1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to text Time, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:15,520 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tex Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:15,680 --> 00:00:19,200 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio, 4 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:23,160 Speaker 1: and I love all things tech and it is a 5 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:27,280 Speaker 1: story time you guys. Now, those of you who follow 6 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:32,839 Speaker 1: my personal account over on Twitter, which is at John Strickland, 7 00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:39,200 Speaker 1: it's j O. N. Strickland. If you're morbidly curious. Those 8 00:00:39,240 --> 00:00:41,320 Speaker 1: of you who do follow me, you might know that 9 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:47,120 Speaker 1: I was eagerly anticipating the delivery of a Squire Classic 10 00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:52,319 Speaker 1: Sixties Vibe Stratocaster, an electric guitar. And you know, I've 11 00:00:52,360 --> 00:00:55,200 Speaker 1: done episodes about electric guitars, I've talked about them a lot, 12 00:00:55,840 --> 00:00:59,000 Speaker 1: and I thought, I really want one of these. It 13 00:00:59,040 --> 00:01:01,240 Speaker 1: would be really nice to have one. This would have 14 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:05,199 Speaker 1: been my first six string electric guitar. And I figured, 15 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:07,720 Speaker 1: since you know, I'm working from home now, it would 16 00:01:07,720 --> 00:01:10,600 Speaker 1: be good to pick up a new skill to keep 17 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:13,640 Speaker 1: my mind sharp and occupied, and you know, to help 18 00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:16,679 Speaker 1: me get into a sort of meditative state to help 19 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:20,840 Speaker 1: manage anxiety. By the way, um, anxiety is a real 20 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:24,440 Speaker 1: pain in the butt, and I recommend anyone who has 21 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:27,360 Speaker 1: anxiety to look into ways to manage it in a 22 00:01:27,440 --> 00:01:30,399 Speaker 1: really healthy manner, because that stuff is no joke, and 23 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:33,960 Speaker 1: it's obviously getting more challenging to deal with that. Anyway, 24 00:01:33,959 --> 00:01:37,520 Speaker 1: back to my story, I had been thinking about getting 25 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:40,800 Speaker 1: a guitar, and I wanted it to be a decent guitar, 26 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:43,479 Speaker 1: you know, something I would actually want to pick up 27 00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:47,360 Speaker 1: and play. I didn't want to buy something super cheap 28 00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:49,600 Speaker 1: and then find out I didn't like the feel of 29 00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:53,320 Speaker 1: it or how it sounded, because that would discourage me 30 00:01:53,400 --> 00:01:55,840 Speaker 1: from playing it. I would just set it down and 31 00:01:55,880 --> 00:01:57,920 Speaker 1: never pick it up again. But on the other hand, 32 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:00,960 Speaker 1: I also didn't want to go crazy and buy some 33 00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:04,200 Speaker 1: sort of, you know, super expensive guitar, because guitars can 34 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:07,360 Speaker 1: get real expensive, y'all. I mean, what if I didn't 35 00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:10,160 Speaker 1: like playing guitar just because I didn't like it? Right? 36 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:13,040 Speaker 1: What if I decided that I didn't enjoy playing. I 37 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:16,840 Speaker 1: am forty five years old this year, and skills just 38 00:02:16,919 --> 00:02:19,120 Speaker 1: don't come to me as quickly as they used to. 39 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:24,440 Speaker 1: So it's entirely possible that I could become frustrated or 40 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:27,560 Speaker 1: I could become bored, even with a really nice guitar, 41 00:02:28,160 --> 00:02:31,920 Speaker 1: and then just set it down and let it collect dust. 42 00:02:32,520 --> 00:02:34,720 Speaker 1: So I would have wasted a lot of money on 43 00:02:34,760 --> 00:02:38,520 Speaker 1: a really expensive decoration at that point, and that would 44 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:42,359 Speaker 1: be really irresponsible even in a good economic climate, let 45 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:45,920 Speaker 1: alone one as uncertain as the one we find ourselves 46 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:49,600 Speaker 1: in today. So I did what I do. I did 47 00:02:49,639 --> 00:02:54,560 Speaker 1: a lot of research, like a lot of research. My 48 00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:57,760 Speaker 1: wife was getting amused by how frequently I was watching 49 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:03,760 Speaker 1: videos about different guitars and different price ranges, weighing them, saying, well, yeah, 50 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:06,800 Speaker 1: this is gonna be a slightly less expensive guitar, which 51 00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:09,800 Speaker 1: means it's going to have these sort of things that 52 00:03:09,880 --> 00:03:12,760 Speaker 1: I'll have to consider. But but on the other hand, 53 00:03:12,880 --> 00:03:15,120 Speaker 1: it's better than this other guitar, you know. I went 54 00:03:15,160 --> 00:03:19,280 Speaker 1: through all of that. Ultimately I decided I wanted a 55 00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:23,519 Speaker 1: strato caster, a classic electric guitar. The strato caster is 56 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:27,280 Speaker 1: made by Fender, and I really like the sound of 57 00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:30,919 Speaker 1: strato casters now. I love stuff like surf rock, and 58 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:34,160 Speaker 1: Dick Dale, one of the most famous surf rock guitarists, 59 00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:38,000 Speaker 1: played a strat But I also wanted to be financially 60 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:42,000 Speaker 1: responsible because there are a lot of different strato casters 61 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:45,760 Speaker 1: out there, and generally they mostly share a couple of 62 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:51,640 Speaker 1: common traits. Most strato casters have three single coil pickups, 63 00:03:51,720 --> 00:03:54,760 Speaker 1: and the pickups are the components that pick up the 64 00:03:54,880 --> 00:03:58,320 Speaker 1: vibration of the strings and then convert that into electric 65 00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:01,640 Speaker 1: signals that can then feed out to an amplifier and speakers. 66 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:05,840 Speaker 1: Strats have three of these, typically one near the base 67 00:04:06,040 --> 00:04:08,760 Speaker 1: of the neck of the guitar the neck pickup, one 68 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:11,200 Speaker 1: in the middle of the body of the guitar, and 69 00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:15,160 Speaker 1: one towards the bridge of the guitar. A switch on 70 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:19,200 Speaker 1: the strat lets you select which pickup or which pair 71 00:04:19,279 --> 00:04:21,920 Speaker 1: of pickups are active at any given time, and that 72 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:24,360 Speaker 1: changes the sound you get out of the guitar when 73 00:04:24,360 --> 00:04:29,840 Speaker 1: it plays through an amplifier. But beyond these general similarities, 74 00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:33,279 Speaker 1: there are a ton of different options. You can buy 75 00:04:33,279 --> 00:04:37,440 Speaker 1: a starter entry level strat for less than two hundred dollars, 76 00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:40,320 Speaker 1: or you could go bunkers and buy a mod shop 77 00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:44,080 Speaker 1: guitar for around eight hundred dollars. So yeah, there is 78 00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:47,040 Speaker 1: a range, and of course if you went full custom 79 00:04:47,080 --> 00:04:51,359 Speaker 1: shop it could be way more expensive. So I looked 80 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:54,520 Speaker 1: into the Squire line of guitars. Now this is Fender's 81 00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:58,280 Speaker 1: budget line, but they tend to measure up pretty well 82 00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:03,800 Speaker 1: to guitars from the more prestigious official Fender line, particularly 83 00:05:04,160 --> 00:05:07,479 Speaker 1: in the Squire Classic Vibe series, which are guitars they 84 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:09,479 Speaker 1: are designed to be closer to the style of the 85 00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:13,599 Speaker 1: classic electric guitars of the fifties and sixties. Now, I'm 86 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:17,279 Speaker 1: left handed, and that's really what I'm going to get 87 00:05:17,320 --> 00:05:21,280 Speaker 1: into in this episode, because being left handed means there 88 00:05:21,279 --> 00:05:24,680 Speaker 1: are a lot of little struggles in your life. Most 89 00:05:24,720 --> 00:05:28,599 Speaker 1: of the time, they aren't particularly meaningful or noteworthy. They 90 00:05:28,640 --> 00:05:32,919 Speaker 1: tend to mostly be slightly frustrating at worst, and that's 91 00:05:33,080 --> 00:05:35,919 Speaker 1: about it most of the time. So I want to 92 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:38,679 Speaker 1: stress from the beginning of this episode that the stuff 93 00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:42,039 Speaker 1: I'm going to talk about is really not that big 94 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:44,640 Speaker 1: a deal in the grand scheme of things most of 95 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:48,080 Speaker 1: the time. But being left handed often means that when 96 00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:51,719 Speaker 1: it comes to purchasing stuff where handedness is a factor, 97 00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:56,159 Speaker 1: like guitars, you're faced with fewer options than you're right 98 00:05:56,200 --> 00:05:59,919 Speaker 1: handed counterparts. For example, if you were to go to 99 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:03,839 Speaker 1: Fenders website the morning that I wrote this, and you 100 00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:07,320 Speaker 1: were to look at the different options for electric guitars 101 00:06:07,320 --> 00:06:10,280 Speaker 1: that they had in stock, you would see at that 102 00:06:10,360 --> 00:06:14,159 Speaker 1: time that the company had one hundred eleven guitars for 103 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:20,120 Speaker 1: right handers in stock for left handers eight eight versus 104 00:06:20,240 --> 00:06:25,840 Speaker 1: one hundred eleven. Now, typically a left hander has fewer options, 105 00:06:25,880 --> 00:06:30,120 Speaker 1: and then fewer choices within those options, choices like the 106 00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:33,960 Speaker 1: color of the guitar, for example. So while I could 107 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:38,719 Speaker 1: have loved a Candy Apple red left handed Squire Classic 108 00:06:38,760 --> 00:06:43,080 Speaker 1: Sixties Vibes stratocaster, that was not an option. Nor could 109 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:46,760 Speaker 1: I get the lovely Lake Placid blue option that right 110 00:06:46,839 --> 00:06:51,039 Speaker 1: handers could get. Those right handed versions had Candy Apple 111 00:06:51,080 --> 00:06:53,880 Speaker 1: red and Lake Placid blue, but for left handers you 112 00:06:53,920 --> 00:06:58,080 Speaker 1: didn't have a choice. There was only one color option, sunburst, 113 00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:02,640 Speaker 1: which sadly is my least favorite of the three colors. 114 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:05,520 Speaker 1: But hey, them's the brakes. And while I wasn't in 115 00:07:05,600 --> 00:07:07,800 Speaker 1: love with the color, I could live with it. And 116 00:07:07,839 --> 00:07:10,360 Speaker 1: I did love all the things I read about the 117 00:07:10,480 --> 00:07:14,160 Speaker 1: line of guitars, so I didn't really let that bother 118 00:07:14,280 --> 00:07:18,440 Speaker 1: me so much. And before anyone pipes up about restringing 119 00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:21,440 Speaker 1: a guitar so that you can convert a right handed 120 00:07:21,440 --> 00:07:25,760 Speaker 1: guitar into a left handed guitar, yeah, I could technically 121 00:07:25,760 --> 00:07:29,080 Speaker 1: have purchased a right handed Candy Apple red model, taking 122 00:07:29,120 --> 00:07:32,160 Speaker 1: the strings off, taking the nut off, the top of 123 00:07:32,160 --> 00:07:37,000 Speaker 1: the neck, flip the nut around, reinserted it, then restrung 124 00:07:37,080 --> 00:07:39,080 Speaker 1: the guitar so that it was a left handed guitar. 125 00:07:39,120 --> 00:07:41,040 Speaker 1: But that would also mean that all the controls for 126 00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:44,240 Speaker 1: the guitar, like the volume and tone knobs and the 127 00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:48,000 Speaker 1: tremolo or whammy bar would have been on the wrong side, 128 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:50,040 Speaker 1: and I would have to figure out how to deal 129 00:07:50,080 --> 00:07:53,400 Speaker 1: with that in order to play it properly. So I 130 00:07:53,480 --> 00:07:55,960 Speaker 1: wasn't really keen on trying to make a product that 131 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:58,840 Speaker 1: had been made for a right hander work for a 132 00:07:58,920 --> 00:08:02,560 Speaker 1: left hander. I had a few gift cards for Amazon, 133 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:05,680 Speaker 1: not a sponsor, and that sealed the deal for me. 134 00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:08,600 Speaker 1: I said, I'm gonna use these gift cards toward buying 135 00:08:08,640 --> 00:08:11,320 Speaker 1: a guitar. I would buy a Squire Strato caster for 136 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:15,240 Speaker 1: four hundred dollars, which is not an insignificant sum of money, 137 00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:19,600 Speaker 1: particularly if you're trying to stay economically responsible during a 138 00:08:19,600 --> 00:08:22,680 Speaker 1: time of uncertainty. But with the gift cards, that would 139 00:08:22,760 --> 00:08:25,680 Speaker 1: bring the price down to about half price, and I 140 00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:28,480 Speaker 1: figured I would splurge on myself as sort of a 141 00:08:28,600 --> 00:08:32,000 Speaker 1: late birthday present. I figured, if nothing else, I could 142 00:08:32,040 --> 00:08:35,960 Speaker 1: consider it an investment in my mental health. I placed 143 00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:39,160 Speaker 1: my order on a Saturday, and I was predicted to 144 00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:44,000 Speaker 1: receive the guitar on the following Friday, so a week later. Now, 145 00:08:44,040 --> 00:08:45,800 Speaker 1: over the course of that week, I grew a bit 146 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:48,480 Speaker 1: anxious because when I would check on the order status, 147 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:52,480 Speaker 1: it hadn't changed. It had registered order, but it never 148 00:08:52,559 --> 00:08:56,600 Speaker 1: moved to shipping, let alone out for delivery. And then 149 00:08:56,960 --> 00:09:00,600 Speaker 1: on that Friday that I was to receive it, July fourth, 150 00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:04,720 Speaker 1: twenty that was the morning that I wrote this, I 151 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:08,480 Speaker 1: finally got an email that said my order had been 152 00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:13,800 Speaker 1: canceled due to quote lack of availability end quote. Now, 153 00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:16,680 Speaker 1: Amazon's system had said that there was only one of 154 00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:20,480 Speaker 1: these guitars and stock, but apparently they just couldn't locate it, 155 00:09:20,760 --> 00:09:25,920 Speaker 1: and so I did not get my guitar, though I 156 00:09:25,960 --> 00:09:29,000 Speaker 1: did receive the accessories I had ordered. So now I've 157 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:32,280 Speaker 1: got a guitar stand and a guitar strap, but no 158 00:09:32,440 --> 00:09:37,400 Speaker 1: guitar to go with it. Sad trombone. Now, I don't 159 00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:40,600 Speaker 1: tell this story just because I'm bummed out and I 160 00:09:40,640 --> 00:09:43,680 Speaker 1: want to grouse about it, though I admit that's definitely 161 00:09:43,760 --> 00:09:46,760 Speaker 1: part of it. I want to talk about the problems 162 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:50,240 Speaker 1: that left handers face when it comes to certain technologies, 163 00:09:50,400 --> 00:09:54,160 Speaker 1: and how those relatively minor problems can open the door 164 00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:58,319 Speaker 1: to the realization and acknowledgement that other people face much 165 00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:02,400 Speaker 1: more serious challenges when it comes to tech and bias 166 00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:05,840 Speaker 1: and accessibility. And before I get into it too much, 167 00:10:06,120 --> 00:10:10,079 Speaker 1: let's talk about why I'm not upset at Fender Guitars 168 00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:14,000 Speaker 1: for this in general, I'm not even really upset at Amazon. 169 00:10:14,440 --> 00:10:17,720 Speaker 1: I mean, when it comes down to one unit in 170 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:21,040 Speaker 1: all of Amazon, I imagine it's not that uncommon for 171 00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:24,800 Speaker 1: something to appear in an online inventory, and yet you 172 00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:28,679 Speaker 1: can actually track down the physical thing when someone places 173 00:10:28,679 --> 00:10:31,120 Speaker 1: in order. You just can't figure out where it is 174 00:10:31,120 --> 00:10:33,600 Speaker 1: in a warehouse somewhere. That's got to happen, you know, 175 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:39,640 Speaker 1: fairly frequently. The prevailing wisdom is that left handers make 176 00:10:39,720 --> 00:10:44,120 Speaker 1: up about ten of the total population. Now that number 177 00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:47,800 Speaker 1: is sometimes disputed. Some argue there are way more lefties 178 00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:51,400 Speaker 1: than that, but the general consensus is that nine out 179 00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:54,679 Speaker 1: of ten people are right handed. So if you are 180 00:10:54,720 --> 00:10:59,319 Speaker 1: making products where handedness matters, it makes far more sense 181 00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:02,199 Speaker 1: to dedicate your or focus on the right handers. They 182 00:11:02,240 --> 00:11:05,520 Speaker 1: make up the bulk of the population, they represent your 183 00:11:05,640 --> 00:11:10,200 Speaker 1: primary customers, and that will guide many of your other decisions. 184 00:11:10,440 --> 00:11:14,720 Speaker 1: For example, if what you're making requires mass production, you 185 00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:18,680 Speaker 1: have to create an assembly process, and that assembly process 186 00:11:18,760 --> 00:11:23,480 Speaker 1: needs to be as efficient as possible. Efficiency relates to cost, 187 00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:26,480 Speaker 1: so the more efficient you are able to make the 188 00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:30,319 Speaker 1: production process, the less it costs to make the thing 189 00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:33,000 Speaker 1: you're making, and that means you can be competitive in 190 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:35,360 Speaker 1: your pricing. When you put your product up on the 191 00:11:35,360 --> 00:11:39,160 Speaker 1: market against products from other companies. You need to charge 192 00:11:39,480 --> 00:11:41,880 Speaker 1: more than it costs to make so that you can 193 00:11:41,920 --> 00:11:44,040 Speaker 1: make a profit. You don't want to sell things at 194 00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:47,920 Speaker 1: a loss typically, but you can also be competitive against 195 00:11:47,960 --> 00:11:50,200 Speaker 1: those other companies that are also making whatever it is 196 00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:53,320 Speaker 1: you're making. But this means your assembly process needs to 197 00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:57,800 Speaker 1: be fine tuned toward that product. You can imagine that 198 00:11:57,880 --> 00:12:01,280 Speaker 1: there is an ideal version of whatever it is you're making. 199 00:12:01,559 --> 00:12:03,600 Speaker 1: This is the model you're working off of. This is 200 00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:07,520 Speaker 1: what you're trying to replicate every single time. So your 201 00:12:07,559 --> 00:12:10,720 Speaker 1: goal is to produce stuff like guitars that match that 202 00:12:10,800 --> 00:12:14,880 Speaker 1: model as much as possible. And with guitars made from wood, 203 00:12:14,920 --> 00:12:18,080 Speaker 1: this is actually impossible. You're never going to have two 204 00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:21,480 Speaker 1: guitars come out exactly the same because there's going to 205 00:12:21,520 --> 00:12:25,200 Speaker 1: be variations in the wood. You'll be able to see 206 00:12:25,320 --> 00:12:29,160 Speaker 1: and maybe even feel minor differences from guitar to guitar, 207 00:12:29,320 --> 00:12:33,000 Speaker 1: even in the same line, even produced on the same day. 208 00:12:33,040 --> 00:12:36,199 Speaker 1: But the goal is to get each guitar as close 209 00:12:36,240 --> 00:12:39,720 Speaker 1: to this standard as you possibly can, and that means 210 00:12:39,760 --> 00:12:43,840 Speaker 1: that the whole process needs to be precise, consistent, and 211 00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:48,040 Speaker 1: easy to replicate. So the process works great as long 212 00:12:48,080 --> 00:12:52,120 Speaker 1: as you're producing the same thing over and over. You'll 213 00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:56,320 Speaker 1: get small variations, but in general you'll chug along and 214 00:12:56,400 --> 00:13:00,000 Speaker 1: you'll build however many guitars as your facility can manage 215 00:13:00,200 --> 00:13:03,440 Speaker 1: given the process of materials, as long as all these 216 00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:07,600 Speaker 1: guitars require that same process. And that's where the left 217 00:13:07,640 --> 00:13:11,520 Speaker 1: handed problem comes in. To make a left handed guitar, 218 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:14,920 Speaker 1: you need to flip everything a hundred eighty degrees. The 219 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:19,520 Speaker 1: string order is reversed, the headstock has to be flipped, 220 00:13:19,559 --> 00:13:22,480 Speaker 1: the tuners will have to be on the opposite side 221 00:13:22,520 --> 00:13:26,520 Speaker 1: of a right handed guitar. The controls like volume and tone, 222 00:13:26,600 --> 00:13:29,040 Speaker 1: and the tremolo or wamy bar have to be on 223 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:33,000 Speaker 1: the opposite side. The pickguard has to be flipped. You 224 00:13:33,040 --> 00:13:35,520 Speaker 1: get the idea. The real problem is you can't just 225 00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:38,360 Speaker 1: flip a switch on the assembly line to go from 226 00:13:38,480 --> 00:13:41,720 Speaker 1: right handed to left handed and have the whole process 227 00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:45,520 Speaker 1: PLoP out ten left handed guitars for every one right 228 00:13:45,559 --> 00:13:49,800 Speaker 1: handed guitars. It doesn't work that way. Instead, you either 229 00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:54,199 Speaker 1: need a parallel assembly line just for left handed guitars, 230 00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:56,880 Speaker 1: but that doesn't make much sense because you're never going 231 00:13:56,920 --> 00:14:00,679 Speaker 1: to need to produce as many left handed guitars, or 232 00:14:00,920 --> 00:14:04,920 Speaker 1: you have to retool your normal assembly process in order 233 00:14:04,920 --> 00:14:09,840 Speaker 1: to occasionally produce some left handed models. Either way, producing 234 00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:13,440 Speaker 1: a left handed guitar isn't as efficient as producing a 235 00:14:13,520 --> 00:14:17,320 Speaker 1: right handed one, and that means it costs more to make. 236 00:14:17,840 --> 00:14:20,800 Speaker 1: Now you could charge more for a left handed guitar, 237 00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:24,720 Speaker 1: and some companies do, or you could resign yourself to 238 00:14:24,760 --> 00:14:27,240 Speaker 1: the fact that you just won't make as much money 239 00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:30,520 Speaker 1: selling a left handed guitar as you would selling a 240 00:14:30,640 --> 00:14:34,760 Speaker 1: right handed guitar. Either way, you're not likely to make 241 00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:39,200 Speaker 1: that many left handed guitars, and it's important that you 242 00:14:39,240 --> 00:14:43,960 Speaker 1: know I am not criticizing that decision. It makes no 243 00:14:44,120 --> 00:14:47,880 Speaker 1: economic sense to produce left handed anything's in the same 244 00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:51,120 Speaker 1: amount as right handed ones. You would never sell them 245 00:14:51,160 --> 00:14:53,600 Speaker 1: all because there's just not enough left handers to make 246 00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:57,080 Speaker 1: up the market. The same is true for all the 247 00:14:57,120 --> 00:15:01,400 Speaker 1: different options you find with products like guitars. Sure you 248 00:15:01,480 --> 00:15:04,840 Speaker 1: could spend the time and effort necessary to provide the 249 00:15:04,920 --> 00:15:08,480 Speaker 1: exact same options to lefties as you do to right ease, 250 00:15:08,880 --> 00:15:10,600 Speaker 1: but there's a good chance you would end up with 251 00:15:10,600 --> 00:15:14,800 Speaker 1: a lot of unsold stock. You might eventually move that 252 00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:18,920 Speaker 1: unsold stock by selling products at a huge discount, but 253 00:15:19,040 --> 00:15:22,800 Speaker 1: by then you could be looking at maybe breaking even 254 00:15:22,920 --> 00:15:25,680 Speaker 1: or perhaps even selling them at a loss. It makes 255 00:15:25,680 --> 00:15:28,280 Speaker 1: way more sense to just never make the ding dang 256 00:15:28,360 --> 00:15:31,880 Speaker 1: durned things in the first place. So this means that 257 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:35,400 Speaker 1: left handers often have to make some compromises when it 258 00:15:35,440 --> 00:15:38,640 Speaker 1: comes to technology. Either we have to make do with 259 00:15:38,800 --> 00:15:41,720 Speaker 1: things that were made for right handers and find a 260 00:15:41,720 --> 00:15:44,200 Speaker 1: way to make it work, or we are left with 261 00:15:44,240 --> 00:15:47,600 Speaker 1: a limited number of options that pales in comparison to 262 00:15:47,680 --> 00:15:50,760 Speaker 1: what is available for right handers. When we come back, 263 00:15:51,040 --> 00:15:54,800 Speaker 1: we'll talk about how the more sinister among us have 264 00:15:54,960 --> 00:16:06,560 Speaker 1: to navigate technology, But first let's take a quick break. Now, 265 00:16:06,720 --> 00:16:09,440 Speaker 1: I'm not going to go into the history of how 266 00:16:09,480 --> 00:16:13,880 Speaker 1: being left handed is or was a taboo in many 267 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:17,680 Speaker 1: cultures that gets outside the realm of tech stuff, but 268 00:16:17,760 --> 00:16:20,600 Speaker 1: it mostly comes down to how groups of people are 269 00:16:20,640 --> 00:16:24,800 Speaker 1: pretty good at identifying individuals who do not fit the norm, 270 00:16:24,880 --> 00:16:27,680 Speaker 1: and then they attempt to find ways to explain why 271 00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:31,280 Speaker 1: that person is different, and those ways often can end 272 00:16:31,360 --> 00:16:35,760 Speaker 1: up being negative. Going into left handed technology is interesting 273 00:16:36,040 --> 00:16:39,520 Speaker 1: because in some cultures the typical approach to dealing with 274 00:16:39,640 --> 00:16:43,440 Speaker 1: left handers was to force them to perform tasks as 275 00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:46,760 Speaker 1: a right hander. Forcing people to write with their right 276 00:16:46,800 --> 00:16:49,120 Speaker 1: hand even if they were left handed. You hear the 277 00:16:49,200 --> 00:16:52,760 Speaker 1: story all the time, and this is not always easy 278 00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:56,440 Speaker 1: for left handers. I mean, assuming you're not ambidexterous, I 279 00:16:56,440 --> 00:16:59,360 Speaker 1: imagine there are things that you would find fairly simple 280 00:16:59,400 --> 00:17:03,640 Speaker 1: to do with your dominant hand that become frustratingly difficult 281 00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:07,280 Speaker 1: to do with your non dominant hand. I figured we'd 282 00:17:07,320 --> 00:17:11,040 Speaker 1: start with a technology that I found quite vexing in 283 00:17:11,080 --> 00:17:16,600 Speaker 1: my youth, a very simple technology, scissors. Let's talk about 284 00:17:16,640 --> 00:17:20,920 Speaker 1: how scissors work. So scissors are a type of compound machine, 285 00:17:21,200 --> 00:17:24,280 Speaker 1: and a compound machine is one that makes use of 286 00:17:24,600 --> 00:17:29,600 Speaker 1: two or more simple machines. The six simple machines. The 287 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:33,600 Speaker 1: classic simple machines are the wheel and axle, the lever, 288 00:17:34,200 --> 00:17:40,320 Speaker 1: the inclined plane, the pulley, the screw, and the wedge. Now, interestingly, 289 00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:44,840 Speaker 1: the pully, screw, and wedge are all extensions of the 290 00:17:44,960 --> 00:17:49,480 Speaker 1: first three machines, and simple machines are intended to change 291 00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:53,840 Speaker 1: the magnitude of a force or the direction of that force. 292 00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:58,440 Speaker 1: A pair of scissors consists of two blades, which are 293 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:02,479 Speaker 1: essentially wedges, and that's one of the simple machines. They 294 00:18:02,480 --> 00:18:06,280 Speaker 1: are also mounted in a cross shape around a fulcrum, 295 00:18:06,600 --> 00:18:10,360 Speaker 1: and that turns the handles of the scissors into levers, 296 00:18:10,400 --> 00:18:14,399 Speaker 1: another simple machine. So pushing the levers together brings the 297 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:18,400 Speaker 1: wedge blades together, and that's what allows you to cut stuff. Moreover, 298 00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:22,479 Speaker 1: the process of squeezing the handles actually creates pressure that 299 00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:25,720 Speaker 1: squeezes the blades together, not just up and down, but 300 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:29,520 Speaker 1: left and right, so there's a sort of pinching action 301 00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:33,639 Speaker 1: happening between the blades that allows for a nice clean cut. 302 00:18:34,200 --> 00:18:36,600 Speaker 1: That is, they do this if you happen to be 303 00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:40,119 Speaker 1: using the scissors in the proper hand. If a left 304 00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:44,680 Speaker 1: hander tries to use right handed scissors with their left hand, 305 00:18:45,119 --> 00:18:47,480 Speaker 1: they will find that the blades tend to create a 306 00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:51,000 Speaker 1: space between them as they close, so they close up 307 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:54,000 Speaker 1: and down, but there's a space left and right that 308 00:18:54,080 --> 00:18:58,680 Speaker 1: allows whatever you're cutting to bend between the blades, which 309 00:18:58,760 --> 00:19:01,760 Speaker 1: usually means you don't tend to cut anything at all, 310 00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:04,679 Speaker 1: or if you do cut, you do so in a 311 00:19:04,680 --> 00:19:07,440 Speaker 1: way where you're mauling whatever it is you're trying to cut. 312 00:19:07,480 --> 00:19:10,080 Speaker 1: I can't tell you how many times I ended up 313 00:19:10,359 --> 00:19:14,040 Speaker 1: with what looked like shredded paper instead of a nice 314 00:19:14,080 --> 00:19:17,119 Speaker 1: clean cut. The squeezing action with the left hand just 315 00:19:17,240 --> 00:19:20,200 Speaker 1: creates a force along that fulcrum that moves the blades 316 00:19:20,240 --> 00:19:23,520 Speaker 1: apart rather than squeezing them together. Now, left handers can 317 00:19:23,560 --> 00:19:27,000 Speaker 1: attempt to compensate for this by creating a different force 318 00:19:27,119 --> 00:19:30,680 Speaker 1: with their fingers, essentially pushing their thumbs and index fingers 319 00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:34,159 Speaker 1: in a way to create that pinching force. You're forcing 320 00:19:34,560 --> 00:19:39,119 Speaker 1: the blades together. The boy, howdy, that is not comfortable. 321 00:19:39,440 --> 00:19:42,880 Speaker 1: It hurts. Moreover, the position of the blades means that 322 00:19:42,960 --> 00:19:46,000 Speaker 1: the top blade is always on the right side. You 323 00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:47,800 Speaker 1: can flip the blades over, but that means the top 324 00:19:47,840 --> 00:19:50,680 Speaker 1: blade is still on the right side. This actually makes 325 00:19:50,680 --> 00:19:53,120 Speaker 1: it really hard for left handers to see what they 326 00:19:53,160 --> 00:19:56,359 Speaker 1: are cutting. If they're trying to cut with their left 327 00:19:56,400 --> 00:19:59,560 Speaker 1: hand because the blade is in the way. Left handed 328 00:19:59,560 --> 00:20:03,359 Speaker 1: scissor have the top blade on the left side rather 329 00:20:03,400 --> 00:20:06,840 Speaker 1: than the right side. That there are so called left 330 00:20:06,840 --> 00:20:09,840 Speaker 1: handed scissors that don't do this, but they are left 331 00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:12,240 Speaker 1: handed only in the sense that they have handles that 332 00:20:12,320 --> 00:20:15,800 Speaker 1: have contours that better fit the left hand. But without 333 00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:19,120 Speaker 1: changing that blade orientation, you really haven't solved the problem. 334 00:20:19,200 --> 00:20:21,600 Speaker 1: You still can't really see what you're cutting, and you're 335 00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:25,040 Speaker 1: still going to be forcing those blades apart from each other. Now. 336 00:20:25,080 --> 00:20:28,800 Speaker 1: Fun fact, I never learned to use left handed scissors 337 00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:31,320 Speaker 1: because when I was going to school, my school just 338 00:20:31,400 --> 00:20:34,960 Speaker 1: didn't have any. I would use right handed scissors, either 339 00:20:35,040 --> 00:20:37,280 Speaker 1: trying desperately to get them to work with my left 340 00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:40,280 Speaker 1: hand or just giving up and using my right hand, 341 00:20:40,320 --> 00:20:42,159 Speaker 1: knowing that whatever I was going to cut was going 342 00:20:42,200 --> 00:20:45,480 Speaker 1: to look awful because of my lack of fine motor 343 00:20:45,560 --> 00:20:49,679 Speaker 1: skills with my non dominant hand. For another common tool, 344 00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:53,600 Speaker 1: one much more advanced than a pair of scissors, let 345 00:20:53,680 --> 00:20:57,520 Speaker 1: us consider the computer mouse. Now, your typical computer mouse 346 00:20:57,600 --> 00:21:00,639 Speaker 1: tends to have at least two buttons, one on the 347 00:21:00,720 --> 00:21:04,000 Speaker 1: left and one on the right. There are ones that don't. 348 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:08,600 Speaker 1: They're the single button mouse. Types like the ones that 349 00:21:08,640 --> 00:21:10,679 Speaker 1: are used with certain max that kind of thing. But 350 00:21:10,880 --> 00:21:13,879 Speaker 1: your typical computer mouse has at least two buttons, a 351 00:21:13,960 --> 00:21:17,159 Speaker 1: left click and a right click, and they tend to 352 00:21:17,240 --> 00:21:20,000 Speaker 1: be contoured in such a way the mouse is that 353 00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:23,760 Speaker 1: they have a nice fit with the right hand. They 354 00:21:23,800 --> 00:21:26,240 Speaker 1: don't fit the left hand the same way. They're just 355 00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:30,160 Speaker 1: not contoured that way. And most programs tend to incorporate 356 00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:35,240 Speaker 1: mouse commands by shifting important functions for the keyboard to 357 00:21:35,320 --> 00:21:38,080 Speaker 1: the left side of that keyboard, so that way you've 358 00:21:38,119 --> 00:21:40,359 Speaker 1: got the mouse in your right hand and your left 359 00:21:40,359 --> 00:21:42,960 Speaker 1: hand remains free on the left side of the keyboard 360 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:46,680 Speaker 1: to do whatever other functions you need to do to 361 00:21:46,800 --> 00:21:49,760 Speaker 1: navigate the program. Computer games tend to be a good 362 00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:52,640 Speaker 1: example of how this plays out in favor of right ees. 363 00:21:53,080 --> 00:21:56,760 Speaker 1: So take a first person shooter game like Doom. The 364 00:21:56,800 --> 00:22:00,480 Speaker 1: mouse controls your point of view or your aim the game. 365 00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:03,400 Speaker 1: You use your mouse to direct your line of sight 366 00:22:03,560 --> 00:22:06,600 Speaker 1: and thus where you have your big zappy gun pointed 367 00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:08,600 Speaker 1: at any given moment so you can shoot all those 368 00:22:08,600 --> 00:22:13,399 Speaker 1: little demon critters. Your character's movement maps typically to the 369 00:22:13,480 --> 00:22:17,840 Speaker 1: WAZA keys, the W A S D keys w being 370 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:21,280 Speaker 1: forward s being backward and A and D typically being 371 00:22:21,359 --> 00:22:25,359 Speaker 1: straffe left and strafe right, respectively. In a shooting game, 372 00:22:25,720 --> 00:22:28,920 Speaker 1: you need to have precise aim to compete at really 373 00:22:29,119 --> 00:22:32,600 Speaker 1: high levels. If you watch some pro e sports players 374 00:22:32,600 --> 00:22:35,040 Speaker 1: and you really pay attention to how fast and precise 375 00:22:35,040 --> 00:22:38,040 Speaker 1: they are with their aim, it's incredible and it requires 376 00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:41,680 Speaker 1: a highly developed fine motor skill set with whatever hand 377 00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:45,080 Speaker 1: you're using to aim. In contrast, your movement in these 378 00:22:45,119 --> 00:22:49,040 Speaker 1: style of games is important, but typically does not need 379 00:22:49,119 --> 00:22:53,720 Speaker 1: the same level of precision as aiming, so offloading movement 380 00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:57,680 Speaker 1: to the non dominant hand isn't a huge problem. Left 381 00:22:57,680 --> 00:23:01,560 Speaker 1: handers have it harder. If they're using a traditional right 382 00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:05,000 Speaker 1: handed set up. They're aiming with their non dominant hand, 383 00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:09,120 Speaker 1: and thus they tend to be less precise and less accurate. 384 00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:11,280 Speaker 1: Now I know that's the case with me, and of 385 00:23:11,320 --> 00:23:14,719 Speaker 1: course I'm also older, so my reaction times are slowing 386 00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:18,359 Speaker 1: down too. I guess what I'm saying is you really 387 00:23:18,400 --> 00:23:21,760 Speaker 1: don't want me to be on your Overwatch team. There 388 00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:24,960 Speaker 1: are left handed versions of the computer mouse out there, 389 00:23:25,240 --> 00:23:28,160 Speaker 1: and the fact that we've gone to USB connections rather 390 00:23:28,200 --> 00:23:32,000 Speaker 1: than the old PS slash two ports that computers and 391 00:23:32,119 --> 00:23:35,439 Speaker 1: stuff like keyboards and mice used to depend on. We 392 00:23:35,520 --> 00:23:38,480 Speaker 1: don't use those anymore, which that usually means you actually 393 00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:41,720 Speaker 1: have more options of where you can connect stuff to 394 00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:45,160 Speaker 1: your computer, so cable management isn't as big a pain 395 00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:48,359 Speaker 1: in the neck because you typically have more options of 396 00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:52,720 Speaker 1: where that USB cable can plug into. If the game 397 00:23:52,720 --> 00:23:55,480 Speaker 1: developers thought it through, you might even be able to 398 00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:59,080 Speaker 1: map your computer keys so that your movement stuff can 399 00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:03,320 Speaker 1: go to a different set of four keys, such as I, J, K, L, 400 00:24:03,760 --> 00:24:08,400 Speaker 1: or the number pad. If you can't map keys, then 401 00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:10,520 Speaker 1: it means the left hander has to deal with sitting 402 00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:13,240 Speaker 1: in an odd way or positioning their keyboard in an 403 00:24:13,280 --> 00:24:16,280 Speaker 1: offset way so that the right hand can control those 404 00:24:16,400 --> 00:24:19,800 Speaker 1: W A, S D keys. Now, I used video games 405 00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:22,879 Speaker 1: as my example, but of course the computer mouse is 406 00:24:22,920 --> 00:24:26,760 Speaker 1: a standard input device for all sorts of PC programs. 407 00:24:27,359 --> 00:24:30,920 Speaker 1: I'm the only left handed person in my family, so 408 00:24:31,080 --> 00:24:33,719 Speaker 1: our computers at home all had a right handed set up, 409 00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:37,200 Speaker 1: right handed computer mouse and all that kind of stuff. Likewise, 410 00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:39,960 Speaker 1: when I got to high school and they just started 411 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:43,920 Speaker 1: to offer classes using computers, all of those machines had 412 00:24:44,119 --> 00:24:47,320 Speaker 1: a right handed mouse as well. Some of the programs 413 00:24:47,359 --> 00:24:49,320 Speaker 1: would allow you to switch the mouse to a left 414 00:24:49,320 --> 00:24:52,359 Speaker 1: handed mode. But really all that meant was that the 415 00:24:52,520 --> 00:24:55,880 Speaker 1: left and right mouse buttons flipped what they did, so 416 00:24:55,920 --> 00:24:58,760 Speaker 1: that a right mouse click was the equivalent to a 417 00:24:58,840 --> 00:25:02,480 Speaker 1: right hander using a left mouse click. It didn't magically 418 00:25:02,560 --> 00:25:05,280 Speaker 1: change the shape of the mouse or how it connected 419 00:25:05,320 --> 00:25:08,720 Speaker 1: to the PC, so it might still not really be convenient. 420 00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:11,399 Speaker 1: So as a result, I taught myself to use a 421 00:25:11,440 --> 00:25:14,520 Speaker 1: mouse right handed early on. It wasn't that big a 422 00:25:14,560 --> 00:25:16,840 Speaker 1: deal because most of the stuff I was doing didn't 423 00:25:16,840 --> 00:25:20,520 Speaker 1: require lightning, fast reactions or anything, so I could take 424 00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:23,440 Speaker 1: my time moving my wobbly little cursor to the right 425 00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:26,159 Speaker 1: spot on the screen. A few times I tried to 426 00:25:26,280 --> 00:25:30,320 Speaker 1: use a left handed mouse. I hated it because all 427 00:25:30,359 --> 00:25:33,480 Speaker 1: the important keyboard functions were on the wrong side of 428 00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:37,639 Speaker 1: the keyboard and the user interface was clearly biased toward 429 00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:41,840 Speaker 1: right handers. It was just more convenient, though less precise, 430 00:25:42,240 --> 00:25:46,199 Speaker 1: to use my right hand on the mouse. Sticking with 431 00:25:46,320 --> 00:25:50,040 Speaker 1: video games, let's talk about consoles for a second. The 432 00:25:50,119 --> 00:25:54,639 Speaker 1: standard console controller these days has two thumbsticks, one for 433 00:25:54,680 --> 00:25:59,400 Speaker 1: each thumb. The left thumbstick typically control stuff like movement, 434 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:04,080 Speaker 1: a right control stuff like camera angle or aim. So 435 00:26:04,119 --> 00:26:08,600 Speaker 1: again the task that requires the most precise fine tuning 436 00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:11,879 Speaker 1: goes to the right side. Some games do allow you 437 00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:15,040 Speaker 1: to change this. That's nice, but it's a bit weird 438 00:26:15,119 --> 00:26:17,240 Speaker 1: when you first do it, particularly since a lot of 439 00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:21,600 Speaker 1: games also include platforming elements where you need to access 440 00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:25,359 Speaker 1: controls that are mapped to the buttons on the controller. 441 00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:29,960 Speaker 1: The buttons on most controllers are, you guessed it over, 442 00:26:30,080 --> 00:26:32,520 Speaker 1: on the right side, so you have to take your 443 00:26:32,560 --> 00:26:35,439 Speaker 1: thumb off the right stick to hit the buttons on 444 00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:38,560 Speaker 1: the right side of the controller. If aim is going 445 00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:41,600 Speaker 1: to the left thumbstick and movement is going to the 446 00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:45,320 Speaker 1: right thumb stick, suddenly you can't jump and move at 447 00:26:45,359 --> 00:26:47,879 Speaker 1: the same time because you have to take your thumb 448 00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:50,920 Speaker 1: off the thumbstick and it has to do all the work. 449 00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:55,000 Speaker 1: You could conceivably buy a really expensive controller with stuff 450 00:26:55,040 --> 00:26:58,440 Speaker 1: like extra paddles and trigger buttons and map things out 451 00:26:58,480 --> 00:27:02,320 Speaker 1: to improve matters, but it's really hard to compensate for 452 00:27:02,359 --> 00:27:05,800 Speaker 1: this design using just a standard controller, and not all 453 00:27:05,880 --> 00:27:09,280 Speaker 1: games allow you to map controls like that. Now, I 454 00:27:09,320 --> 00:27:13,120 Speaker 1: don't mean to suggest that being left handed immediately means 455 00:27:13,160 --> 00:27:14,960 Speaker 1: a person is going to be bad at stuff like 456 00:27:15,080 --> 00:27:18,040 Speaker 1: video games. There are left handed players out there who 457 00:27:18,119 --> 00:27:22,840 Speaker 1: are amazing. Many have spent countless hours training their non 458 00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:26,560 Speaker 1: dominant hand to do more finely tuned tasks, and they 459 00:27:26,560 --> 00:27:29,479 Speaker 1: can compete at a professional level. But for a lot 460 00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:33,640 Speaker 1: of us, these basic approaches to design stand as an 461 00:27:33,680 --> 00:27:36,639 Speaker 1: extra challenge we face on top of whatever it is 462 00:27:36,680 --> 00:27:40,399 Speaker 1: we actually want to do now. I mentioned UI or 463 00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:43,639 Speaker 1: user interface a moment ago. The user interface of a 464 00:27:43,680 --> 00:27:47,240 Speaker 1: technology is exactly what it sounds like. It's the method 465 00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:51,880 Speaker 1: by which a user interacts with the technology. It includes 466 00:27:51,920 --> 00:27:55,119 Speaker 1: not just the physical interaction, such as the keyboard amouse 467 00:27:55,160 --> 00:27:57,920 Speaker 1: of a PC, or the touch screen of a smartphone 468 00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:01,959 Speaker 1: or the controller for a video game console. It also 469 00:28:02,119 --> 00:28:06,040 Speaker 1: includes the actual design of the software and how things 470 00:28:06,080 --> 00:28:09,159 Speaker 1: are laid out, and sometimes developers will build it in 471 00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:13,159 Speaker 1: a system that just favors right handedness in more subtle ways. 472 00:28:13,560 --> 00:28:17,000 Speaker 1: For example, I can't tell you how many on screen 473 00:28:17,119 --> 00:28:21,719 Speaker 1: smartphone keyboards I've used that become a total hassle because 474 00:28:22,080 --> 00:28:23,880 Speaker 1: I would be using my left hand and I would 475 00:28:23,960 --> 00:28:26,840 Speaker 1: hit keys a little to the left of center, and 476 00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:29,400 Speaker 1: the keys were really designed to be hit a little 477 00:28:29,440 --> 00:28:33,080 Speaker 1: to the right of center. I've practiced using my right 478 00:28:33,119 --> 00:28:35,640 Speaker 1: index finger to try and type things out much more 479 00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:38,840 Speaker 1: smoothly then if I were to use my left hand. 480 00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:40,880 Speaker 1: But I am left handed. I want to use my 481 00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:44,640 Speaker 1: left hand. I'm faster at it. It's more comfortable, at 482 00:28:44,720 --> 00:28:48,160 Speaker 1: least it would be, but I have to end up 483 00:28:48,200 --> 00:28:50,240 Speaker 1: thinking about aiming a little to the right of where 484 00:28:50,280 --> 00:28:52,040 Speaker 1: I think I need to go in order to hit 485 00:28:52,080 --> 00:28:54,320 Speaker 1: the key I want. Otherwise I'm just getting typos and 486 00:28:54,400 --> 00:28:58,000 Speaker 1: nonsense all the time. This sort of bias in design 487 00:28:58,080 --> 00:29:00,240 Speaker 1: can be found in a lot of other places too. 488 00:29:00,440 --> 00:29:03,760 Speaker 1: For example, the typical student desk tends to have a 489 00:29:03,840 --> 00:29:07,240 Speaker 1: shape that caters to right handers. Often there's a place 490 00:29:07,320 --> 00:29:10,480 Speaker 1: for the right arm to rest while the student is writing, 491 00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:13,520 Speaker 1: whereas on the left side of the desk it's typically open. 492 00:29:13,800 --> 00:29:16,720 Speaker 1: So if you're a lefty, you're writing with no support 493 00:29:16,760 --> 00:29:19,200 Speaker 1: for your left arm. And when I went to high school, 494 00:29:19,480 --> 00:29:24,000 Speaker 1: they had just switched over to these asymmetric desks and 495 00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:27,520 Speaker 1: they had more surface area on the right side. So 496 00:29:27,760 --> 00:29:30,400 Speaker 1: that's great if you're a right hander, your your notebook 497 00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:32,880 Speaker 1: is supported, you can just right that way. But as 498 00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:35,120 Speaker 1: a lefty, it meant that I had to twist a 499 00:29:35,160 --> 00:29:38,720 Speaker 1: bit in my seat just to write stuff down. Even 500 00:29:38,760 --> 00:29:41,480 Speaker 1: notebooks are laid out in a way that work better 501 00:29:41,560 --> 00:29:43,960 Speaker 1: for right handers than left handers, at least for those 502 00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:46,720 Speaker 1: of us in the Western hemisphere who are writing left 503 00:29:46,800 --> 00:29:49,840 Speaker 1: to right. The binding of a notebook is on the 504 00:29:49,920 --> 00:29:52,200 Speaker 1: left side. Now, that's not in the way if you're 505 00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:54,960 Speaker 1: a right hander. But if you're a lefty, then you've 506 00:29:54,960 --> 00:29:57,400 Speaker 1: got that binding to deal with, which means you're either 507 00:29:57,480 --> 00:30:01,080 Speaker 1: contorting yourself to work around it, or you're starting a 508 00:30:01,080 --> 00:30:04,200 Speaker 1: good deal further into the page than your right handed 509 00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:10,200 Speaker 1: counterparts are. Curse you notebook bindings. For that reason, when 510 00:30:10,240 --> 00:30:13,600 Speaker 1: I use notebooks, I typically either flip them upside down, 511 00:30:14,120 --> 00:30:16,840 Speaker 1: or I flipped them over and I start from the 512 00:30:16,880 --> 00:30:19,160 Speaker 1: back and I worked my way forward that way. The 513 00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:22,640 Speaker 1: binding is on the right side. I still right left 514 00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:25,120 Speaker 1: to right, but now the spiral of rings is on 515 00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:28,480 Speaker 1: the right hand side, and they don't get in my way. Now. 516 00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:32,520 Speaker 1: So far, most of the stuff I've mentioned has been frustrating, 517 00:30:32,560 --> 00:30:36,040 Speaker 1: but ultimately not really that big a deal. Yeah, it's 518 00:30:36,040 --> 00:30:38,600 Speaker 1: not fun to compensate to interact with a world that 519 00:30:38,680 --> 00:30:41,480 Speaker 1: was designed for people who aren't like you. But for 520 00:30:41,520 --> 00:30:43,920 Speaker 1: the most part, the examples I've used are fairly benign, 521 00:30:45,520 --> 00:30:49,360 Speaker 1: but just you wait, we'll be right back after this 522 00:30:49,480 --> 00:31:01,080 Speaker 1: short break. Left handers aren't strangers to facing struggles using 523 00:31:01,160 --> 00:31:04,560 Speaker 1: technology meant for right handers. And when we're lucky, someone 524 00:31:04,600 --> 00:31:07,160 Speaker 1: has created a left handed version for us to use. 525 00:31:07,480 --> 00:31:12,200 Speaker 1: When we're really lucky, that left handed version works just 526 00:31:12,360 --> 00:31:15,280 Speaker 1: as well as the right handed one does. When we're 527 00:31:15,640 --> 00:31:19,800 Speaker 1: crazy lucky, whatever it is we're doing with that left 528 00:31:19,800 --> 00:31:24,800 Speaker 1: handed tool doesn't otherwise have handedness entering into the picture. 529 00:31:25,560 --> 00:31:31,520 Speaker 1: But now we're gonna talk about chain saws. Yeah, chainsaws. 530 00:31:32,040 --> 00:31:37,880 Speaker 1: These are really useful and potentially extremely dangerous, and their 531 00:31:37,960 --> 00:31:42,160 Speaker 1: design favors right handers, which means that for people like me, 532 00:31:42,760 --> 00:31:48,840 Speaker 1: they become much more potentially dangerous tools. Now, chainsaw has 533 00:31:49,040 --> 00:31:52,840 Speaker 1: two handles. One is at the very rear of the chainsaw. 534 00:31:53,040 --> 00:31:56,320 Speaker 1: That's where the throttle control is, and that's meant for 535 00:31:56,360 --> 00:31:59,360 Speaker 1: the dominant hand. Really, it's meant for the right hand. 536 00:31:59,840 --> 00:32:02,760 Speaker 1: And then there's a front handle, and typically that's an 537 00:32:02,880 --> 00:32:06,480 Speaker 1: arc that goes along the top and side the left 538 00:32:06,600 --> 00:32:09,000 Speaker 1: side of the chainsaw. It's meant for the left hand 539 00:32:09,040 --> 00:32:12,560 Speaker 1: to be there to help guide the chainsaw. Many chainsaws 540 00:32:12,800 --> 00:32:16,360 Speaker 1: have that front handle join with the body of the chainsaw. 541 00:32:16,400 --> 00:32:18,760 Speaker 1: Itself close to the top right side of the device, 542 00:32:19,120 --> 00:32:21,600 Speaker 1: which means that even if you wanted to hold it 543 00:32:21,680 --> 00:32:24,200 Speaker 1: as a left hander, you would be very limited and 544 00:32:24,280 --> 00:32:26,920 Speaker 1: where your right hand could go, they couldn't go all 545 00:32:26,920 --> 00:32:29,080 Speaker 1: the way to the edge because that's where the are 546 00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:32,400 Speaker 1: the handle actually joins the body of the chainsaw. But 547 00:32:32,480 --> 00:32:35,200 Speaker 1: if you're holding the chainsaw with your right hand on 548 00:32:35,200 --> 00:32:37,400 Speaker 1: the rear handle, there's plenty of space for your left 549 00:32:37,400 --> 00:32:39,480 Speaker 1: hand to hold onto the front handle. That gives you 550 00:32:39,520 --> 00:32:41,800 Speaker 1: lots of different options for grips when you need to 551 00:32:41,880 --> 00:32:45,280 Speaker 1: use the chainsaw on different orientations, But typically you just 552 00:32:45,320 --> 00:32:47,760 Speaker 1: don't have that level of versatility on the right side 553 00:32:48,040 --> 00:32:50,560 Speaker 1: of the front handle, so if you were to try 554 00:32:50,560 --> 00:32:53,040 Speaker 1: and hold it left handed, you would already be facing 555 00:32:53,080 --> 00:32:57,760 Speaker 1: some limitations and controls really important when you've got a 556 00:32:57,760 --> 00:33:02,120 Speaker 1: whirling chain blade right in front of you. You want 557 00:33:02,200 --> 00:33:05,080 Speaker 1: that dominant hand on the back to control the overall 558 00:33:05,160 --> 00:33:08,200 Speaker 1: motion of the chainsaw and to deal with any kickback 559 00:33:08,280 --> 00:33:11,320 Speaker 1: you might have. The non dominant hand is really meant 560 00:33:11,360 --> 00:33:15,080 Speaker 1: to use to to guide the specific angle of attack 561 00:33:15,080 --> 00:33:19,040 Speaker 1: of the chainsaw. Chainsaws typically have a guard that's called 562 00:33:19,040 --> 00:33:23,000 Speaker 1: a chain break like a break like a kind you 563 00:33:23,040 --> 00:33:26,080 Speaker 1: would have in a car, and that's mounted in front 564 00:33:26,200 --> 00:33:29,640 Speaker 1: of the front handle. The chain break is essentially a 565 00:33:29,720 --> 00:33:32,680 Speaker 1: lever that, if it gets pushed beyond a fail point, 566 00:33:33,000 --> 00:33:35,480 Speaker 1: will cut off power to the blade. So let's say 567 00:33:35,520 --> 00:33:39,080 Speaker 1: that you're using the chainsaw. The chainsaw bucks back so 568 00:33:39,120 --> 00:33:42,480 Speaker 1: that the blade is now arching up so it would 569 00:33:42,520 --> 00:33:46,360 Speaker 1: be coming towards your head. The lever is positioned in 570 00:33:46,400 --> 00:33:48,120 Speaker 1: such a way that it will make contact with the 571 00:33:48,160 --> 00:33:52,520 Speaker 1: back of your leading hand, your left hand, and it'll 572 00:33:52,560 --> 00:33:55,480 Speaker 1: trip that lever, cutting off power to the blade. That's 573 00:33:55,480 --> 00:34:00,120 Speaker 1: the idea. The problem here is that if you are 574 00:34:00,200 --> 00:34:02,120 Speaker 1: using it the other way around, with your left hand 575 00:34:02,160 --> 00:34:05,000 Speaker 1: on the rear handle, your right hand might not be 576 00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:08,880 Speaker 1: in the right position to really engage with that chain break, 577 00:34:08,960 --> 00:34:12,479 Speaker 1: so if something bad happens, there may be no way 578 00:34:12,520 --> 00:34:17,799 Speaker 1: to stop it. That's not great. Or you could be 579 00:34:17,840 --> 00:34:20,719 Speaker 1: operating it as a right hander, but it means your 580 00:34:20,760 --> 00:34:23,240 Speaker 1: non dominant hand is the one that's trying to control 581 00:34:23,320 --> 00:34:25,879 Speaker 1: the overall motion of the blade. That's not a great 582 00:34:25,920 --> 00:34:30,320 Speaker 1: option either. Now I have used chainsaws a few times, 583 00:34:30,680 --> 00:34:33,040 Speaker 1: I've always had to revert to using them as if 584 00:34:33,080 --> 00:34:35,560 Speaker 1: I were right handed, which in my mind is the 585 00:34:35,680 --> 00:34:38,719 Speaker 1: least bad of all the different options I had in 586 00:34:38,800 --> 00:34:41,560 Speaker 1: front of me. And this is just one example of 587 00:34:41,560 --> 00:34:44,520 Speaker 1: a power tool that is designed to be used by 588 00:34:44,680 --> 00:34:50,120 Speaker 1: right handers. Pretty Much every tool is biased toward being 589 00:34:50,320 --> 00:34:54,000 Speaker 1: right handed. Either the tools are contoured in a way 590 00:34:54,040 --> 00:34:56,360 Speaker 1: where they fit the right hand but not the left, 591 00:34:57,120 --> 00:34:59,640 Speaker 1: or they operate in such a way that you really 592 00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:01,640 Speaker 1: need to be using them in your right hand, or 593 00:35:01,800 --> 00:35:05,040 Speaker 1: the line of sight doesn't really work unless you're using 594 00:35:05,080 --> 00:35:08,319 Speaker 1: it with the right hand dominant side. Whether it's a 595 00:35:08,360 --> 00:35:11,480 Speaker 1: table saw or a drill press or a power drill, 596 00:35:11,760 --> 00:35:14,080 Speaker 1: a lot of these tools just work best if they're 597 00:35:14,080 --> 00:35:17,839 Speaker 1: operated by a right hander, and at worst they can 598 00:35:17,840 --> 00:35:21,759 Speaker 1: be dangerous if they are operated any other way. The 599 00:35:21,840 --> 00:35:25,600 Speaker 1: same thing is true with firearms. Now, I am not 600 00:35:25,680 --> 00:35:28,799 Speaker 1: a gun guy. I have not fired any type of 601 00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:32,879 Speaker 1: firearm in a really long time, but if I did, 602 00:35:33,360 --> 00:35:37,400 Speaker 1: I'd likely be frustrated by the lack of options for me. 603 00:35:37,719 --> 00:35:41,879 Speaker 1: Most handguns that have an external safety catch place that 604 00:35:42,040 --> 00:35:44,640 Speaker 1: on the left side of the gun so that your 605 00:35:44,760 --> 00:35:48,319 Speaker 1: right thumb can easily disengage the catch whenever you are 606 00:35:48,360 --> 00:35:52,360 Speaker 1: ready to actually fire the handgun. But if you're holding 607 00:35:52,360 --> 00:35:55,280 Speaker 1: this in your left hand, the catches on the opposite 608 00:35:55,280 --> 00:35:57,799 Speaker 1: side of the gun from where your thumb rests. It's 609 00:35:57,840 --> 00:36:02,640 Speaker 1: no longer where you can easily disengage it. Many rifles 610 00:36:02,680 --> 00:36:05,480 Speaker 1: are designed specifically to use with the butt of the 611 00:36:05,520 --> 00:36:11,160 Speaker 1: stock up against your right side. They expend spent casings 612 00:36:11,200 --> 00:36:14,360 Speaker 1: out the right side of the firearm, so they're away 613 00:36:14,400 --> 00:36:17,240 Speaker 1: from the shooter. If you were to try and fire 614 00:36:17,360 --> 00:36:20,400 Speaker 1: left handed, you would be dealing with this, and it 615 00:36:20,440 --> 00:36:23,640 Speaker 1: would make the experience less safe for you and as 616 00:36:23,640 --> 00:36:25,560 Speaker 1: well as less safe for anyone who happens to be 617 00:36:25,600 --> 00:36:30,759 Speaker 1: around you. It's not great. Now there are manufacturers that 618 00:36:30,920 --> 00:36:35,120 Speaker 1: make ambidextrous models of firearms, meaning that at least in theory, 619 00:36:35,480 --> 00:36:37,800 Speaker 1: they can be fired either by a right hander or 620 00:36:37,880 --> 00:36:42,359 Speaker 1: a left hander with no real difference in performance. And 621 00:36:42,400 --> 00:36:46,520 Speaker 1: then there are a few that will make left handed 622 00:36:46,600 --> 00:36:50,080 Speaker 1: models of certain firearms, but these tend to be more 623 00:36:50,120 --> 00:36:53,160 Speaker 1: expensive than the exact same models that were made for 624 00:36:53,320 --> 00:36:56,600 Speaker 1: right handers, for much the same reason that it's hard 625 00:36:56,600 --> 00:36:59,839 Speaker 1: to find good options for left handed guitars. That being, 626 00:37:00,160 --> 00:37:03,800 Speaker 1: the manufacturing process has been streamlined to create a certain 627 00:37:03,880 --> 00:37:07,399 Speaker 1: type of product in a very particular way, and that 628 00:37:07,480 --> 00:37:10,480 Speaker 1: process works great when that's all you want to do. 629 00:37:10,560 --> 00:37:13,239 Speaker 1: But if you want to do anything besides make the 630 00:37:13,320 --> 00:37:17,400 Speaker 1: exact same product with the exact same orientation, that assembly 631 00:37:17,400 --> 00:37:20,920 Speaker 1: line cannot really accommodate that. So yeah, we left handers 632 00:37:20,960 --> 00:37:23,839 Speaker 1: need to make do, or maybe spend more money so 633 00:37:23,880 --> 00:37:26,520 Speaker 1: that we don't have to make do now. There is 634 00:37:26,560 --> 00:37:31,800 Speaker 1: a small, nearly cottage industry business of creating left handed 635 00:37:31,920 --> 00:37:37,600 Speaker 1: versions of many common utensils, tools, and gadgets. For left handers, 636 00:37:37,920 --> 00:37:41,640 Speaker 1: there are left handed can openers, for example, since using 637 00:37:41,640 --> 00:37:45,920 Speaker 1: a right handed can opener is tricky and at best 638 00:37:46,000 --> 00:37:48,719 Speaker 1: of pain in the well the hands, I guess. For 639 00:37:48,840 --> 00:37:52,319 Speaker 1: left handers, there are rulers that have measurements that go 640 00:37:52,440 --> 00:37:55,440 Speaker 1: from right to left, which is useful if you're a 641 00:37:55,560 --> 00:37:57,360 Speaker 1: lefty and you want to draw a line as a 642 00:37:57,440 --> 00:38:01,560 Speaker 1: precise length. Otherwise, my mo was to start at the 643 00:38:01,680 --> 00:38:04,360 Speaker 1: end result and work back at zero. So if I 644 00:38:04,440 --> 00:38:07,160 Speaker 1: needed to draw a three inch line, I would start 645 00:38:07,200 --> 00:38:10,680 Speaker 1: on the three inch mark and then draw toward the zero, 646 00:38:10,800 --> 00:38:13,680 Speaker 1: because then it was just easier for me to see 647 00:38:13,680 --> 00:38:17,040 Speaker 1: what I was doing. There are left handed cork screws 648 00:38:17,680 --> 00:38:20,319 Speaker 1: because it's easier to use because the twisting motion ends 649 00:38:20,360 --> 00:38:24,360 Speaker 1: up being counterclockwise rather than clockwise. There are left handed 650 00:38:24,440 --> 00:38:28,600 Speaker 1: measuring cups and left handed playing cards. These have markings 651 00:38:28,640 --> 00:38:31,080 Speaker 1: on the opposite side of where you would find them 652 00:38:31,120 --> 00:38:34,440 Speaker 1: on the right handed version or the standard version. The 653 00:38:34,480 --> 00:38:39,239 Speaker 1: products are otherwise identical to right handed whatever's right right, 654 00:38:39,239 --> 00:38:42,000 Speaker 1: A left handed measuring cup is exactly the same as 655 00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:43,920 Speaker 1: a right hand measuring cup, except the markings are on 656 00:38:43,960 --> 00:38:47,239 Speaker 1: the opposite side of the cup. That's it. For that 657 00:38:47,920 --> 00:38:51,719 Speaker 1: wonderful little flip, You're gonna be paying a premium, I mean, 658 00:38:51,760 --> 00:38:54,800 Speaker 1: like sometimes a crazy premium. You might see a measuring 659 00:38:54,840 --> 00:38:58,200 Speaker 1: cup that would cost five bucks end up being a 660 00:38:58,239 --> 00:39:00,920 Speaker 1: twenty dollar cup because it is a left handed one. 661 00:39:01,280 --> 00:39:04,360 Speaker 1: So yes, there is a certain selection of common tools 662 00:39:04,400 --> 00:39:07,759 Speaker 1: and utensils that you can find in a left handed orientation. 663 00:39:08,080 --> 00:39:11,080 Speaker 1: They typically cost more than the right handed version for 664 00:39:11,120 --> 00:39:13,919 Speaker 1: the reasons that I've given already, and sometimes they don't 665 00:39:13,960 --> 00:39:16,520 Speaker 1: even work as well as the right handed versions because 666 00:39:16,600 --> 00:39:20,760 Speaker 1: sometimes they're just made by right handers. But if you look, 667 00:39:21,400 --> 00:39:25,400 Speaker 1: you can often find them. So being left handed in 668 00:39:25,440 --> 00:39:28,239 Speaker 1: a world that has largely been designed by and for 669 00:39:28,640 --> 00:39:33,000 Speaker 1: right handed people isn't always easy or even safe. There 670 00:39:33,000 --> 00:39:36,239 Speaker 1: have even been numerous studies that suggest that left handers 671 00:39:36,239 --> 00:39:39,960 Speaker 1: may have a lower life expectancy than right handers, not 672 00:39:40,080 --> 00:39:44,960 Speaker 1: because we are somehow inherently less healthy, but perhaps because 673 00:39:45,360 --> 00:39:49,440 Speaker 1: we might be a little more accident prone than right handers. 674 00:39:50,000 --> 00:39:52,960 Speaker 1: You know, maybe we're using those right handed chainsaws in 675 00:39:53,000 --> 00:39:56,240 Speaker 1: a way that is most assuredly going to result in catastrophe. 676 00:39:56,800 --> 00:39:59,560 Speaker 1: There are a lot of little tasks that just become 677 00:39:59,600 --> 00:40:02,560 Speaker 1: a touch harder for the poor lefties of us out there. 678 00:40:03,360 --> 00:40:06,920 Speaker 1: All that being said, I chose this topic not just 679 00:40:07,000 --> 00:40:09,239 Speaker 1: a grouse about how irritating it is to be left 680 00:40:09,239 --> 00:40:12,680 Speaker 1: handed sometimes, though again that was a big part of it, 681 00:40:13,040 --> 00:40:16,279 Speaker 1: but to show how this is just one way that 682 00:40:16,400 --> 00:40:21,200 Speaker 1: bias can have an impact on a population. In this case, 683 00:40:21,320 --> 00:40:24,680 Speaker 1: I'm talking about handedness. And it's pretty obvious that most 684 00:40:24,680 --> 00:40:28,719 Speaker 1: of the time the bias against left handers isn't malicious. 685 00:40:28,800 --> 00:40:32,000 Speaker 1: It's not intentional. It's not like right handers are trying 686 00:40:32,040 --> 00:40:34,960 Speaker 1: to wipe out the left handers by creating stuff like 687 00:40:35,320 --> 00:40:38,959 Speaker 1: can openers or pencil sharpeners or chainsaws that really only 688 00:40:38,960 --> 00:40:42,200 Speaker 1: operate properly if they're used as a right handed way. 689 00:40:42,960 --> 00:40:45,759 Speaker 1: They're just making stuff that works for them, and that's 690 00:40:45,800 --> 00:40:48,960 Speaker 1: one of the really insidious things about bias. It doesn't 691 00:40:49,040 --> 00:40:53,680 Speaker 1: have to be an intentional malicious thing. When engineers are 692 00:40:53,800 --> 00:40:57,239 Speaker 1: building something, they want to make something that works, and 693 00:40:57,320 --> 00:41:00,160 Speaker 1: you have to consider what the problem is and how 694 00:41:00,200 --> 00:41:03,160 Speaker 1: you intend to solve that problem, and then you design 695 00:41:03,239 --> 00:41:06,719 Speaker 1: that solution. And many times engineers are looking at problems 696 00:41:06,880 --> 00:41:10,200 Speaker 1: from their own perspectives, but not from the perspective of 697 00:41:10,239 --> 00:41:13,520 Speaker 1: someone who is not like them, And for that reason, 698 00:41:13,880 --> 00:41:17,440 Speaker 1: we sometimes get technologies that work really great if you 699 00:41:17,560 --> 00:41:21,440 Speaker 1: happen to match the same general demographic and perspective as 700 00:41:21,480 --> 00:41:24,319 Speaker 1: the engineer who made it, but not so great if 701 00:41:24,320 --> 00:41:29,800 Speaker 1: you don't. This becomes an enormous issue with stuff like accessibility, 702 00:41:29,880 --> 00:41:32,920 Speaker 1: where people who might be differently abled are trying to 703 00:41:33,000 --> 00:41:37,120 Speaker 1: use technology. Those who have challenges with hearing or vision 704 00:41:37,200 --> 00:41:39,880 Speaker 1: or what have you might find it extra difficult to 705 00:41:39,920 --> 00:41:44,439 Speaker 1: make use of certain technologies because those technologies depend rather 706 00:41:44,600 --> 00:41:49,080 Speaker 1: heavily upon faculties that the differently abled may not possess, 707 00:41:49,239 --> 00:41:51,840 Speaker 1: or at least may not possess to the same degree. 708 00:41:52,200 --> 00:41:55,279 Speaker 1: And so a gadget that an able bodied person might 709 00:41:55,400 --> 00:41:58,799 Speaker 1: think is life changing could be completely useless in the 710 00:41:58,840 --> 00:42:01,960 Speaker 1: hands of someone else. And it doesn't always have to 711 00:42:02,080 --> 00:42:06,680 Speaker 1: be that way. Designing things with accessibility in mind presents 712 00:42:06,840 --> 00:42:10,799 Speaker 1: new challenges, no doubt about that. But that's what engineering 713 00:42:10,920 --> 00:42:15,560 Speaker 1: is all about. It's about overcoming challenges. Moreover, it means 714 00:42:15,640 --> 00:42:20,000 Speaker 1: more people can directly benefit from the solutions that engineers create, 715 00:42:20,560 --> 00:42:24,200 Speaker 1: and bias can emerge in lots of other ways. I've 716 00:42:24,239 --> 00:42:27,200 Speaker 1: recently had shows where I've mentioned bias in the design 717 00:42:27,239 --> 00:42:31,000 Speaker 1: of systems that use artificial intelligence and machine learning. If 718 00:42:31,040 --> 00:42:34,440 Speaker 1: you train a system using a data set that is biased, 719 00:42:34,800 --> 00:42:38,560 Speaker 1: the end result will reflect that bias. For example, if 720 00:42:38,560 --> 00:42:41,960 Speaker 1: you train an image recognition system to identify a face 721 00:42:42,360 --> 00:42:45,040 Speaker 1: and you only train the system using a data set 722 00:42:45,040 --> 00:42:48,200 Speaker 1: that includes photos of white people, that system could have 723 00:42:48,239 --> 00:42:51,279 Speaker 1: problems working when you feed in pictures of people who 724 00:42:51,280 --> 00:42:55,600 Speaker 1: aren't white. We've seen this happen with some pretty awful results. 725 00:42:56,200 --> 00:42:59,120 Speaker 1: More than a few facial recognition systems have shown to 726 00:42:59,160 --> 00:43:02,959 Speaker 1: work well when they're identifying white people, but not well 727 00:43:03,200 --> 00:43:06,759 Speaker 1: whenever trying to identify people of color. That bias leads 728 00:43:06,840 --> 00:43:10,200 Speaker 1: us to a technological kind of racism that has real 729 00:43:10,440 --> 00:43:15,040 Speaker 1: world effects and consequences, much worse effects than the little 730 00:43:15,080 --> 00:43:18,439 Speaker 1: frustrations I've encountered as a left handed person I can't 731 00:43:18,440 --> 00:43:21,480 Speaker 1: even begin to understand how that all plays out in 732 00:43:21,520 --> 00:43:24,239 Speaker 1: a day to day life, except to know that it's 733 00:43:24,320 --> 00:43:27,200 Speaker 1: just worse than what I have to cope with. So 734 00:43:27,520 --> 00:43:31,319 Speaker 1: that's really the message of this episode. It's not that 735 00:43:31,400 --> 00:43:35,480 Speaker 1: we need more left handed strato caster guitars, though that 736 00:43:35,640 --> 00:43:39,439 Speaker 1: is also true. We do need them more specifically, I 737 00:43:39,520 --> 00:43:44,560 Speaker 1: need them even more specifically. I just need one, really, 738 00:43:44,719 --> 00:43:47,120 Speaker 1: and it's gonna be a while before I can justify 739 00:43:47,200 --> 00:43:52,000 Speaker 1: buying a silver burst left handed strato caster, So get 740 00:43:52,040 --> 00:43:56,320 Speaker 1: on that fender. No, the real message of this episode 741 00:43:56,719 --> 00:44:00,120 Speaker 1: is that the purpose of technology, when you really it 742 00:44:00,200 --> 00:44:03,880 Speaker 1: down to it, is to make our lives better. But 743 00:44:04,000 --> 00:44:07,680 Speaker 1: that's only true if we're designing technology that addresses the 744 00:44:07,719 --> 00:44:11,920 Speaker 1: needs of people in general, not subsets of people or 745 00:44:12,040 --> 00:44:15,560 Speaker 1: through excluding groups of people. Whether you are designing a 746 00:44:15,560 --> 00:44:19,880 Speaker 1: physical gadget or an app or whatever, it is important 747 00:44:19,880 --> 00:44:22,719 Speaker 1: to step outside of yourself and to think about how 748 00:44:22,800 --> 00:44:26,680 Speaker 1: people who are different from you will be accessing and 749 00:44:26,760 --> 00:44:30,560 Speaker 1: experiencing the use of that technology. It could be that 750 00:44:30,680 --> 00:44:33,080 Speaker 1: with just a few tweaks, you could turn what was 751 00:44:33,120 --> 00:44:37,600 Speaker 1: a decent idea into a world changing one. I plan 752 00:44:37,800 --> 00:44:41,279 Speaker 1: on doing more episodes like this one, and I hope 753 00:44:41,320 --> 00:44:43,840 Speaker 1: to get some women on this show to talk about 754 00:44:43,840 --> 00:44:46,960 Speaker 1: how the tech world has tried to cater to women 755 00:44:47,000 --> 00:44:52,680 Speaker 1: in various ways, sometimes successfully and perhaps way too frequently, 756 00:44:53,200 --> 00:44:59,840 Speaker 1: sometimes in colossal failures. Just look at all the pink stuff. 757 00:45:00,960 --> 00:45:03,720 Speaker 1: But I think that that is really a related issue, 758 00:45:03,760 --> 00:45:07,920 Speaker 1: particularly in an industry that is still dominated by male 759 00:45:08,000 --> 00:45:12,120 Speaker 1: designers and engineers and executives. It's a problem that we 760 00:45:12,200 --> 00:45:15,680 Speaker 1: have to confront and fix in order to make stuff 761 00:45:15,920 --> 00:45:20,200 Speaker 1: that really works for everybody, or at least works for 762 00:45:20,280 --> 00:45:23,960 Speaker 1: the intended audience, because otherwise you just get a bunch 763 00:45:24,000 --> 00:45:29,040 Speaker 1: of you know, knuckle headed guys saying, you know, I 764 00:45:29,080 --> 00:45:33,800 Speaker 1: think women like pink things, Let's make it pink. That's 765 00:45:33,800 --> 00:45:38,240 Speaker 1: so not cool. Anyway. This is an issue that obviously 766 00:45:38,280 --> 00:45:42,320 Speaker 1: goes beyond technology, but we see it really with laser 767 00:45:42,400 --> 00:45:45,759 Speaker 1: focus in the tech world over and over again. That's 768 00:45:45,760 --> 00:45:47,479 Speaker 1: why I wanted to bring it up. And I brought 769 00:45:47,560 --> 00:45:49,719 Speaker 1: up the left handed perspective because it's one I can 770 00:45:49,760 --> 00:45:53,360 Speaker 1: speak to directly. It's one that I have experienced, and 771 00:45:53,560 --> 00:45:57,680 Speaker 1: I can acknowledge that while it can be frustrating, it's 772 00:45:57,800 --> 00:46:01,319 Speaker 1: nothing like what other people go through through all the time. 773 00:46:01,320 --> 00:46:04,400 Speaker 1: In their day to day lives. So that's it for 774 00:46:04,440 --> 00:46:09,240 Speaker 1: this episode. More of a kind of abstract approach to technology, 775 00:46:09,239 --> 00:46:12,840 Speaker 1: but one I think is important and our goal, I 776 00:46:12,880 --> 00:46:17,120 Speaker 1: think should always be to create technologies that work for 777 00:46:17,160 --> 00:46:19,920 Speaker 1: as many people as possible, to improve things as much 778 00:46:20,000 --> 00:46:23,880 Speaker 1: as possible, and not just to you know, throw in 779 00:46:23,920 --> 00:46:26,239 Speaker 1: a feature because you think it's cool, or to throw 780 00:46:26,280 --> 00:46:28,840 Speaker 1: in a feature and call it accessibility in order to 781 00:46:28,880 --> 00:46:31,360 Speaker 1: have a little box checked off of your to do list. 782 00:46:31,760 --> 00:46:34,799 Speaker 1: That's not good enough. If you guys have suggestions for 783 00:46:34,840 --> 00:46:37,960 Speaker 1: future topics of tech stuff, whether it's a specific technology, 784 00:46:38,080 --> 00:46:40,399 Speaker 1: maybe it's a company, maybe it's a person in tech, 785 00:46:40,480 --> 00:46:43,920 Speaker 1: maybe it's a theme, let me know. Reach out on Twitter. 786 00:46:44,160 --> 00:46:47,680 Speaker 1: The handle is tech stuff H. S W and I'll 787 00:46:47,680 --> 00:46:56,200 Speaker 1: talk to you again really soon. Text Stuff is an 788 00:46:56,200 --> 00:46:59,880 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio production. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, 789 00:47:00,239 --> 00:47:03,400 Speaker 1: visit the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 790 00:47:03,480 --> 00:47:09,560 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows. H