5 ms·

This is why Apple is the best. They’ll make features like this because it’s the right thing to do, even if it won’t really make any difference to 99.99% of thei

This is why Apple is the best. They’ll make features like this because it’s the right thing to do, even if it won’t really make any difference to 99.99% of their customers. They really earn consumer loyalty.

cainxinth 2y ago
This was the right thing to do, but I doubt “the right thing to do” was the primary motivator for it. This is smart marketing that helps position them as the more caring, inclusive, and capable tech brand. It also expands their reach more than a fraction of a percent. 13% of Americans have some form of disability.
- bdzr 2y ago
  I feel like it also helps them get an edge in the healthcare sector, which has buckets of money in the mix.
- GarnetFloride 2y ago
  75+% of Americans become disabled (mostly temporarily) in their lifetime. So it will affect most people someday. And everyone dies in the end.
- igornadj 2y ago
  Tim Cook in response to a shareholder proposing scrapping accessibility to improve ROI: “When we work on making our devices accessible by the blind, I don’t consider the bloody ROI”.
  - cainxinth 2y ago
    That's just more "cause marketing." The first ever $3T company definitely considers the bloody ROI in every decision -- whether the CEO is willing to admit it publicly or not.
s_dev 2y ago
The accessibility features are also useful for automated UI testing. >They’ll make features like this because it’s the right thing to do While the positivity is great to see -- I'd temper that expectation they're simply doing the right thing and definitely acting in their perceived interest. People can and often do the right thing -- large companies rarely do.
- huijzer 2y ago
  > People can and often do the right thing -- large companies rarely do. There are companies which try (and succeed) to be honest "citizens". Berkshire and Costco have quite good reputations.
withinboredom 2y ago
Do you realize how bad Apple's accessibility issues were before? This is just marketing and I doubt many people are going to drop thousands of bucks to ditch years of tooling they're already intimately familiar with (aka, Windows), but this is an effort to try and entice some people. That's all it is. Marketing.
bloopernova 2y ago
I'm hoping they'll add this to macOS too. Eye tracking would be great for end-user UX research. I'd also like to see what sort of weird stuff people come up with to use eye tracking. Games could use that in interesting ways.
ncgl 2y ago
I read this very skeptically. When I hear eye tracking I immediately think of advertisers targeting me based on what I look at, NOT quadriplegics using Apple devices. Maybe I'm a cynic

cainxinth 2y ago

This was the right thing to do, but I doubt “the right thing to do” was the primary motivator for it. This is smart marketing that helps position them as the more caring, inclusive, and capable tech brand. It also expands their reach more than a fraction of a percent. 13% of Americans have some form of disability.

bdzr 2y ago
I feel like it also helps them get an edge in the healthcare sector, which has buckets of money in the mix.
GarnetFloride 2y ago
75+% of Americans become disabled (mostly temporarily) in their lifetime. So it will affect most people someday. And everyone dies in the end.
igornadj 2y ago
Tim Cook in response to a shareholder proposing scrapping accessibility to improve ROI: “When we work on making our devices accessible by the blind, I don’t consider the bloody ROI”.
- cainxinth 2y ago
  That's just more "cause marketing." The first ever $3T company definitely considers the bloody ROI in every decision -- whether the CEO is willing to admit it publicly or not.

s_dev 2y ago

The accessibility features are also useful for automated UI testing. >They’ll make features like this because it’s the right thing to do While the positivity is great to see -- I'd temper that expectation they're simply doing the right thing and definitely acting in their perceived interest. People can and often do the right thing -- large companies rarely do.

huijzer 2y ago
> People can and often do the right thing -- large companies rarely do. There are companies which try (and succeed) to be honest "citizens". Berkshire and Costco have quite good reputations.

withinboredom 2y ago

Do you realize how bad Apple's accessibility issues were before? This is just marketing and I doubt many people are going to drop thousands of bucks to ditch years of tooling they're already intimately familiar with (aka, Windows), but this is an effort to try and entice some people. That's all it is. Marketing.

bloopernova 2y ago

I'm hoping they'll add this to macOS too. Eye tracking would be great for end-user UX research. I'd also like to see what sort of weird stuff people come up with to use eye tracking. Games could use that in interesting ways.

ncgl 2y ago

I read this very skeptically. When I hear eye tracking I immediately think of advertisers targeting me based on what I look at, NOT quadriplegics using Apple devices. Maybe I'm a cynic