There have been a lot of articles on a lot of websites about accessibility and the iPad since the specifications were first released. Now that our USA readers and bloggers have begun to get their hands on the devices there are even more articles being written, and I’m sure more will follow as the 3G enabled devices are released in the USA and both models become available in other countries starting on May 28th. As an assistive technology enthusiast and disabled blogger, it’s fantastic to see so much interest in the non-mainstream uses of these devices!
The iPad And Vision Impaired Users
The “Booked” blog from mainstream Forbes.com has written Apple’s iPad Brings Easy Reading to the Blind which may help explain to able-bodied people who so many blind users are excited about the iPad.
Mac-cessibility has written about the iPad’s use for those who will use its VoiceOver screen reader in a series of articles entitled “A First Look At The iPad”:
- A First Look At The iPad: Overview
- A First Look At The iPad: Mail
- A First Look At The iPad: Safari
- A First Look At The iPad: iBooks
AccessWorld, a publication of the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), has published a great article by Bradley Hodges about his first 24 Hours with the iPad.
The Mac-cessibility round table podcast special episode #5 discusses the iPad.
UNC’s Brian Payst, in the Stuff blog has written about the iPad for blind users, particularly thinking of students, in The iPad And Accessibility and The iPad And Accessibility, Round 2.
The RNIB in the UK published first impressions of the iPad’s accessibility (curiously, only available as a Word document) by a partially sighted user and a blind user.
The iPad and Deaf Users
The deafmac.org blog (which, by the way, has a new layout and a new editor) has published several posts about the iPad too:
- Thoughts on the iPad announcement, about why the iPad is both mind-blowing and disappointing for Deaf users.
- The iPad, Reviewed, by new editor Ryan Layton
The iPad And Mobility Impaired Users
Jane Vincent from Access On Main St (I think this is a cool blog name!) has written about the iPad as environmental control unit, and about possible problems with multi-fingure or multi-hand gestures in iPad Gives Users More Than One Finger.
The iPad And Communication Impaired Users
Kati, a frequent commenter here, has just pre-ordered her iPad. She plans to use The iPad As An Affordable AAC Solution for herself, as an adult with Ataxia.
Glenda from Do It Myself Blog has just bought herself an iPad while on a trip to America for a blogging conference. She reported:
My friend Hope was having trouble figuring out what I was saying and she asked, “Where’s your iPad?” In that moment, I felt a sense of normalcy and acceptance. Using an iPad, which could become as commonplace as the Blackberry and iPhone, is not yet another thing that makes me different. I wasn’t using a strange, unfamiliar device to communicate with this group. People were drawn to it because it was a ‘recognized’ or ‘known’ piece of technology rather than being standoff-ish with an unknown communication device.
How fantastic! You can read her excellent review here: The iPad as an Affordable Communicator: Initial Review.
Other iPad Information
Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox released their First Findings From iPad Usability User Testing. Their findings are preliminary but disappointing:
iPad apps are inconsistent and have low feature discoverability, with frequent user errors due to accidental gestures. An overly strong print metaphor and weird interaction styles cause further usability problems.
Hopefully iPad app developers will take these findings into account when developing future apps.
Glenn Fleischman at TIDBits reported that the iPad Camera Connection Kit’s USB adapter works with USB headphones and headsets. At almost the same time, TUAW noted that at least some USB keyboards work on the iPad via the USB adapter too, although keyboards only work after displaying an error message. Since neither of these functions are officially supported by Apple they may stop working with any iPad upgrade, but for the moment they seem to be fine.
If you’re willing to jailbreak your iPad (and thus void your warranty), you can also enable iPad voice commands and use a Magic Mouse with your iPad which have major accessibility implications. Unfortunately, Jailbreaking has been known to break devices in un-fixable ways though, so any of these things are definitely “at your own risk”.
iPad Assistive Technology Accessories
It’s also worth noting that as well as the huge range of general-audience cases, speakers, mounts, and stands for the iPad there are some specifically chosen for their accessibility potential. RJ Cooper has made available a great set of accessibility-friendly accessibilities for iPad users:
- iPad Stand suitable for desks, wheelchair trays, etc.
- Several iPad Wheelchair Mounting Solutions
- Super protective iPad Bumper Case
- Wireless iPad Speaker suitable for AAC users
Apple themselves have a keyboard dock available for the iPad and its keyboard has some keys that interact with the iPad specifically, as described in iLounge’s iPad Keyboard Dock Review, but there is no full keyboard control or anything near it but The Apple Blog has a complete list of known iPad hardware keyboard commands which work with the bluetooth keyboard and are better than nothing.
Other Commentary
Suzanne from Abled Body pointed out the lack of accessibility about the iPad’s keynote announcement and other accessibility deficiencies about the launch which really are inexcusable. If Apple’s going to be promoting accessibility of its devices then accessibility of its web pages really is important too.
Have you read, or written, other articles about the iPad and how it could be used for a person with a disability? Contact me or leave a comment and I’ll add your article to the list!
- Ricky Buchanan
socialmediasean May 11, 2010 at 4:08 pm
iPad can make your life better! Assistive Technology/Disability Round-Up http://ow.ly/1JrcV
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atmacjournal May 11, 2010 at 4:33 pm
New ATMac post: iPad Assistive Technology/Disability Round-Up http://bit.ly/9l6BEI
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rickybuchanan May 11, 2010 at 4:34 pm
RT @atmacjournal New ATMac post: iPad Assistive Technology/Disability Round-Up http://bit.ly/9l6BEI
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BreakingApple May 11, 2010 at 4:35 pm
iPad Assistive Technology/Disability Round-Up http://bit.ly/aD3Zal via http://topicfire.com/Apple
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BreakingiPad May 11, 2010 at 4:35 pm
iPad Assistive Technology/Disability Round-Up http://bit.ly/aD3Zal via http://topicfire.com/IPad
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TheFuzzyLobster May 11, 2010 at 4:36 pm
RT @rickybuchanan: RT @atmacjournal New ATMac post: iPad Assistive Technology/Disability Round-Up http://bit.ly/9l6BEI
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Kati May 11, 2010 at 4:44 pm
Cool, Thanks for adding my blog onto your site! I think also zoom feature be useful for people with some dexterity problems. for example if can manage the movement to zoom in then easier to click on a link that you have made bigger.
I’m thinking rather than using one finger one thumb and moving them away from each other shouldn’t that movement also work moving one hand away from the other? as long as skin is touching in two places and then one moving from the other?
Kati
Ricky Buchanan May 15, 2010 at 11:37 pm
@Kati: Yes, you can use two hands easily for the pinch gesture instead of two fingers. Also, only one of them actually needs to move I have noticed – if you hold one finger still and “pinch” the other towards or away from it that works fine.
I bet you are right about the zoom and dexterity too – I hadn’t thought of that! Thanks
jonvision May 11, 2010 at 5:31 pm
iPad Assistive Technology/Disability Round-Up | ATMac http://bit.ly/9OEXLi Apropå iPad
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skipz May 11, 2010 at 5:39 pm
iPad Assistive Technology/Disability Round-Up – http://snipurl.com/w507k [atmac_org]
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PerBusch May 11, 2010 at 6:47 pm
iPad Assistive Technology/Disability Round-Up – @ATMacJournal: http://bit.ly/9l6BEI by @RickyBuchanan
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NoroBiik May 11, 2010 at 6:55 pm
RT @BreakingApple: iPad Assistive Technology/Disability Round-Up http://bit.ly/aD3Zal via http://topicfire.com/Apple
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matthewATlaw May 11, 2010 at 10:57 pm
iPad Assistive Technology/Disability Round-Up – http://bit.ly/aWI4kk #iPad #disability #deaf #visuallyimpaired #specialneeds
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suzrobitaille May 12, 2010 at 12:27 am
RT @atmacjournal: New ATMac post: iPad Assistive Technology/Disability Round-Up http://bit.ly/9l6BEI
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amybraddock May 12, 2010 at 12:29 am
RT @atmacjournal: New ATMac post: iPad Assistive Technology/Disability Round-Up http://bit.ly/9l6BEI
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Suzanne Robitaille May 12, 2010 at 12:31 am
Hi Ricky,
Excellent roundup – thanks for putting this together. On my site I mentioned something that got left behind — Apple’s webpage for the iPad was SO inaccessible. No captions on Job’s keynote nor on the demo videos. There was also nothing on accessibility on Apple’s site for the iPad on launch day (Jan. 28 2010) – but now there is. I also touch on access features.
http://abledbody.com/2010/01/28/hey-apple-what-about-ipads-accessibility/
Ricky Buchanan May 15, 2010 at 11:38 pm
@Suzanne: Thanks for bringing your article to my attention, I’ll add that in.
ReadHowYouWant May 12, 2010 at 12:40 am
RT @atmacjournal: New ATMac post: iPad Assistive Technology/Disability Round-Up http://bit.ly/9l6BEI
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lemonshell May 12, 2010 at 12:49 am
iPad Assistive Technology / Disability Round-Up. Ricky has corraled some good links: http://ow.ly/1JC37
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nebraskaATP May 12, 2010 at 12:50 am
RT @atmacjournal: New ATMac post: iPad Assistive Technology/Disability Round-Up http://bit.ly/9l6BEI
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flowmag May 12, 2010 at 2:44 am
@MROBart RT @nebraskaATP: RT @atmacjournal: New ATMac post: iPad Assistive Technology/Disability Round-Up http://bit.ly/9l6BEI
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nyplheiskell May 12, 2010 at 4:00 am
A disabled blogger writes about the iPad’s accessibility for a variety of disabilities: http://tiny.cc/md30e
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bgilormini May 12, 2010 at 7:11 am
latest edition of AT Mac looking at iPad AT/Disability round up http://bit.ly/ayU1l8
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devorahf May 12, 2010 at 7:13 am
RT @bgilormini: latest edition of AT Mac looking at iPad AT/Disability round up http://bit.ly/ayU1l8
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Candace May 12, 2010 at 7:50 am
Hi Ricky,
We got our daugher, Faith’s Ipad almost two weeks ago. We got the 16 GB wifi with 3G. She is six and has CP and is nonverbal. We downloaded the Tap2Talk and Look2Learn for her, so far. She is IN LOVE! We just started AAC therapy to teach her how to use it. I have a few blog posts about it but not too much as we are still figuring it out! We are planning to do the Proloquo2Go when we save up for it. She has had so much fun with the simple children’s apps too…Fish School and Vocal Gold Zoo. We are in the process of making a template face to go over it to allow her to choose individual items without touching everything else. We are so excited! We have gotten a SquareTrade warranty to protect it….2 year coverage that covers everything except theft for $95.
.-= Candace’s last blog: Props…. =-.
rogeratpluk May 12, 2010 at 10:19 am
iPad Assistive Technology/Disability Round-Up | ATMac http://goo.gl/fb/TVbAu
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autismbuttons May 12, 2010 at 11:01 am
iPad Assistive Technology/Disability Round-Up http://tinyurl.com/2vkkeqv
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Greg Alchin May 12, 2010 at 8:55 pm
Hi Ricky
Thank you for another great article. I enjoy from a personal and a professional perspective your articles. I found another Ipad as an Environmental contro app. See iControl4 My Home App for iPad Overview
Url http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNcscnRQXJg&feature=related&fmt=22
carissathorp May 13, 2010 at 12:05 am
RT @rickybuchanan: RT @atmacjournal New ATMac post: iPad Assistive Technology/Disability Round-Up http://bit.ly/9l6BEI
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Aspieadvocate May 13, 2010 at 6:05 am
RT at autismbuttons iPad assistive technology/Disability Round-Up http://tinyurl.com/2vkkeqv
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LDConsultant May 13, 2010 at 6:25 am
Read this post article about Assistive Technology, Accessibility, and the iPad: http://tinyurl.com/2vkkeqv
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debugon May 13, 2010 at 2:58 pm
iPad Assistive Technology/Disability Round-Up | ATMac http://ff.im/-kfUc5
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toratorax May 13, 2010 at 3:18 pm
[Bookmarked] iPad Assistive Technology/Disability Round-Up | ATMac http://tinyurl.com/34yztn2
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YamaguchiToshi May 13, 2010 at 5:19 pm
「iPad Assistive Technology/Disability Round-Up | ATMac〠http://bit.ly/aQiXuJ
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narajin May 13, 2010 at 6:46 pm
RT @YamaguchiToshi: 「iPad Assistive Technology/Disability Round-Up | ATMac〠http://bit.ly/aQiXuJ
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
cinteractionlab May 13, 2010 at 7:13 pm
great resource on the “Mac-cessiblity” of the ipad #accessibility #ux http://bit.ly/cod3vX
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Karen May 13, 2010 at 9:34 pm
Hi Ricky
I saw some other articles on Twitter that I don’t see here.
http://www.unc.edu/~payst/?p=98 via @seanzdenek
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/ipad.html via @AmirDotan and @DaveBanesAccess
It’s nice we can park all the articles here.
Cheers!
.-= Karen’s last blog: Ada Lovelace and the Librarians =-.
INDATAproject May 13, 2010 at 10:34 pm
RT @YamaguchiToshi: 「iPad Assistive Technology/Disability Round-Up | ATMac〠http://bit.ly/aQiXuJ
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stcaccess May 14, 2010 at 12:00 am
Nice. @atmacjournal rounds up articles covering iPad & #accessibility http://bit.ly/9l6BEI #techcomm
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cdwatts May 14, 2010 at 7:10 am
RT @matthewATlaw: iPad Assistive Technology/Disability Round-Up http://bit.ly/aWI4kk #iPad #disability #deaf #visuallyimpaired #specialneeds
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jcbreed May 14, 2010 at 7:12 am
RT @cdwatts: RT @matthewATlaw: iPad Assistive Technology/Disability Round-Up http://bit.ly/aWI4kk #iPad #disability #deaf #visuallyimpai …
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rickybuchanan May 14, 2010 at 11:46 pm
Thank you to everybody for the retweets about the iPad Assistive Tech/Disability Round-up article! http://tinyurl.com/37vowgv
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atmacjournal May 14, 2010 at 11:48 pm
Thank you to everyone for the retweets about the iPad Assistive Tech/Disability Round-up article! http://tinyurl.com/37vowgv
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
atmacjournal May 16, 2010 at 7:30 pm
Just added several new articles to the iPad Assistive Tech/Disability Round-up http://tinyurl.com/37vowgv
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amybraddock May 16, 2010 at 10:15 pm
RT @atmacjournal: Just added several new articles to the iPad Assistive Tech/Disability Round-up http://tinyurl.com/37vowgv
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
rickybuchanan May 17, 2010 at 12:18 am
RT @atmacjournal Just added several new articles to the iPad Assistive Tech/Disability Round-up http://tinyurl.com/37vowgv
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
irasocol May 17, 2010 at 12:30 am
RT @rickybuchanan @atmacjournal Just added several new articles to the iPad Assistive Tech/Disability Round-up http://tinyurl.com/37vowgv
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
lmockford May 17, 2010 at 12:35 am
RT @irasocol @atmacjournal Just added several new articles to the iPad Assistive Tech/Disability Round-up http://tinyurl.com/37vowgv
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
hhl May 17, 2010 at 12:40 am
RT @rickybuchanan @atmacjournal several new articles 2 the iPad Assistive Tech/Disability Round-up http://tinyurl.com/37vowgv /via @irasocol
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josiefraser May 17, 2010 at 12:45 am
RT @irasocol RT @atmacjournal: iPad Assistive Tech/Disability Round-up http://tinyurl.com/37vowgv
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sarahebourne May 17, 2010 at 12:58 am
Collection of iPad accessibility assessments at @atmacjournal http://tinyurl.com/37vowgv via @josiefraser
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ipadsummary May 17, 2010 at 5:50 pm
iPad Assistive Technology/Disability Round-Up | ATMac http://bit.ly/a0qH1m #ipad #apple
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unikw May 17, 2010 at 8:05 pm
iPad Assistive Technology/Disability Round-Up | ATMac http://bit.ly/bImbS1
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EADraffan May 18, 2010 at 12:17 am
RT @unikw: iPad Assistive Technology/Disability Round-Up | ATMac http://bit.ly/bImbS1
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awmyhr May 20, 2010 at 9:43 am
@GeekyLyndsay http://atmac.org/ipad-assistive-technology-disability-round-up Donno if it’ll help, but that’s what I found…
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Independence1st May 27, 2010 at 6:44 am
iPad Assistive Technology/Disability Round-Up http://bit.ly/9CZG2F (yee haw – just came across this!)
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jfaias May 27, 2010 at 6:46 am
RT @Independence1st: iPad Assistive Technology/Disability Round-Up http://bit.ly/9CZG2F (yee haw – just came across this!)
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odenetwork May 27, 2010 at 7:09 am
RT @Independence1st: iPad Assistive Technology/Disability Round-Up http://bit.ly/9CZG2F (yee haw – just came across this!)
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iPodsibilities May 27, 2010 at 10:16 pm
Using the iPad as assistive technology is such a great idea! Good info at http://atmac.org/ipad-assistive-technology-disability-round-up
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alteredeye May 27, 2010 at 10:18 pm
RT @iPodsibilities: Using the iPad as assistive technology is such a great idea! Good info at http://bit.ly/9CZG2F #accessibility
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letterpress_se May 27, 2010 at 10:26 pm
RT @iPodsibilities: Using the iPad as assistive technology is such a great idea! Good info at http://bit.ly/9CZG2F (via @alteredeye)
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maccymacx May 27, 2010 at 11:40 pm
RT @alteredeye: RT @iPodsibilities: Using the iPad as assistive technology is such a great idea! Good info at http://bit.ly/9CZG2F #acce …
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Pooja_Nahata May 27, 2010 at 11:42 pm
Using the iPad as assistive technology is such a great idea! Good info at http://bit.ly/9CZG2F RT @iPodsibilities
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BendyGirl May 27, 2010 at 11:43 pm
RT @alteredeye: RT @iPodsibilities: Using the iPad as assistive technology is such a great idea! Good info at http://bit.ly/9CZG2F #acce …
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Mark_Hanson May 28, 2010 at 2:00 am
The iPad is more than just a gadget, as an assistive technology, it improves quality of life for those with disabilities. http://ow.ly/1QDlT
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ingeralti May 29, 2010 at 7:19 am
iPad Assistive Technology/Disability Round-Up http://tinyurl.com/37vowgv
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Lisa June 15, 2010 at 2:46 am
I’m trying to put together a case to get funding for an iPad as an accessible alternative to books (various physical problems which make sitting and holding a book difficult, hearing problems making audiobooks difficult, etc) for my postgrad course.
I’ve read that you *can* turn books from other sources into iBooks format (including books from bookshare) but I’m having real trouble finding info on *how* to turn books into epub. The woman I need to make my case to is quite determined to be as unsupportive as possible, in addition to not being over gifted with intelligence so I really need to spell out for her why the iPad would work and *how* I’d go about getting my textbooks on my iPad (because she’d also need to agree to fund the hours for people to scan the books).
Actually, I found a link somewhere on here to a post on Lioncourt which named a program which will convert other things to epub on a Mac: I have a PC. Have you seen anything around that converts to epub for PC?
todd Waern August 14, 2011 at 11:03 am
Calibre. Is on program fr the pc that can create ePub files
jay schumacher September 3, 2010 at 8:22 am
hi,
i suggest there be put a ‘forward’ or ‘send to’ feature so your websites can be easily sent to others. a simple click would allow something to be sent.
jay
.-= jay schumacher’s last blog: Apple announcements For September 1- 2010 =-.
Ricky Buchanan September 24, 2010 at 7:39 pm
@Jay: Thanks for the suggestion, “forward to a friend” is actually on my list of changes to make when I have the time!
moses September 12, 2010 at 2:50 pm
ipad is one of the great innovations by apple i really love it