This is an update of an editorial published almost 2 years ago.

Dr. Z did some research and looking back on technological developments the past 100 years, he has identified 3 things that hearing people have the deaf and hard of hearing people to thank for.

The first is the telephone-which supposedly came about while Alexander Graham Bell was working on an hearing aid for his deaf wife, Mabel. Out of that work, he came up with the telephone, which the deaf people didn’t have full benefit until almost 75 years later with the development of the TTY modem by Robert Weitbrecht.

The second thing is closed captioning. When the concept was first brought to the public in the 1970’s, the hearing community found it distracting and they went back to the drawing boards and made captioning “closed” instead of “open”. Today, we see captioning in bars and gyms and well-used by hearing people. Without captioning, they would be “deaf” in those environments to enjoy TV. Now, in 2012, we are beginning to see more captioning on the Internet. The FCC has ruled that any TV shows previously shown on TV must be captioned if they are to be shown on the Internet.

The deaf people were quick to pick up video communication when it was first commercialized in 1999. For the past 11 years, the hearing community used video only in business environments to cut down on travel costs, and they did not think it would be useful in the consumer community–preferring voice communication instead. Look at video communication today, it is becoming almost mainstream. With tablets and smartphones coming out every now and then—they all are coming out with FRONT-FACING cameras. That was not the case a few years ago. More and more people are using software-based apps such as the Z4 and soon to come Z5 to enable video communication.

The bottom line–with a diverse community worldwide–each segment of the community has values and developments that benefit the rest of the community–this is true with those 3 developments Dr. Z just mentioned. That is cross-pollination for everyone!

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclosure: Dr. Z (Philip W. Bravin) is associated with CSDVRS, currently its Vice-President of Business Development

Now that summer vacation time is around–you all are most likely aware from home and not tugging along your hard-wired VP with you when you are on the road.

What is the alternative? Your mobile device (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android) with the Z4 software loaded onto them is a great solution. Some of you may be taking your laptops–you can have Z4 loaded onto those as well!

For those devices with wifi, you are limited to using them when you are near a wifi hotspot such as a hotel or restaurant.

For those of you with a mobile device with 4G capabilities, you can use video while the car is moving as a PASSENGER-not as the DRIVER. Dr. Z has conducted meetings using his mobile phone in a car as a passenger using 4G! Be mindful–most 4G have data plans that have a 2GB cap–which is about 2-3 hours of mobile video communication per MONTH.

Dr. Z has found that 4G with a good signal to be more reliable than wifi due to the steadiness of the signal.

Enjoy mobile video!!

How to use wifi with Z? Download Z4 for PC and Mac, iOS (Apple) and Android (click the links.)

Look for the NEW Z Mobile for iOS and Z Desktop for PC and Mac in a few weeks!

Happy traveling from Dr. Z!

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclosure: Dr. Z (Philip W. Bravin) is associated with CSDVRS, currently its Vice-President of Business Development and Outreach.

This is an update of Editorial #106 on the subject of wifi in public places. In the span of a few months some things have changed and Dr. Z wants to bring you up to date on using wifi or 4G in public places.

The good news is that we have an alternative to wifi which works well with video–it is 4G or 4G LTE (“4G”). If you see “4G” on your phone, it will do video better than “3G”. In some situations, 4G will work better than wifi. This was not true several months ago. 4G is not everywhere, but the phone companies are continuing to add 4G all over the country–we will see many more areas with 4G later this year.

The only issue with 4G is that video communication uses a lot of data and it can go against your monthly 2GB cap or whatever your cap is. With wifi, there’s no cap.

Hotels: they have started to become a bit better. Some offer a separate tier (higher price) for video connections. Hotel lobby and conference rooms sometimes are better than rooms because the signal is stronger in those areas. Some rooms are near the end of buildings which offer weak signals.

Airports: About the same. Use of Boingo, a paid service is reliable. Some airports offer free wifi, but not all can handle video

Airplanes: Dr. Z has used Southwest and Delta wifi in planes. Both do not offer video and even with regular web browsing its SLOW!

Barnes and Noble: Not reliable for video, some locations better than others.

Starbucks: Fairly reliable for video, some locations better than others.

Dunkin Donuts, Panera Bread: Not used there enough to give you an opinion.

How to use wifi with Z? Download Z4 for PC and Mac, iOS (Apple) and Android (click the links.)

Look for the NEW Z Mobile for iOS and Z Desktop for PC and Mac in a few weeks!

Happy traveling from Dr. Z!

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclosure: Dr. Z (Philip W. Bravin) is associated with CSDVRS, currently its Vice-President of Business Development and Outreach.