since she’s not able to be out doing shows, she’s been recording songs from her kitchen. Well, actually, her wife Cathleen has been recording, but Cheryl does her part by singing the songs! Cheryl asked me to present these videos here, for anyone who can’t or doesn’t want…
My first article for MacStories is a doozy. I actually just wrote the word, “doozy.” Moving on! I’ve taken 6,500 or so words to chronicle ten years of iOS accessibility, feature by feature, release by release, in true MacStories style. Who else but Federico and his team would have let me write at such length in a voice that’s all my own? The story is inspired by “36 Seconds that Changed Everything.” Check it out!
I Made A Thing! “36 Seconds that Changed Everything: How the iPhone Learned to Talk”
Posted in Access and Disability, Announcements, New Media and Tech, and Podcasting
I’m thrilled to announce the release of my audio documentary, “36 Seconds that Changed Everything: How the iPhone Learned to Talk.” It’s the story of how accessibility features came to the iPhone in 2009, how that event rocked some people’s world, and how most didn’t even notice. You can listen to the documentary or read a transcript at the web site I made (it looks remarkably like this one, I know, but an accessible theme is an accessible theme), so I thought that here, I’d write a bit about why I produced it. Oh, you can also hear the documentary…