From: mkow1234_at_aol.com
Date: Tue Jul 12 2005 - 05:58:52 PDT
Hello Ed,
Last summer, I broke my left wrist in three places (mountain bike). It was not my primary hand for writing, but it still hampered my use of computers. I continued to use my laptop, Newtons, and PDA. I TRIED to keep playing my guitar, but THAT did not go over so well. Probably the hardest trick was opening my old IBM laptop lid/cover with one hand. I switched from writing notes to using the audio notes feature on the Newton. I recorded memos, grocery reminders, research notes, waterfalls in the Smoky Mountains, etc. I TRIED to fish, but handling a reel was "reely hard" to do.
A few thoughts:
Your dexterity with your left hand will improve over time. Keep practicing your writing, and consider using the virtual keyboard function on the Newton. Tappa tappa tappa...
I can see a potential problem in reading eBooks on the Newton without use of the right hand, since the arrow buttons for turning pages are way down on the lower right-hand side of the screen. I THINK there is an app somewhere (somebody chime in here) that allows the Newton's on-off switch to activate the page-turning function. There was also an app that supposedly could allow sound to trigger the page-turning function. I never got that to work properly...
Some PDAs have a neat double button on the upper left side, that allows one to eithr thumb scroll through pages or enter voice memos. Maybe something like that could help to fill in the gaps a bit.
Once you get the cast off and start doing physical therapy, check out a product called "PowerBall". It is slightly smaller than a baseball and has a weighted gyroscope built into it. You start it by pulling a drawstring and then keep it spinning by rotating your wrist. This baby will really give your wrist, forearm, and shoulder a workout, as you spin it faster and faster! You can really feel the weighted gyroscope pulling as you rotate your wrist. I bought the fancier upgraded model that tracks your RPM progress and lights up with little pietzoelectric(sp?) lights. I think it was around $54 USD. The company that makes it is in Scotland, but they have a web site.
Matt K.
Detroit, Michigan, USA
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