Fixing My Daughter’s Voice
Nate Hanson’s 8-year-old daughter, Whitney, has an iPhone 3GS. But she doesn’t use it to call her friends or play video games, as you might expect. Rather, for Whitney, the iPhone is an assistive communication device. Whitney has a rare genetic disorder, 1p36 deletion syndrome, which Nate says is “geneticist jargon for missing the tip of her first chromosome.” The syndrome gives her difficulty both hearing and speaking. So she uses an app called Proloquo2Go that lets her touch pictures to have the phone speak words and phrases to people around her. Nate talks a little bit more about Whitney’s experiences with the software (including a video) on his blog here.
So what does this have to do with repair? Whitney’s iPhone’s battery began to dwindle recently, until it held only 45 minutes of charge. Since she uses the phone to communicate with bus drivers, teachers, and classmates all day at school, 45 minutes of battery life was not nearly enough. Otherwise, though, the phone worked just fine. “Rather than purchase a new device,” Nate explains in a story, “I decided to put a new battery in her tough old friend of a phone.”
Although the screws and connectors were tiny (Nate says, “The magnetized tip on the #00 screwdriver was a lifesaver”), 45 minutes later, the iPhone had a new battery. Nate is enthusiastic about technology—he designs software for dome theaters and planetariums with Evans & Sutherland Digital Theater, and he’s built PCs. But he claims not to be a repair guru and has never worked on anything this small before. Nonetheless, he got it done.
Whitney now has her voice back, thanks to her repair-savvy dad.
Comments
What about a Mophie battery case as an addon for even more battery?
Justin, that’s an excellent idea! I think I know what Whitney’s getting for her next birthday. :-)
Way to beat Apples planned obsolesence!
What a great story! Thanks for the inspiration.
As an aside, Mophie battery case is awesome. I got one for my new iPhone 4s and I can go probably 3-4 DAYS without plugging in for a charge. Also makes impromptu GPS usage that much easier to handle.
Awesome post! Usability (and all that gets wrapped in a warm, cozy UX-blanket), aka: user needs always trumps the need or want for new technology.
Cheers!
If other phone makers can produce smartphones with user removable batteries I don’t see why Apple has to make battery replacement so difficult.
@Dan
My guess is they want you to buy a new iPhone by the time your old one’s battery starts to fail the way it was described in this post.
I recently replaced the battery in my 3GS as well and it’s working very well.
I think Whitney has a very loving and caring. Father , and feel very happy for her that there is some one there for her that continues to help make her life easier, I wonder if a small tablet would do a better job for her. But all aside it is great to see a father that is dedicated to his daughter. I’m sure there are some dads that might have put this off , thinking it to hard.
THUMBS DAD
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