3 ms·

The problem here is you're trying to replace the ability for the child to respond and communicate within 1-3 seconds to form a sentence as opposed to the 45 sec

The problem here is you're trying to replace the ability for the child to respond and communicate within 1-3 seconds to form a sentence as opposed to the 45 seconds it takes for a kid to write it out. Also learning the symbols and such is easier then learning all the letters and words and grammar involved in written language. Taking into account the difference in time, how much people communicate on a daily basis, how much more kids talk to parents. 1-3 seconds 45 seconds (less as time goes on and writing gets better.) - 15 seconds. lets assume the kid talks to her parents 30 times a day, each with 1-3 second talks. Each day this app saves the daughter 11 minutes. (25sec30talks) = 12.5min-a-day - (3sec30talks) = 1.5min-a-day = 11 Minutes saved Daily. I used 25 seconds as an average sentence written. I understand I'm making certain assumptions. But even if writing takes less time then that to get words on paper, we're talking minutes a day, if she talks more then it's saving more, in the course of a lifetime. This app may be saving the girl from wasting days of her life. That's not getting into the fact that they did try out nearly ALL other options, they did ask if an iPad app was going to be made by their preferred PRC people anyways.

bobwaycott 14y ago
You're spot on here and illustrating my primary point--that the parents have enjoyed a greater convenience in overcoming the communication troubles with their daughter. I didn't intend to make light of how incredible that particular convenience is over other methods. I don't doubt or discount that the iPad app is leaps and bounds improved over other methods in this particular case. Again, none of that is disputable as far as I see. The particular dimension of the story I felt worth pointing out that was disputable, however, were the ways in which the author made hyperbolic claims. I could tell with the reactions in the HN comments that everyone was capitalizing on the anti-PRC/Apple angle and somewhat beating it to death. Speaking as a parent of two, the eldest of whom started speaking later than "normal" and still seems to have some issues (though by no means as extreme as Maya's), it was the claims that there was zero communication without the app that stood out to me (particularly after taking other content on the blog into consideration). It is unquestionably sad and pathetic when anything that truly helps improve people's lives in a demonstrable way is threatened by crap in the business world. Stories like Maya's are excellent for helping enlighten people to the ways that IP fighting can seriously degrade people's lives. I just still think it's worth being intellectually honest even amid the harshest emotional pulls.

bobwaycott 14y ago

You're spot on here and illustrating my primary point--that the parents have enjoyed a greater convenience in overcoming the communication troubles with their daughter. I didn't intend to make light of how incredible that particular convenience is over other methods. I don't doubt or discount that the iPad app is leaps and bounds improved over other methods in this particular case. Again, none of that is disputable as far as I see. The particular dimension of the story I felt worth pointing out that was disputable, however, were the ways in which the author made hyperbolic claims. I could tell with the reactions in the HN comments that everyone was capitalizing on the anti-PRC/Apple angle and somewhat beating it to death. Speaking as a parent of two, the eldest of whom started speaking later than "normal" and still seems to have some issues (though by no means as extreme as Maya's), it was the claims that there was zero communication without the app that stood out to me (particularly after taking other content on the blog into consideration). It is unquestionably sad and pathetic when anything that truly helps improve people's lives in a demonstrable way is threatened by crap in the business world. Stories like Maya's are excellent for helping enlighten people to the ways that IP fighting can seriously degrade people's lives. I just still think it's worth being intellectually honest even amid the harshest emotional pulls.