1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to tex Stuff, a production from my Heart Radio. 2 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:14,400 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:14,600 --> 00:00:18,200 Speaker 1: Jovian Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio. 4 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:21,520 Speaker 1: And how the tech are you? I am still on 5 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:25,680 Speaker 1: vacation and so we are having a rerun episode. This 6 00:00:25,720 --> 00:00:30,319 Speaker 1: episode originally published on July twenty nine. It is called 7 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:34,080 Speaker 1: right handed bias a sinister problem, and as a left hander, 8 00:00:34,479 --> 00:00:37,360 Speaker 1: I often get real grouchy about having to fumble my 9 00:00:37,440 --> 00:00:40,120 Speaker 1: way through using a lot of common tools that just 10 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:44,200 Speaker 1: weren't made from my dominant hand. I managed to funnel 11 00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:47,839 Speaker 1: that frustration into an entire episode, and that's what you 12 00:00:47,920 --> 00:00:54,520 Speaker 1: get here. Enjoy. It is a story time you guys. Now, 13 00:00:54,560 --> 00:00:58,200 Speaker 1: those of you who follow my personal account over on Twitter, 14 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:05,280 Speaker 1: which is at John Strickland j O N. Strickland, if 15 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:08,760 Speaker 1: you're morbidly curious, those of you who do follow me, 16 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:13,559 Speaker 1: you might know that I was eagerly anticipating the delivery 17 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:19,360 Speaker 1: of a Squire Classic Sixties Vibe Stratocaster, an electric guitar. 18 00:01:20,200 --> 00:01:22,679 Speaker 1: And you know, I've done episodes about electric guitars, I've 19 00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:26,440 Speaker 1: talked about them a lot, and I thought, I really 20 00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:28,440 Speaker 1: want one of these it would be really nice to 21 00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:31,680 Speaker 1: have one. This would have been my first six string 22 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:34,800 Speaker 1: electric guitar, and I figured, since you know, I'm working 23 00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:37,600 Speaker 1: from home now, it would be good to pick up 24 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:40,959 Speaker 1: a new skill to keep my mind sharp and occupied, 25 00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:42,880 Speaker 1: and you know, to help me get into a sort 26 00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:48,040 Speaker 1: of meditative state to help manage anxiety. By the way, um, 27 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:50,680 Speaker 1: anxiety is a real pain in the butt, and I 28 00:01:50,720 --> 00:01:54,760 Speaker 1: recommend anyone who has anxiety to look into ways to 29 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:58,160 Speaker 1: manage it in a really healthy manner, because that stuff 30 00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:01,160 Speaker 1: is no joke and it's obviously getting more challenging to 31 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:04,160 Speaker 1: deal with that. Anyway, back to my story, I had 32 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:07,680 Speaker 1: been thinking about getting a guitar, and I wanted it 33 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:10,560 Speaker 1: to be a decent guitar, you know, something I would 34 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:13,799 Speaker 1: actually want to pick up and play. I didn't want 35 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:17,000 Speaker 1: to buy something super cheap and then find out I 36 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:20,080 Speaker 1: didn't like the feel of it or how it sounded, 37 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:23,040 Speaker 1: because that would discourage me from playing it. I would 38 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:25,360 Speaker 1: just set it down and never pick it up again. 39 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:27,600 Speaker 1: But on the other hand, I also didn't want to 40 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:30,800 Speaker 1: go crazy and buy some sort of you know, super 41 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:34,880 Speaker 1: expensive guitar, because guitars can get real expensive, y'all. I 42 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:37,600 Speaker 1: mean What if I didn't like playing guitar just because 43 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:40,080 Speaker 1: I didn't like it? Right, what if I decided that 44 00:02:40,160 --> 00:02:43,480 Speaker 1: I didn't enjoy playing. I am forty five years old 45 00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:46,320 Speaker 1: this year, and skills just don't come to me as 46 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:51,000 Speaker 1: quickly as they used to. So it's entirely possible that 47 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:54,920 Speaker 1: I could become frustrated, or I could become bored even 48 00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:57,440 Speaker 1: with a really nice guitar, and then just set it 49 00:02:57,480 --> 00:03:01,480 Speaker 1: down and let it collect dust. So I would have 50 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:05,400 Speaker 1: wasted a lot of money on a really expensive decoration 51 00:03:05,480 --> 00:03:08,760 Speaker 1: at that point, and that would be really irresponsible, even 52 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:12,480 Speaker 1: in a good economic climate, let alone one is uncertain 53 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:16,280 Speaker 1: as the one we find ourselves in today. So I 54 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:19,079 Speaker 1: did what I do. I did a lot of research, 55 00:03:19,639 --> 00:03:24,480 Speaker 1: like a lot of research. My wife was getting amused 56 00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:28,120 Speaker 1: by how frequently I was watching videos about different guitars 57 00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:32,400 Speaker 1: and different price ranges, weighing them, saying, well, yeah, this 58 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:35,520 Speaker 1: is gonna be a slightly less expensive guitar, which means 59 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:38,560 Speaker 1: it's going to have these sort of things that I'll 60 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:41,560 Speaker 1: have to consider. But but on the other hand, it's 61 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:43,880 Speaker 1: better than this other guitar, you know. I went through 62 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:48,640 Speaker 1: all of that. Ultimately I decided I wanted a strato caster, 63 00:03:48,880 --> 00:03:52,840 Speaker 1: a classic electric guitar. The strato caster is made by Fender, 64 00:03:53,560 --> 00:03:57,240 Speaker 1: and I really like the sound of strato casters now. 65 00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:00,360 Speaker 1: I love stuff like surf rock, and Dick Dave, one 66 00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:04,040 Speaker 1: of the most famous surf rock guitarists, played a strat. 67 00:04:04,680 --> 00:04:08,120 Speaker 1: But I also wanted to be financially responsible because there 68 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:11,720 Speaker 1: are a lot of different strato casters out there, and 69 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:16,200 Speaker 1: generally they mostly share a couple of common traits. Most 70 00:04:16,360 --> 00:04:20,839 Speaker 1: strato casters have three single coil pickups, and the pickups 71 00:04:20,839 --> 00:04:24,080 Speaker 1: are the components that pick up the vibration of the 72 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:27,600 Speaker 1: strings and then convert that into electric signals that can 73 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:31,120 Speaker 1: then feed out to an amplifier and speakers. Strats have 74 00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:34,800 Speaker 1: three of these, typically one near the base of the 75 00:04:34,839 --> 00:04:37,440 Speaker 1: neck of the guitar the neck pickup, one in the 76 00:04:37,480 --> 00:04:40,360 Speaker 1: middle of the body of the guitar, and one towards 77 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:44,239 Speaker 1: the bridge of the guitar. A switch on the strat 78 00:04:44,640 --> 00:04:48,480 Speaker 1: lets you select which pickup or which pair of pickups 79 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:51,120 Speaker 1: are active at any given time, and that changes the 80 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:53,279 Speaker 1: sound you get out of the guitar when it plays 81 00:04:53,320 --> 00:04:58,839 Speaker 1: through an amplifier. But beyond these general similarities, there are 82 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:02,240 Speaker 1: a ton of different options. You can buy a starter 83 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:06,120 Speaker 1: entry level Strat for less than two hundred dollars, or 84 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:09,160 Speaker 1: you could go bonkers and buy a mod shop guitar 85 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:13,320 Speaker 1: for around eight hundred dollars. So yeah, there is a range, 86 00:05:13,360 --> 00:05:16,440 Speaker 1: and of course if you went full custom shop it 87 00:05:16,480 --> 00:05:20,159 Speaker 1: could be way more expensive. So I looked into the 88 00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:24,000 Speaker 1: Squire line of guitars. Now, this is Fenders budget line, 89 00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:27,640 Speaker 1: but they tend to measure up pretty well to guitars 90 00:05:27,839 --> 00:05:32,880 Speaker 1: from the more prestigious official Fender line, particularly in the 91 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:36,479 Speaker 1: Squire Classic Vibe series, which are guitars they are designed 92 00:05:36,480 --> 00:05:38,760 Speaker 1: to be closer to the style of the classic electric 93 00:05:38,800 --> 00:05:43,080 Speaker 1: guitars of the fifties and sixties. Now, I'm left handed, 94 00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:46,320 Speaker 1: and that's really what I'm going to get into in 95 00:05:46,360 --> 00:05:49,960 Speaker 1: this episode, because being left handed means there are a 96 00:05:49,960 --> 00:05:53,560 Speaker 1: lot of little struggles in your life. Most of the time, 97 00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:57,960 Speaker 1: they aren't particularly meaningful or noteworthy. They tend to mostly 98 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:02,880 Speaker 1: be slightly frustrating worst, and that's about it most of 99 00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:05,560 Speaker 1: the time. So I want to stress from the beginning 100 00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:07,839 Speaker 1: of this episode that the stuff I'm going to talk 101 00:06:07,880 --> 00:06:11,240 Speaker 1: about is really not that big a deal in the 102 00:06:11,279 --> 00:06:14,360 Speaker 1: grand scheme of things most of the time. But being 103 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:17,560 Speaker 1: left handed often means that when it comes to purchasing 104 00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:22,640 Speaker 1: stuff where handedness is a factor, like guitars, you're faced 105 00:06:22,640 --> 00:06:26,960 Speaker 1: with fewer options than you're right handed counterparts. For example, 106 00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:30,360 Speaker 1: if you were to go to Fender's website the morning 107 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:33,520 Speaker 1: that I wrote this, and you were to look at 108 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:36,919 Speaker 1: the different options for electric guitars that they had in stock, 109 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:40,120 Speaker 1: you would see at that time that the company had 110 00:06:40,200 --> 00:06:44,640 Speaker 1: one hundred eleven guitars for right handers in stock, for 111 00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:51,480 Speaker 1: left handers eight eight versus one hundred eleven. Now, typically 112 00:06:51,800 --> 00:06:55,960 Speaker 1: a left hander has fewer options, and then fewer choices 113 00:06:56,160 --> 00:06:59,760 Speaker 1: within those options, choices like the color of the guitar, 114 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:04,320 Speaker 1: for example, So while I could have loved a Candy 115 00:07:04,360 --> 00:07:09,600 Speaker 1: Apple red left handed Squire Classic Sixties Vibes stratocaster, that 116 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:12,440 Speaker 1: was not an option, Nor could I get the lovely 117 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:17,040 Speaker 1: Lake Placid blue option that right handers could get. Those 118 00:07:17,520 --> 00:07:20,880 Speaker 1: right handed versions had Candy Apple red and Lake Placid blue, 119 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:23,440 Speaker 1: but for left handers you didn't have a choice. There 120 00:07:23,480 --> 00:07:28,680 Speaker 1: was only one color option, Sunburst, which sadly was my 121 00:07:28,800 --> 00:07:32,560 Speaker 1: least favorite of the three colors. But hey, them's the brakes. 122 00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:35,200 Speaker 1: And while I wasn't in love with the color. I 123 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:37,520 Speaker 1: could live with it, and I did love all the 124 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:41,400 Speaker 1: things I read about the line of guitars, so I 125 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:44,440 Speaker 1: didn't really let that bother me so much. And before 126 00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:48,240 Speaker 1: anyone pipes up about re stringing a guitar so that 127 00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:51,520 Speaker 1: you can convert a right handed guitar into a left 128 00:07:51,520 --> 00:07:55,120 Speaker 1: handed guitar, yeah, I could technically have purchased a right 129 00:07:55,200 --> 00:07:59,119 Speaker 1: handed Candy Apple red model, taking the strings off, taking 130 00:07:59,160 --> 00:08:01,880 Speaker 1: the nut off the top of the neck, flip the 131 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:06,320 Speaker 1: nut around, reinserted it, then restrung the guitar so that 132 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:08,200 Speaker 1: it was a left handed guitar. But that would also 133 00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:10,680 Speaker 1: mean that all the controls for the guitar, like the 134 00:08:10,760 --> 00:08:14,360 Speaker 1: volume and tone knobs and the tremolo or whammy bar 135 00:08:14,720 --> 00:08:17,400 Speaker 1: would have been on the wrong side, and I would 136 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:19,360 Speaker 1: have to figure out how to deal with that in 137 00:08:19,480 --> 00:08:22,880 Speaker 1: order to play it properly. So I wasn't really keen 138 00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:25,160 Speaker 1: on trying to make a product that had been made 139 00:08:25,240 --> 00:08:29,000 Speaker 1: for a right hander work for a left hander. I 140 00:08:29,040 --> 00:08:32,120 Speaker 1: had a few gift cards for Amazon, not a sponsor, 141 00:08:32,760 --> 00:08:34,600 Speaker 1: and that sealed the deal for me. I said, I'm 142 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:37,920 Speaker 1: gonna use these gift cards toward buying a guitar. I 143 00:08:37,920 --> 00:08:41,520 Speaker 1: would buy a Squire stratocaster for four hundred dollars, which 144 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:45,040 Speaker 1: is not an insignificant sum of money, particularly if you're 145 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:49,320 Speaker 1: trying to stay economically responsible during a time of uncertainty. 146 00:08:49,360 --> 00:08:51,959 Speaker 1: But with the gift cards that would bring the price 147 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:55,160 Speaker 1: down to about half price, and I figured I would 148 00:08:55,200 --> 00:08:58,400 Speaker 1: splurge on myself as sort of a late birthday present. 149 00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:01,559 Speaker 1: I figured, if nothing else, I could consider it an 150 00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:05,360 Speaker 1: investment in my mental health. I placed my order on 151 00:09:05,400 --> 00:09:08,640 Speaker 1: a Saturday, and I was predicted to receive the guitar 152 00:09:08,800 --> 00:09:12,720 Speaker 1: on the following Friday, so a week later. Now, over 153 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:14,720 Speaker 1: the course of that week, I grew a bit anxious 154 00:09:14,760 --> 00:09:17,480 Speaker 1: because when I would check on the order status, it 155 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:21,360 Speaker 1: hadn't changed. It had registered order, but it never moved 156 00:09:21,440 --> 00:09:25,640 Speaker 1: to shipping, let alone out for delivery. And then on 157 00:09:25,720 --> 00:09:29,880 Speaker 1: that Friday that I was to receive it, July twenty, 158 00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:33,760 Speaker 1: that was the morning that I wrote this, I finally 159 00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:37,520 Speaker 1: got an email that said my order had been canceled 160 00:09:37,640 --> 00:09:42,920 Speaker 1: due to quote lack of availability end quote. Now, Amazon's 161 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:45,400 Speaker 1: system had said that there was only one of these 162 00:09:45,440 --> 00:09:48,920 Speaker 1: guitars and stock, but apparently they just couldn't locate it, 163 00:09:49,240 --> 00:09:54,360 Speaker 1: and so I did not get my guitar, though I 164 00:09:54,400 --> 00:09:57,439 Speaker 1: did receive the accessories I had ordered, so now I've 165 00:09:57,480 --> 00:10:00,760 Speaker 1: got a guitar stand and a guitar strap, but no 166 00:10:00,920 --> 00:10:05,839 Speaker 1: guitar to go with it. Sad trombone. Now, I don't 167 00:10:05,880 --> 00:10:09,080 Speaker 1: tell this story just because I'm bummed out and I 168 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:12,160 Speaker 1: want to grouse about it, though I admit that's definitely 169 00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:15,240 Speaker 1: part of it. I want to talk about the problems 170 00:10:15,240 --> 00:10:18,679 Speaker 1: that left handers face when it comes to certain technologies, 171 00:10:18,880 --> 00:10:22,600 Speaker 1: and how those relatively minor problems can open the door 172 00:10:22,679 --> 00:10:26,800 Speaker 1: to the realization and acknowledgement that other people face much 173 00:10:26,840 --> 00:10:30,880 Speaker 1: more serious challenges when it comes to tech and bias 174 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:34,280 Speaker 1: and accessibility. And before I get into it too much, 175 00:10:34,600 --> 00:10:38,560 Speaker 1: let's talk about why I'm not upset at Fender Guitars 176 00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:42,440 Speaker 1: for this in general, I'm not even really upset at Amazon. 177 00:10:42,920 --> 00:10:46,200 Speaker 1: I mean, when it comes down to one unit in 178 00:10:46,320 --> 00:10:49,480 Speaker 1: all of Amazon, I imagine it's not that uncommon for 179 00:10:49,559 --> 00:10:53,280 Speaker 1: something to appear in an online inventory, and yet you 180 00:10:53,320 --> 00:10:57,120 Speaker 1: can't actually track down the physical thing when someone places 181 00:10:57,160 --> 00:10:59,560 Speaker 1: in order. You just can't figure out where it is 182 00:10:59,600 --> 00:11:02,080 Speaker 1: and aware how somewhere that's got to happen. You know, 183 00:11:03,320 --> 00:11:08,120 Speaker 1: fairly frequently the prevailing wisdom is that left handers make 184 00:11:08,200 --> 00:11:12,560 Speaker 1: up about ten of the total population. Now that number 185 00:11:12,720 --> 00:11:16,240 Speaker 1: is sometimes disputed. Some argue there are way more lefties 186 00:11:16,280 --> 00:11:19,839 Speaker 1: than that, but the general consensus is that nine out 187 00:11:19,880 --> 00:11:23,160 Speaker 1: of ten people are right handed. So if you are 188 00:11:23,200 --> 00:11:27,800 Speaker 1: making products where handedness matters, it makes far more sense 189 00:11:27,840 --> 00:11:30,880 Speaker 1: to dedicate your focus on the right handers. They make 190 00:11:30,960 --> 00:11:35,559 Speaker 1: up the bulk of the population, they represent your primary customers, 191 00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:39,560 Speaker 1: and that will guide many of your other decisions. For example, 192 00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:43,480 Speaker 1: if what you're making requires mass production, you have to 193 00:11:43,559 --> 00:11:47,640 Speaker 1: create an assembly process, and that assembly process needs to 194 00:11:47,720 --> 00:11:52,520 Speaker 1: be as efficient as possible. Efficiency relates to cost, so 195 00:11:52,800 --> 00:11:56,120 Speaker 1: the more efficient you are able to make the production process, 196 00:11:56,600 --> 00:11:59,360 Speaker 1: the less it costs to make the thing you're making, 197 00:11:59,640 --> 00:12:02,160 Speaker 1: and that means you can be competitive in your pricing. 198 00:12:02,240 --> 00:12:04,800 Speaker 1: When you put your product up on the market against 199 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:08,400 Speaker 1: products from other companies. You need to charge more than 200 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:11,000 Speaker 1: it costs to make so that you can make a profit. 201 00:12:11,120 --> 00:12:13,719 Speaker 1: You don't want to sell things at a loss typically, 202 00:12:14,160 --> 00:12:17,280 Speaker 1: but you can also be competitive against those other companies 203 00:12:17,280 --> 00:12:19,560 Speaker 1: that are also making whatever it is you're making. But 204 00:12:19,640 --> 00:12:23,080 Speaker 1: this means your assembly process needs to be fine tuned 205 00:12:23,360 --> 00:12:26,880 Speaker 1: toward that product. You can imagine that there is an 206 00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:30,320 Speaker 1: ideal version of whatever it is you're making. This is 207 00:12:30,320 --> 00:12:32,400 Speaker 1: the model you're working off of. This is what you're 208 00:12:32,400 --> 00:12:36,439 Speaker 1: trying to replicate every single time. So your goal is 209 00:12:36,480 --> 00:12:39,760 Speaker 1: to produce stuff like guitars that match that model as 210 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:43,600 Speaker 1: much as possible. And with guitars made from wood, this 211 00:12:43,679 --> 00:12:47,119 Speaker 1: is actually impossible. You're never going to have two guitars 212 00:12:47,120 --> 00:12:50,040 Speaker 1: come out exactly the same because there's going to be 213 00:12:50,160 --> 00:12:53,920 Speaker 1: variations in the wood. You'll be able to see and 214 00:12:53,960 --> 00:12:58,000 Speaker 1: maybe even feel minor differences from guitar to guitar, even 215 00:12:58,040 --> 00:13:01,440 Speaker 1: in the same line, even produce just on the same day. 216 00:13:01,480 --> 00:13:04,640 Speaker 1: But the goal is to get each guitar as close 217 00:13:04,720 --> 00:13:08,160 Speaker 1: to this standard as you possibly can, and that means 218 00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:12,320 Speaker 1: that the whole process needs to be precise, consistent, and 219 00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:16,480 Speaker 1: easy to replicate. So the process works great as long 220 00:13:16,520 --> 00:13:20,600 Speaker 1: as you're producing the same thing over and over. You'll 221 00:13:20,679 --> 00:13:24,800 Speaker 1: get small variations, but in general you'll chug along and 222 00:13:24,840 --> 00:13:28,559 Speaker 1: you'll build however many guitars as your facility can manage 223 00:13:28,640 --> 00:13:31,880 Speaker 1: given the process of materials, as long as all these 224 00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:36,040 Speaker 1: guitars require that same process, and that's where the left 225 00:13:36,080 --> 00:13:39,960 Speaker 1: handed problem comes in. To make a left handed guitar, 226 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:43,400 Speaker 1: you need to flip everything a d eighty degrees. The 227 00:13:43,480 --> 00:13:47,959 Speaker 1: string order is reversed, the headstock has to be flipped, 228 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:50,960 Speaker 1: the tuners will have to be on the opposite side 229 00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:55,000 Speaker 1: of a right handed guitar. The controls like volume and tone, 230 00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:57,480 Speaker 1: and the tremolo or wamy bar have to be on 231 00:13:57,520 --> 00:14:01,480 Speaker 1: the opposite side. The pickguard has to be flipped. You 232 00:14:01,520 --> 00:14:04,000 Speaker 1: get the idea. The real problem is you can't just 233 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:06,840 Speaker 1: flip a switch on the assembly line to go from 234 00:14:06,920 --> 00:14:10,199 Speaker 1: right handed to left handed and have the whole process 235 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:13,960 Speaker 1: pop out ten left handed guitars for every one right 236 00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:18,240 Speaker 1: handed guitars. It doesn't work that way. Instead, you either 237 00:14:18,360 --> 00:14:22,960 Speaker 1: need a parallel assembly line just for left handed guitars, 238 00:14:22,960 --> 00:14:25,360 Speaker 1: but that doesn't make much sense because you're never going 239 00:14:25,400 --> 00:14:29,160 Speaker 1: to need to produce as many left handed guitars, or 240 00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:33,360 Speaker 1: you have to retool your normal assembly process in order 241 00:14:33,400 --> 00:14:38,320 Speaker 1: to occasionally produce some left handed models. Either way, producing 242 00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:41,880 Speaker 1: a left handed guitar isn't as efficient as producing a 243 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:45,800 Speaker 1: right handed one, and that means it costs more to make. 244 00:14:46,320 --> 00:14:49,280 Speaker 1: Now you could charge more for a left handed guitar, 245 00:14:49,560 --> 00:14:53,200 Speaker 1: and some companies do, or you could resign yourself to 246 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:55,680 Speaker 1: the fact that you just won't make as much money 247 00:14:55,760 --> 00:14:59,000 Speaker 1: selling a left handed guitar as you would selling a 248 00:14:59,120 --> 00:15:02,800 Speaker 1: right handed guitar. Are either way, you're not likely to 249 00:15:02,880 --> 00:15:07,480 Speaker 1: make that many left handed guitars, and it's important that 250 00:15:07,520 --> 00:15:12,080 Speaker 1: you know I am not criticizing that decision. It makes 251 00:15:12,200 --> 00:15:16,080 Speaker 1: no economic sense to produce left handed anything's in the 252 00:15:16,160 --> 00:15:19,400 Speaker 1: same amount as right handed ones. You would never sell 253 00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:21,800 Speaker 1: them all because there's just not enough left handers to 254 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:25,400 Speaker 1: make up the market. The same is true for all 255 00:15:25,440 --> 00:15:29,560 Speaker 1: the different options you find with products like guitars. Sure, 256 00:15:29,760 --> 00:15:33,000 Speaker 1: you could spend the time and effort necessary to provide 257 00:15:33,240 --> 00:15:36,320 Speaker 1: the exact same options to lefties as you do to 258 00:15:36,520 --> 00:15:38,760 Speaker 1: right ease, but there's a good chance you would end 259 00:15:38,840 --> 00:15:42,440 Speaker 1: up with a lot of unsold stock. You might eventually 260 00:15:42,640 --> 00:15:46,960 Speaker 1: move that unsold stock by selling products at a huge discount, 261 00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:50,880 Speaker 1: but by then you could be looking at maybe breaking 262 00:15:50,920 --> 00:15:53,800 Speaker 1: even or perhaps even selling them at a loss. It 263 00:15:53,880 --> 00:15:56,480 Speaker 1: makes way more sense to just never make the ding 264 00:15:56,560 --> 00:16:00,000 Speaker 1: dang durned things in the first place. So this means 265 00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:03,760 Speaker 1: that left handers often have to make some compromises when 266 00:16:03,760 --> 00:16:06,760 Speaker 1: it comes to technology. Either we have to make do 267 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:10,080 Speaker 1: with things that were made for right handers and find 268 00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:12,560 Speaker 1: a way to make it work, or we are left 269 00:16:12,600 --> 00:16:15,960 Speaker 1: with a limited number of options that pales in comparison 270 00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:19,240 Speaker 1: to what is available for right handers. When we come back, 271 00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:23,280 Speaker 1: we'll talk about how the more sinister among us have 272 00:16:23,440 --> 00:16:36,520 Speaker 1: to navigate technology. But first let's take a quick break. Now. 273 00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:39,400 Speaker 1: I'm not going to go into the history of how 274 00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:44,480 Speaker 1: being left handed is or was a taboo in many cultures. 275 00:16:44,560 --> 00:16:47,800 Speaker 1: That gets outside the realm of tech stuff. But it 276 00:16:47,880 --> 00:16:50,880 Speaker 1: mostly comes down to how groups of people are pretty 277 00:16:50,920 --> 00:16:54,760 Speaker 1: good at identifying individuals who do not fit the norm, 278 00:16:54,840 --> 00:16:57,560 Speaker 1: and then they attempt to find ways to explain why 279 00:16:57,680 --> 00:17:01,200 Speaker 1: that person is different in those ways often can end 280 00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:05,720 Speaker 1: up being negative. Going into left handed technology is interesting 281 00:17:05,960 --> 00:17:09,479 Speaker 1: because in some cultures the typical approach to dealing with 282 00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:13,400 Speaker 1: left handers was to force them to perform tasks as 283 00:17:13,440 --> 00:17:16,720 Speaker 1: a right hander, forcing people to write with their right 284 00:17:16,760 --> 00:17:19,080 Speaker 1: hand even if they were left handed. You hear the 285 00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:22,560 Speaker 1: story all the time, and this is not always easy 286 00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:26,400 Speaker 1: for left handers. I mean, assuming you're not ambidexterous, I 287 00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:29,320 Speaker 1: imagine there are things that you would find fairly simple 288 00:17:29,359 --> 00:17:33,560 Speaker 1: to do with your dominant hand that become frustratingly difficult 289 00:17:33,600 --> 00:17:37,240 Speaker 1: to do with your non dominant hand. I figured we'd 290 00:17:37,240 --> 00:17:40,919 Speaker 1: start with a technology that I found quite vexing in 291 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:46,600 Speaker 1: my youth, a very simple technology, scissors. Let's talk about 292 00:17:46,600 --> 00:17:50,800 Speaker 1: how scissors work. So scissors are a type of compound machine, 293 00:17:51,119 --> 00:17:54,199 Speaker 1: and a compound machine is one that makes use of 294 00:17:54,520 --> 00:17:59,520 Speaker 1: two or more simple machines. The six simple machines the 295 00:17:59,600 --> 00:18:04,240 Speaker 1: class simple machines are the wheel and axle believer, the 296 00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:10,280 Speaker 1: inclined plane, the pulley, the screw, and the wedge. Now, interestingly, 297 00:18:10,760 --> 00:18:14,800 Speaker 1: the pulley, screw, and wedge are all extensions of the 298 00:18:14,920 --> 00:18:19,400 Speaker 1: first three machines, and simple machines are intended to change 299 00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:23,800 Speaker 1: the magnitude of a force or the direction of that force. 300 00:18:24,560 --> 00:18:28,360 Speaker 1: A pair of scissors consists of two blades, which are 301 00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:32,399 Speaker 1: essentially wedges, and that's one of the simple machines. They 302 00:18:32,440 --> 00:18:36,240 Speaker 1: are also mounted in a cross shape around a fulcrum, 303 00:18:36,560 --> 00:18:40,280 Speaker 1: and that turns the handles of the scissors into levers, 304 00:18:40,320 --> 00:18:44,320 Speaker 1: another simple machine. So pushing the levers together brings the 305 00:18:44,359 --> 00:18:48,320 Speaker 1: wedge blades together, and that's what allows you to cut stuff. Moreover, 306 00:18:48,640 --> 00:18:52,399 Speaker 1: the process of squeezing the handles actually creates pressure that 307 00:18:52,600 --> 00:18:55,639 Speaker 1: squeezes the blades together, not just up and down, but 308 00:18:55,960 --> 00:18:59,440 Speaker 1: left and right, so there's a sort of pinching action 309 00:18:59,560 --> 00:19:03,560 Speaker 1: happening between the blades that allows for a nice clean cut. 310 00:19:04,160 --> 00:19:06,560 Speaker 1: That is, they do this if you happen to be 311 00:19:06,640 --> 00:19:10,040 Speaker 1: using the scissors in the proper hand. If a left 312 00:19:10,080 --> 00:19:14,639 Speaker 1: hander tries to use right handed scissors with their left hand, 313 00:19:15,040 --> 00:19:17,440 Speaker 1: they will find that the blades tend to create a 314 00:19:17,520 --> 00:19:20,919 Speaker 1: space between them as they close, so they close up 315 00:19:20,960 --> 00:19:23,960 Speaker 1: and down, but there's a space left and right that 316 00:19:24,040 --> 00:19:28,640 Speaker 1: allows whatever you're cutting to bend between the blades, which 317 00:19:28,720 --> 00:19:31,680 Speaker 1: usually means you don't tend to cut anything at all, 318 00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:34,600 Speaker 1: or if you do cut, you do so in a 319 00:19:34,640 --> 00:19:37,400 Speaker 1: way where you're maulding whatever it is you're trying to cut. 320 00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:40,000 Speaker 1: I can't tell you how many times I ended up 321 00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:44,000 Speaker 1: with what looked like shredded paper instead of a nice 322 00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:47,040 Speaker 1: clean cut. The squeezing action with the left hand just 323 00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:49,800 Speaker 1: creates a force along that full crumb that moves the 324 00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:53,040 Speaker 1: blades apart rather than squeezing them together. Now, left handers 325 00:19:53,160 --> 00:19:56,639 Speaker 1: can attempt to compensate for this by creating a different 326 00:19:56,680 --> 00:20:00,280 Speaker 1: force with their fingers, essentially pushing their thumbs and index 327 00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:03,440 Speaker 1: fingers in a way to create that pinching force. You're 328 00:20:03,520 --> 00:20:09,080 Speaker 1: forcing the blades together. The boy howdy, that is not comfortable. 329 00:20:09,359 --> 00:20:12,800 Speaker 1: It hurts. Moreover, the position of the blades means that 330 00:20:12,920 --> 00:20:15,920 Speaker 1: the top blade is always on the right side. You 331 00:20:15,960 --> 00:20:17,760 Speaker 1: can flip the blades over, but that means the top 332 00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:20,600 Speaker 1: blade is still on the right side. This actually makes 333 00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:23,080 Speaker 1: it really hard for left handers to see what they 334 00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:26,600 Speaker 1: are cutting if they're trying to cut with their left hand, 335 00:20:27,119 --> 00:20:30,040 Speaker 1: because the blade is in the way. Left handed scissors 336 00:20:30,280 --> 00:20:33,480 Speaker 1: have the top blade on the left side rather than 337 00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:37,000 Speaker 1: the right side. That There are so called left handed 338 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:40,119 Speaker 1: scissors that don't do this, but they are left handed 339 00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:42,320 Speaker 1: only in the sense that they have handles that have 340 00:20:42,520 --> 00:20:46,199 Speaker 1: contours that better fit the left hand. But without changing 341 00:20:46,200 --> 00:20:49,239 Speaker 1: that blade orientation, you really haven't solved the problem. You 342 00:20:49,560 --> 00:20:51,760 Speaker 1: still can't really see what you're cutting, and you're still 343 00:20:51,760 --> 00:20:55,000 Speaker 1: going to be forcing those blades apart from each other. Now. 344 00:20:55,040 --> 00:20:58,760 Speaker 1: Fun fact, I never learned to use left handed scissors 345 00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:01,280 Speaker 1: because when I was going to school, my school just 346 00:21:01,320 --> 00:21:04,920 Speaker 1: didn't have any. I would use right handed scissors, either 347 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:07,200 Speaker 1: trying desperately to get them to work with my left 348 00:21:07,240 --> 00:21:10,200 Speaker 1: hand or just giving up and using my right hand, 349 00:21:10,280 --> 00:21:12,120 Speaker 1: knowing that whatever I was going to cut was going 350 00:21:12,160 --> 00:21:15,439 Speaker 1: to look awful because of my lack of fine motor 351 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:19,600 Speaker 1: skills with my non dominant hand. For another common tool, 352 00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:23,479 Speaker 1: one much more advanced than a pair of scissors, let 353 00:21:23,640 --> 00:21:27,479 Speaker 1: us consider the computer mouse. Now, your typical computer mouse 354 00:21:27,560 --> 00:21:30,560 Speaker 1: tends to have at least two buttons, one on the 355 00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:33,960 Speaker 1: left and one on the right. There are ones that don't, 356 00:21:34,920 --> 00:21:38,560 Speaker 1: they're the single button mouse types, like the ones that 357 00:21:38,600 --> 00:21:40,639 Speaker 1: are used with certain max that kind of thing. But 358 00:21:40,800 --> 00:21:43,840 Speaker 1: your typical computer mouse has at least two buttons, a 359 00:21:43,920 --> 00:21:47,080 Speaker 1: left click and a right click, and they tend to 360 00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:49,960 Speaker 1: be contoured in such a way the mouse is that 361 00:21:50,040 --> 00:21:53,720 Speaker 1: they have a nice fit with the right hand. They 362 00:21:53,720 --> 00:21:56,199 Speaker 1: don't fit the left hand the same way. They're just 363 00:21:56,240 --> 00:22:00,000 Speaker 1: not contoured that way. And most programs tend to incorporate 364 00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:05,199 Speaker 1: mouse commands by shifting important functions for the keyboard to 365 00:22:05,240 --> 00:22:08,040 Speaker 1: the left side of that keyboard, so that way you've 366 00:22:08,080 --> 00:22:10,280 Speaker 1: got the mouse in your right hand and your left 367 00:22:10,320 --> 00:22:12,920 Speaker 1: hand remains free on the left side of the keyboard 368 00:22:12,960 --> 00:22:16,640 Speaker 1: to do whatever other functions you need to do to 369 00:22:16,720 --> 00:22:19,720 Speaker 1: navigate the program. Computer games tend to be a good 370 00:22:19,720 --> 00:22:22,600 Speaker 1: example of how this plays out in favor of right ees. 371 00:22:23,040 --> 00:22:26,719 Speaker 1: So take a first person shooter game like Doom. The 372 00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:29,919 Speaker 1: mouse controls your point of view or your aim in 373 00:22:29,960 --> 00:22:32,960 Speaker 1: the game. You use your mouse to direct your line 374 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:35,720 Speaker 1: of sight and thus where you have your big zappy 375 00:22:35,800 --> 00:22:38,200 Speaker 1: gun pointed at any given moment so you can shoot 376 00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:42,800 Speaker 1: all those little demon critters. Your character's movement maps typically 377 00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:46,879 Speaker 1: to the WAZA keys, the W A S D keys, 378 00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:50,480 Speaker 1: W being forward, S being backward, and A and D 379 00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:54,560 Speaker 1: typically being strafe left and strafe right, respectively. In a 380 00:22:54,600 --> 00:22:58,320 Speaker 1: shooting game, you need to have precise aim to compete 381 00:22:58,400 --> 00:23:01,600 Speaker 1: at really high levels. If you watch some pro e 382 00:23:01,760 --> 00:23:04,280 Speaker 1: sports players and you really pay attention to how fast 383 00:23:04,359 --> 00:23:07,320 Speaker 1: and precise they are with their aim, it's incredible, and 384 00:23:07,320 --> 00:23:10,880 Speaker 1: it requires a highly developed fine motor skill set with 385 00:23:10,960 --> 00:23:14,560 Speaker 1: whatever hand you're using to aim. In contrast, your movement 386 00:23:14,680 --> 00:23:18,480 Speaker 1: in these style of games is important, but typically does 387 00:23:18,520 --> 00:23:22,200 Speaker 1: not need the same level of precision as aiming, so 388 00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:27,080 Speaker 1: offloading movement to the non dominant hand isn't a huge problem. 389 00:23:27,359 --> 00:23:31,160 Speaker 1: Left handers have it harder. If they're using a traditional 390 00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:34,560 Speaker 1: right handed set up. They're aiming with their non dominant 391 00:23:34,640 --> 00:23:38,199 Speaker 1: hand and thus they tend to be less precise and 392 00:23:38,280 --> 00:23:40,960 Speaker 1: less accurate. Now I know that's the case with me, 393 00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:44,159 Speaker 1: and of course I'm also older, so my reaction times 394 00:23:44,160 --> 00:23:47,479 Speaker 1: are slowing down too. I guess what I'm saying is 395 00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:51,479 Speaker 1: you really don't want me to be on your Overwatch team. 396 00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:54,920 Speaker 1: There are left handed versions of the computer mouse out there, 397 00:23:55,200 --> 00:23:58,080 Speaker 1: and the fact that we've gone to USB connections rather 398 00:23:58,160 --> 00:24:01,919 Speaker 1: than the old PS slash two ports that computers and 399 00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:05,399 Speaker 1: stuff like keyboards and mice used to depend on. We 400 00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:08,399 Speaker 1: don't use those anymore, which that usually means you actually 401 00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:11,639 Speaker 1: have more options of where you can connect stuff to 402 00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:15,080 Speaker 1: your computer, so cable management isn't as big a pain 403 00:24:15,160 --> 00:24:18,280 Speaker 1: in the neck because you typically have more options of 404 00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:22,640 Speaker 1: where that USB cable can plug into. If the game 405 00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:25,439 Speaker 1: developers thought it through, you might even be able to 406 00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:29,000 Speaker 1: map your computer keys so that your movement stuff can 407 00:24:29,040 --> 00:24:32,720 Speaker 1: go to a different set of four keys, such as I, J, K, 408 00:24:33,240 --> 00:24:36,959 Speaker 1: L or the number pad. If you can't map keys, 409 00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:40,159 Speaker 1: then it means the left hander has to deal with 410 00:24:40,200 --> 00:24:43,000 Speaker 1: sitting in an odd way or positioning their keyboard in 411 00:24:43,040 --> 00:24:46,000 Speaker 1: an offset way so that the right hand can control 412 00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:49,280 Speaker 1: those W A, S, D keys. Now I used video 413 00:24:49,359 --> 00:24:52,520 Speaker 1: games as my example. But of course the computer mouse 414 00:24:52,720 --> 00:24:56,680 Speaker 1: is a standard input device for all sorts of PC programs. 415 00:24:57,320 --> 00:25:00,880 Speaker 1: I'm the only left handed person in my family, so 416 00:25:01,040 --> 00:25:03,639 Speaker 1: our computers at home all had a right handed set up, 417 00:25:03,880 --> 00:25:05,880 Speaker 1: you know, right handed computer mouse and all that kind 418 00:25:05,880 --> 00:25:08,960 Speaker 1: of stuff. Likewise, when I got to high school and 419 00:25:09,080 --> 00:25:12,679 Speaker 1: they just started to offer classes using computers, all of 420 00:25:12,720 --> 00:25:16,439 Speaker 1: those machines had a right handed mouse as well. Some 421 00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:18,760 Speaker 1: of the programs would allow you to switch the mouse 422 00:25:18,800 --> 00:25:21,520 Speaker 1: to a left handed mode, but really all that meant 423 00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:24,800 Speaker 1: was that the left and right mouse buttons flipped what 424 00:25:24,920 --> 00:25:27,960 Speaker 1: they did, so that a right mouse click was the 425 00:25:27,960 --> 00:25:31,000 Speaker 1: equivalent to a right hander using a left mouse click. 426 00:25:31,560 --> 00:25:34,479 Speaker 1: It didn't magically change the shape of the mouse or 427 00:25:34,520 --> 00:25:37,320 Speaker 1: how it connected to the PC, so it might still 428 00:25:37,359 --> 00:25:40,359 Speaker 1: not really be convenient. So as a result, I taught 429 00:25:40,359 --> 00:25:43,680 Speaker 1: myself to use a mouse right handed early on. It 430 00:25:43,720 --> 00:25:45,840 Speaker 1: wasn't that big a deal because most of the stuff 431 00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:49,240 Speaker 1: I was doing didn't require lightning, fast reactions or anything, 432 00:25:49,560 --> 00:25:52,359 Speaker 1: so I could take my time moving my wobbly little 433 00:25:52,400 --> 00:25:55,240 Speaker 1: cursor to the right spot on the screen. A few 434 00:25:55,280 --> 00:25:58,320 Speaker 1: times I tried to use a left handed mouse. I 435 00:25:58,359 --> 00:26:02,480 Speaker 1: hated it because all the important keyboard functions were on 436 00:26:02,560 --> 00:26:05,520 Speaker 1: the wrong side of the keyboard, and the user interface 437 00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:10,120 Speaker 1: was clearly biased toward right handers. It was just more convenient, 438 00:26:10,520 --> 00:26:14,719 Speaker 1: though less precise, to use my right hand on the mouse. 439 00:26:15,359 --> 00:26:19,560 Speaker 1: Sticking with video games, let's talk about consoles for a second. 440 00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:24,440 Speaker 1: The standard console controller these days has two thumbsticks, one 441 00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:29,320 Speaker 1: for each thumb. The left thumbstick typically control stuff like movement. 442 00:26:29,880 --> 00:26:34,399 Speaker 1: The right controls stuff like camera angle or aim, so again, 443 00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:39,160 Speaker 1: the task that requires the most precise fine tuning goes 444 00:26:39,240 --> 00:26:41,919 Speaker 1: to the right side. Some games do allow you to 445 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:45,240 Speaker 1: change this. That's nice, but it's a bit weird when 446 00:26:45,240 --> 00:26:47,560 Speaker 1: you first do it, particularly since a lot of games 447 00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:52,159 Speaker 1: also include platforming elements where you need to access controls 448 00:26:52,160 --> 00:26:56,120 Speaker 1: that are mapped to the buttons on the controller. The 449 00:26:56,160 --> 00:27:00,159 Speaker 1: buttons on most controllers are, you guessed it over, on 450 00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:02,800 Speaker 1: the right side, so you have to take your thumb 451 00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:05,480 Speaker 1: off the right stick to hit the buttons on the 452 00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:08,639 Speaker 1: right side of the controller. If aim is going to 453 00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:11,800 Speaker 1: the left thumbstick and movement is going to the right 454 00:27:11,840 --> 00:27:15,399 Speaker 1: thumb stick, suddenly you can't jump and move at the 455 00:27:15,440 --> 00:27:18,200 Speaker 1: same time because you have to take your thumb off 456 00:27:18,280 --> 00:27:20,879 Speaker 1: the thumbstick, and it has to do all the work. 457 00:27:21,240 --> 00:27:24,920 Speaker 1: You could conceivably buy a really expensive controller with stuff 458 00:27:24,960 --> 00:27:28,360 Speaker 1: like extra paddles and trigger buttons and map things out 459 00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:32,280 Speaker 1: to improve matters, but it's really hard to compensate for 460 00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:35,720 Speaker 1: this design using just a standard controller, and not all 461 00:27:35,800 --> 00:27:39,240 Speaker 1: games allow you to map controls like that. Now, I 462 00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:43,080 Speaker 1: don't mean to suggest that being left handed immediately means 463 00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:44,919 Speaker 1: a person is going to be bad at stuff like 464 00:27:45,040 --> 00:27:48,040 Speaker 1: video games. There are left handed players out there who 465 00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:52,800 Speaker 1: are amazing. Many have spent countless hours training their non 466 00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:56,520 Speaker 1: dominant hand to do more finely tuned tasks, and they 467 00:27:56,520 --> 00:27:59,480 Speaker 1: can compete at a professional level. But for a lot 468 00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:03,560 Speaker 1: of us, these basic approaches to design stand as an 469 00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:06,560 Speaker 1: extra challenge we face on top of whatever it is 470 00:28:06,640 --> 00:28:10,359 Speaker 1: we actually want to do. Now. I mentioned UI or 471 00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:13,600 Speaker 1: user interface a moment ago. The user interface of a 472 00:28:13,640 --> 00:28:17,199 Speaker 1: technology is exactly what it sounds like. It's the method 473 00:28:17,280 --> 00:28:21,800 Speaker 1: by which a user interacts with the technology. It includes 474 00:28:21,840 --> 00:28:24,800 Speaker 1: not just the physical interaction, such as the keyboard and 475 00:28:24,840 --> 00:28:27,199 Speaker 1: mouse of a PC, or the touch screen of a 476 00:28:27,240 --> 00:28:31,439 Speaker 1: smartphone or the controller for a video game console. It 477 00:28:31,560 --> 00:28:35,600 Speaker 1: also includes the actual design of the software and how 478 00:28:35,720 --> 00:28:39,000 Speaker 1: things are laid out, and sometimes developers will build it 479 00:28:39,040 --> 00:28:42,280 Speaker 1: in a system that just favors right handedness in more 480 00:28:42,360 --> 00:28:46,240 Speaker 1: subtle ways. For example, I can't tell you how many 481 00:28:46,240 --> 00:28:50,400 Speaker 1: on screen smartphone keyboards I've used that become a total 482 00:28:50,560 --> 00:28:53,560 Speaker 1: hassle because I would be using my left hand and 483 00:28:53,560 --> 00:28:56,440 Speaker 1: I would hit keys a little to the left of center, 484 00:28:56,720 --> 00:28:59,280 Speaker 1: and the keys really designed to be hit a little 485 00:28:59,360 --> 00:29:03,000 Speaker 1: to the right of center. I've practiced using my right 486 00:29:03,080 --> 00:29:05,560 Speaker 1: index finger to try and type things out much more 487 00:29:05,600 --> 00:29:08,760 Speaker 1: smoothly then if I were to use my left hand. 488 00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:10,840 Speaker 1: But I am left handed. I want to use my 489 00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:14,600 Speaker 1: left hand. I'm faster at it, it's more comfortable, at 490 00:29:14,680 --> 00:29:18,120 Speaker 1: least it would be, but I have to end up 491 00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:20,200 Speaker 1: thinking about aiming a little to the right of where 492 00:29:20,200 --> 00:29:22,000 Speaker 1: I think I need to go in order to hit 493 00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:24,240 Speaker 1: the key I want. Otherwise I'm just getting typos and 494 00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:27,880 Speaker 1: nonsense all the time. This sort of bias in design 495 00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:30,280 Speaker 1: can be found in a lot of other places too. 496 00:29:30,400 --> 00:29:33,720 Speaker 1: For example, the typical student desk tends to have a 497 00:29:33,760 --> 00:29:37,200 Speaker 1: shape that caters to right handers. Often there's a place 498 00:29:37,240 --> 00:29:40,400 Speaker 1: for the right arm to rest while the student is writing, 499 00:29:40,520 --> 00:29:43,479 Speaker 1: whereas on the left side of the desk it's typically open, 500 00:29:43,720 --> 00:29:46,680 Speaker 1: so if you're a lefty, you're writing with no support 501 00:29:46,720 --> 00:29:49,160 Speaker 1: for your left arm. And when I went to high school, 502 00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:53,920 Speaker 1: they had just switched over to these asymmetric desks and 503 00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:57,480 Speaker 1: they had more surface area on the right side. So 504 00:29:57,680 --> 00:30:00,960 Speaker 1: that's great. If you're a right hander, you're notebook is supported, 505 00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:03,280 Speaker 1: you can just right that way. But as a lefty, 506 00:30:03,280 --> 00:30:05,440 Speaker 1: it meant that I had to twist a bit in 507 00:30:05,480 --> 00:30:09,400 Speaker 1: my seat just to write stuff down. Even note books 508 00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:11,560 Speaker 1: are laid out in a way that work better for 509 00:30:11,720 --> 00:30:14,000 Speaker 1: right handers than left handers, at least for those of 510 00:30:14,080 --> 00:30:17,160 Speaker 1: us in the Western hemisphere who are writing left to right. 511 00:30:17,880 --> 00:30:20,520 Speaker 1: The binding of the notebook is on the left side. 512 00:30:20,800 --> 00:30:22,880 Speaker 1: Now that's not in the way if you're a right hander, 513 00:30:23,200 --> 00:30:25,760 Speaker 1: but if you're a lefty, then you've got that binding 514 00:30:25,840 --> 00:30:28,680 Speaker 1: to deal with, which means you're either contorting yourself to 515 00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:31,840 Speaker 1: work around it, or you're starting a good deal further 516 00:30:32,040 --> 00:30:35,880 Speaker 1: into the page than your right handed counterparts are. Curse 517 00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:41,160 Speaker 1: you notebook bindings. For that reason, when I use notebooks, 518 00:30:41,320 --> 00:30:44,800 Speaker 1: I typically either flip them upside down or I flip 519 00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:47,320 Speaker 1: them over and I start from the back and I 520 00:30:47,320 --> 00:30:49,840 Speaker 1: work my way forward that way. The binding is on 521 00:30:49,920 --> 00:30:53,440 Speaker 1: the right side. I still right left to right, but 522 00:30:53,520 --> 00:30:55,800 Speaker 1: now the spiral of rings is on the right hand 523 00:30:55,840 --> 00:30:58,840 Speaker 1: side and they don't get in my way. Now. So far, 524 00:30:59,320 --> 00:31:02,560 Speaker 1: most of the off I've mentioned has been frustrating, but 525 00:31:02,680 --> 00:31:06,080 Speaker 1: ultimately not really that big a deal. Yeah, it's not 526 00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:08,720 Speaker 1: fun to compensate to interact with a world that was 527 00:31:08,760 --> 00:31:11,560 Speaker 1: designed for people who aren't like you. But for the 528 00:31:11,600 --> 00:31:15,560 Speaker 1: most part, the examples I've used are fairly benign. But 529 00:31:15,680 --> 00:31:20,080 Speaker 1: just you wait, we'll be right back after this short break. 530 00:31:29,440 --> 00:31:34,000 Speaker 1: Left handers aren't strangers to facing struggles using technology meant 531 00:31:34,040 --> 00:31:37,080 Speaker 1: for right handers. And when we're lucky, someone has created 532 00:31:37,120 --> 00:31:39,840 Speaker 1: a left handed version for us to use. When we're 533 00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:44,640 Speaker 1: really lucky, that left handed version works just as well 534 00:31:44,680 --> 00:31:48,680 Speaker 1: as the right handed one does when we're crazy lucky. 535 00:31:49,400 --> 00:31:52,320 Speaker 1: Whatever it is we're doing with that left handed tool 536 00:31:52,800 --> 00:31:58,120 Speaker 1: doesn't otherwise have handedness entering into the picture. But now 537 00:31:58,840 --> 00:32:04,600 Speaker 1: we're gonna talk out chain saws. Yeah, chainsaws. These are 538 00:32:04,640 --> 00:32:11,200 Speaker 1: really useful and potentially extremely dangerous, and their design favors 539 00:32:11,360 --> 00:32:14,840 Speaker 1: right handers, which means that for people like me, they 540 00:32:14,920 --> 00:32:22,080 Speaker 1: become much more potentially dangerous tools. Now chainsaw has two handles. 541 00:32:22,520 --> 00:32:25,160 Speaker 1: One is at the very rear of the chainsaw. That's 542 00:32:25,160 --> 00:32:28,360 Speaker 1: where the throttle control is, and that's meant for the 543 00:32:28,480 --> 00:32:31,920 Speaker 1: dominant hand. Really, it's meant for the right hand. And 544 00:32:31,960 --> 00:32:35,160 Speaker 1: then there's a front handle, and typically that's an arc 545 00:32:35,440 --> 00:32:38,760 Speaker 1: that goes along the top and side the left side 546 00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:41,000 Speaker 1: of the chainsaw. It's meant for the left hand to 547 00:32:41,040 --> 00:32:44,800 Speaker 1: be there to help guide the chainsaw. Many chainsaws have 548 00:32:44,960 --> 00:32:48,280 Speaker 1: that front handle join with the body of the chainsaw 549 00:32:48,320 --> 00:32:50,680 Speaker 1: itself close to the top right side of the device, 550 00:32:51,040 --> 00:32:53,520 Speaker 1: which means that even if you wanted to hold it 551 00:32:53,600 --> 00:32:56,120 Speaker 1: as a left hander, you would be very limited and 552 00:32:56,200 --> 00:32:58,840 Speaker 1: where your right hand could go, they couldn't go all 553 00:32:58,840 --> 00:33:01,000 Speaker 1: the way to the edge because that where the are 554 00:33:01,400 --> 00:33:04,320 Speaker 1: the handle actually joins the body of the chainsaw. But 555 00:33:04,400 --> 00:33:07,080 Speaker 1: if you're holding the chainsaw with your right hand on 556 00:33:07,120 --> 00:33:09,320 Speaker 1: the rear handle, there's plenty of space for your left 557 00:33:09,320 --> 00:33:11,400 Speaker 1: hand to hold onto the front handle. That gives you 558 00:33:11,440 --> 00:33:13,720 Speaker 1: lots of different options for grips when you need to 559 00:33:13,800 --> 00:33:17,160 Speaker 1: use the chainsaw on different orientations, But typically you just 560 00:33:17,200 --> 00:33:19,640 Speaker 1: don't have that level of versatility on the right side 561 00:33:19,960 --> 00:33:22,480 Speaker 1: of the front handle. So if you were to try 562 00:33:22,480 --> 00:33:24,960 Speaker 1: and hold it left handed, you would already be facing 563 00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:29,680 Speaker 1: some limitations and controls really important when you've got a 564 00:33:29,680 --> 00:33:34,040 Speaker 1: whirling chain blade right in front of you. You want 565 00:33:34,080 --> 00:33:37,000 Speaker 1: that dominant hand on the back to control the overall 566 00:33:37,080 --> 00:33:40,120 Speaker 1: motion of the chainsaw and to deal with any kickback 567 00:33:40,160 --> 00:33:43,240 Speaker 1: you might have. The non dominant hand is really meant 568 00:33:43,280 --> 00:33:46,959 Speaker 1: to use to to guide the specific angle of attack 569 00:33:47,000 --> 00:33:50,920 Speaker 1: of the chainsaw. Chainsaws typically have a guard that's called 570 00:33:50,960 --> 00:33:54,920 Speaker 1: a chain break, like a brake, like a kind you 571 00:33:54,920 --> 00:33:58,000 Speaker 1: would have in a car, and that's mounted in front 572 00:33:58,120 --> 00:34:01,560 Speaker 1: of the front handle. The chain break is essentially a 573 00:34:01,640 --> 00:34:04,600 Speaker 1: lever that, if it gets pushed beyond a fail point, 574 00:34:04,920 --> 00:34:07,400 Speaker 1: will cut off power to the blade. So let's say 575 00:34:07,440 --> 00:34:11,000 Speaker 1: that you're using the chainsaw. The chainsaw bucks back so 576 00:34:11,040 --> 00:34:14,399 Speaker 1: that the blade is now arcing up so it would 577 00:34:14,440 --> 00:34:18,279 Speaker 1: be coming towards your head. The lever is positioned in 578 00:34:18,320 --> 00:34:20,040 Speaker 1: such a way that it will make contact with the 579 00:34:20,080 --> 00:34:24,200 Speaker 1: back of your leading hand, your left hand, and it 580 00:34:24,239 --> 00:34:27,000 Speaker 1: will trip that lever, cutting off power to the blade. 581 00:34:27,160 --> 00:34:32,000 Speaker 1: That's the idea. The problem here is that if you're 582 00:34:32,080 --> 00:34:34,040 Speaker 1: using it the other way around, with your left hand 583 00:34:34,080 --> 00:34:36,880 Speaker 1: on the rear handle, your right hand might not be 584 00:34:36,960 --> 00:34:40,759 Speaker 1: in the right position to really engage with that chain break, 585 00:34:40,880 --> 00:34:44,399 Speaker 1: so if something bad happens, there may be no way 586 00:34:44,440 --> 00:34:49,719 Speaker 1: to stop it. That's not great. Or you could be 587 00:34:49,760 --> 00:34:52,640 Speaker 1: operating it as a right hander, but it means your 588 00:34:52,680 --> 00:34:55,160 Speaker 1: non dominant hand is the one that's trying to control 589 00:34:55,239 --> 00:34:57,799 Speaker 1: the overall motion of the blade. That's not a great 590 00:34:57,800 --> 00:35:02,200 Speaker 1: option either. Now I have as chainsaws a few times, 591 00:35:02,600 --> 00:35:04,960 Speaker 1: I've always had to revert to using them as if 592 00:35:05,000 --> 00:35:07,480 Speaker 1: I were right handed, which in my mind, is the 593 00:35:07,600 --> 00:35:10,640 Speaker 1: least bad of all the different options I had in 594 00:35:10,680 --> 00:35:13,440 Speaker 1: front of me. And this is just one example of 595 00:35:13,480 --> 00:35:16,440 Speaker 1: a power tool that is designed to be used by 596 00:35:16,600 --> 00:35:22,040 Speaker 1: right handers. Pretty Much every tool is biased toward being 597 00:35:22,239 --> 00:35:25,919 Speaker 1: right handed. Either the tools are contoured in a way 598 00:35:25,960 --> 00:35:28,280 Speaker 1: where they fit the right hand but not the left, 599 00:35:29,040 --> 00:35:31,560 Speaker 1: or they operate in such a way that you really 600 00:35:31,600 --> 00:35:33,560 Speaker 1: need to be using them in your right hand, or 601 00:35:33,719 --> 00:35:36,960 Speaker 1: the line of sight doesn't really work unless you're using 602 00:35:37,000 --> 00:35:40,239 Speaker 1: it with the right hand dominant side. Whether it's a 603 00:35:40,280 --> 00:35:43,360 Speaker 1: table saw or a drill press or a power drill, 604 00:35:43,680 --> 00:35:46,000 Speaker 1: a lot of these tools just work best if they're 605 00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:49,759 Speaker 1: operated by a right hander, and at worst they can 606 00:35:49,760 --> 00:35:53,680 Speaker 1: be dangerous if they are operated any other way. The 607 00:35:53,760 --> 00:35:57,480 Speaker 1: same thing is true with firearms. Now. I am not 608 00:35:57,600 --> 00:36:00,719 Speaker 1: a gun guy. I have not fired any type of 609 00:36:00,719 --> 00:36:04,799 Speaker 1: firearm in a really long time, but if I did, 610 00:36:05,280 --> 00:36:09,319 Speaker 1: I'd likely be frustrated by the lack of options for me. 611 00:36:09,640 --> 00:36:13,799 Speaker 1: Most handguns that have an external safety catch place that 612 00:36:13,960 --> 00:36:16,560 Speaker 1: on the left side of the gun, so that your 613 00:36:16,680 --> 00:36:20,239 Speaker 1: right thumb can easily disengage the catch whenever you are 614 00:36:20,280 --> 00:36:24,280 Speaker 1: ready to actually fire the handgun. But if you're holding 615 00:36:24,280 --> 00:36:27,200 Speaker 1: this in your left hand, the catches on the opposite 616 00:36:27,200 --> 00:36:29,680 Speaker 1: side of the gun from where your thumb rests, it's 617 00:36:29,760 --> 00:36:34,560 Speaker 1: no longer where you can easily disengage it. Many rifles 618 00:36:34,600 --> 00:36:37,400 Speaker 1: are designed specifically to use with the butt of the 619 00:36:37,440 --> 00:36:43,120 Speaker 1: stock up against your right side. They expend spent casings 620 00:36:43,120 --> 00:36:46,280 Speaker 1: out the right side of the firearm, so they're away 621 00:36:46,320 --> 00:36:49,160 Speaker 1: from the shooter. If you were to try and fire 622 00:36:49,280 --> 00:36:52,319 Speaker 1: left handed, you would be dealing with this, and it 623 00:36:52,360 --> 00:36:55,560 Speaker 1: would make the experience less safe for you and as 624 00:36:55,560 --> 00:36:57,480 Speaker 1: well as less safe for anyone who happens to be 625 00:36:57,520 --> 00:37:02,680 Speaker 1: around you. It's not great. Now there are manufacturers that 626 00:37:02,840 --> 00:37:07,040 Speaker 1: make ambidextrous models of firearms, meaning that at least in theory, 627 00:37:07,400 --> 00:37:09,759 Speaker 1: they can be fired either by a right hander or 628 00:37:09,800 --> 00:37:14,279 Speaker 1: a left hander with no real difference in performance. And 629 00:37:14,320 --> 00:37:18,440 Speaker 1: then there are a few that will make left handed 630 00:37:18,520 --> 00:37:22,000 Speaker 1: models of certain firearms, but these tend to be more 631 00:37:22,040 --> 00:37:25,080 Speaker 1: expensive than the exact same models that were made for 632 00:37:25,239 --> 00:37:28,480 Speaker 1: right handers, for much the same reason that it's hard 633 00:37:28,520 --> 00:37:31,800 Speaker 1: to find good options for left handed guitars. That being, 634 00:37:32,080 --> 00:37:35,760 Speaker 1: the manufacturing process has been streamlined to create a certain 635 00:37:35,800 --> 00:37:39,319 Speaker 1: type of product in a very particular way, and that 636 00:37:39,400 --> 00:37:42,359 Speaker 1: process works great when that's all you want to do. 637 00:37:42,480 --> 00:37:45,160 Speaker 1: But if you want to do anything besides make the 638 00:37:45,239 --> 00:37:49,280 Speaker 1: exact same product with the exact same orientation, that assembly 639 00:37:49,320 --> 00:37:52,840 Speaker 1: line cannot really accommodate that. So yeah, we left handers 640 00:37:52,880 --> 00:37:55,759 Speaker 1: need to make do, or maybe spend more money so 641 00:37:55,800 --> 00:37:58,440 Speaker 1: that we don't have to make do. Now, there is 642 00:37:58,480 --> 00:38:03,720 Speaker 1: a small, nearly cottage industry business of creating left handed 643 00:38:03,840 --> 00:38:09,560 Speaker 1: versions of many common utensils, tools, and gadgets. For left handers, 644 00:38:09,840 --> 00:38:13,560 Speaker 1: there are left handed can openers, for example, since using 645 00:38:13,560 --> 00:38:17,840 Speaker 1: a right handed can opener is tricky and at best 646 00:38:17,920 --> 00:38:20,640 Speaker 1: of pain in the well the hands, I guess. For 647 00:38:20,760 --> 00:38:24,239 Speaker 1: left handers, there are rulers that have measurements that go 648 00:38:24,360 --> 00:38:27,360 Speaker 1: from right to left, which is useful if you're a 649 00:38:27,480 --> 00:38:29,200 Speaker 1: lefty and you want to draw a line that is 650 00:38:29,239 --> 00:38:33,359 Speaker 1: a precise length. Otherwise, my mo was to start at 651 00:38:33,360 --> 00:38:36,160 Speaker 1: the end result and work back at zero. So if 652 00:38:36,200 --> 00:38:38,759 Speaker 1: I needed to draw a three inch line, I would 653 00:38:38,800 --> 00:38:41,560 Speaker 1: start on the three inch mark and then draw toward 654 00:38:41,719 --> 00:38:45,239 Speaker 1: the zero because then it was just easier for me 655 00:38:45,320 --> 00:38:48,160 Speaker 1: to see what I was doing. There are left handed 656 00:38:48,160 --> 00:38:51,720 Speaker 1: cork screws because it's easier to use because the twisting 657 00:38:51,760 --> 00:38:55,279 Speaker 1: motion ends up being counterclockwise rather than clockwise. There are 658 00:38:55,480 --> 00:38:59,799 Speaker 1: left handed measuring cups and left handed playing cards. These 659 00:38:59,800 --> 00:39:02,479 Speaker 1: have markings on the opposite side of where you would 660 00:39:02,520 --> 00:39:05,600 Speaker 1: find them on the right handed version or the standard version. 661 00:39:06,280 --> 00:39:11,160 Speaker 1: The products are otherwise identical to right handed whatever's right right. 662 00:39:11,160 --> 00:39:13,920 Speaker 1: A left handed measuring cup is exactly the same as 663 00:39:13,920 --> 00:39:15,840 Speaker 1: a right hand measuring cup, except the markings are on 664 00:39:15,840 --> 00:39:19,160 Speaker 1: the opposite side of the cup. That's it. For that 665 00:39:19,840 --> 00:39:23,640 Speaker 1: wonderful little flip, you're gonna be paying a premium, I mean, 666 00:39:23,680 --> 00:39:26,720 Speaker 1: like sometimes a crazy premium. You might see a measuring 667 00:39:26,760 --> 00:39:30,120 Speaker 1: cup that would cost five bucks end up being a 668 00:39:30,160 --> 00:39:32,839 Speaker 1: twenty dollar cup because it was a left handed one. 669 00:39:33,200 --> 00:39:36,280 Speaker 1: So yes, there is a certain selection of common tools 670 00:39:36,320 --> 00:39:39,680 Speaker 1: and utensils that you can find in a left handed orientation. 671 00:39:40,000 --> 00:39:42,960 Speaker 1: They typically cost more than the right hand version for 672 00:39:43,040 --> 00:39:45,839 Speaker 1: the reasons that I've given already, and sometimes they don't 673 00:39:45,880 --> 00:39:48,440 Speaker 1: even work as well as the right handed versions because 674 00:39:48,520 --> 00:39:52,680 Speaker 1: sometimes they're just made by right handers. But if you look, 675 00:39:53,320 --> 00:39:57,319 Speaker 1: you can often find them. So being left handed in 676 00:39:57,360 --> 00:40:00,200 Speaker 1: a world that has largely been designed by an for 677 00:40:00,560 --> 00:40:04,919 Speaker 1: right handed people isn't always easy or even safe. There 678 00:40:04,920 --> 00:40:08,120 Speaker 1: have even been numerous studies that suggest that left handers 679 00:40:08,160 --> 00:40:11,879 Speaker 1: may have a lower life expectancy than right handers, not 680 00:40:11,960 --> 00:40:16,880 Speaker 1: because we are somehow inherently less healthy, but perhaps because 681 00:40:17,280 --> 00:40:21,360 Speaker 1: we might be a little more accident prone than right handers. 682 00:40:21,920 --> 00:40:24,880 Speaker 1: You know, maybe we're using those right handed chainsaws in 683 00:40:24,920 --> 00:40:28,160 Speaker 1: a way that is most assuredly going to result in catastrophe. 684 00:40:28,719 --> 00:40:31,480 Speaker 1: There are a lot of little tasks that just become 685 00:40:31,520 --> 00:40:34,479 Speaker 1: a touch harder for the poor lefties of us out there. 686 00:40:35,280 --> 00:40:38,799 Speaker 1: All that being said, I chose this topic not just 687 00:40:38,920 --> 00:40:41,160 Speaker 1: a grouse about how irritating it is to be left 688 00:40:41,160 --> 00:40:44,600 Speaker 1: handed sometimes, though again that was a big part of it, 689 00:40:44,960 --> 00:40:48,200 Speaker 1: but to show how this is just one way that 690 00:40:48,320 --> 00:40:53,120 Speaker 1: bias can have an impact on a population. In this case, 691 00:40:53,239 --> 00:40:56,560 Speaker 1: I'm talking about handedness, and it's pretty obvious that most 692 00:40:56,600 --> 00:41:00,680 Speaker 1: of the time the bias against left handers isn't malicious. 693 00:41:00,719 --> 00:41:03,919 Speaker 1: It's not intentional. It's not like right handers are trying 694 00:41:03,920 --> 00:41:06,880 Speaker 1: to wipe out the left handers by creating stuff like 695 00:41:07,239 --> 00:41:10,799 Speaker 1: can openers or pencil sharpeners or chainsaws that really only 696 00:41:10,880 --> 00:41:14,640 Speaker 1: operate properly if they're used as a right handed way. 697 00:41:14,880 --> 00:41:17,680 Speaker 1: They're just making stuff that works for them. And that's 698 00:41:17,719 --> 00:41:20,840 Speaker 1: one of the really insidious things about bias. It doesn't 699 00:41:20,960 --> 00:41:25,600 Speaker 1: have to be an intentional, malicious thing. When engineers are 700 00:41:25,719 --> 00:41:29,160 Speaker 1: building something, they want to make something that works, and 701 00:41:29,239 --> 00:41:32,000 Speaker 1: you have to consider what the problem is and how 702 00:41:32,080 --> 00:41:35,080 Speaker 1: you intend to solve that problem, and then you design 703 00:41:35,160 --> 00:41:38,640 Speaker 1: that solution. And many times engineers are looking at problems 704 00:41:38,800 --> 00:41:42,120 Speaker 1: from their own perspectives, but not from the perspective of 705 00:41:42,160 --> 00:41:45,480 Speaker 1: someone who is not like them, And for that reason, 706 00:41:45,800 --> 00:41:49,360 Speaker 1: we sometimes get technologies that work really great if you 707 00:41:49,480 --> 00:41:53,359 Speaker 1: happen to match the same general demographic and perspective as 708 00:41:53,400 --> 00:41:56,239 Speaker 1: the engineer who made it, but not so great if 709 00:41:56,239 --> 00:42:01,719 Speaker 1: you don't. This becomes an enormous issue with stuff like accessibility, 710 00:42:01,760 --> 00:42:04,840 Speaker 1: where people who might be differently abled are trying to 711 00:42:04,920 --> 00:42:09,040 Speaker 1: use technology, Those who have challenges with hearing or vision 712 00:42:09,120 --> 00:42:11,799 Speaker 1: or what have you might find it extra difficult to 713 00:42:11,840 --> 00:42:16,319 Speaker 1: make use of certain technologies because those technologies depend rather 714 00:42:16,520 --> 00:42:21,000 Speaker 1: heavily upon faculties that the differently abled may not possess, 715 00:42:21,160 --> 00:42:23,760 Speaker 1: or at least may not possess to the same degree. 716 00:42:24,120 --> 00:42:27,200 Speaker 1: And so a gadget that an able bodied person might 717 00:42:27,320 --> 00:42:30,680 Speaker 1: think is life changing could be completely useless in the 718 00:42:30,760 --> 00:42:33,880 Speaker 1: hands of someone else. And it doesn't always have to 719 00:42:34,000 --> 00:42:38,600 Speaker 1: be that way. Designing things with accessibility in mind presents 720 00:42:38,760 --> 00:42:42,719 Speaker 1: new challenges, no doubt about that. But that's what engineering 721 00:42:42,840 --> 00:42:47,480 Speaker 1: is all about. It's about overcoming challenges. Moreover, it means 722 00:42:47,560 --> 00:42:51,920 Speaker 1: more people can directly benefit from the solutions that engineers create, 723 00:42:52,480 --> 00:42:56,120 Speaker 1: and bias can emerge in lots of other ways. I've 724 00:42:56,160 --> 00:42:59,080 Speaker 1: recently had shows where I've mentioned bias in the design 725 00:42:59,160 --> 00:43:02,240 Speaker 1: of systems that you use artificial intelligence and machine learning. 726 00:43:02,760 --> 00:43:05,520 Speaker 1: If you train a system using a data set that 727 00:43:05,680 --> 00:43:10,200 Speaker 1: is biased, the end result will reflect that bias. For example, 728 00:43:10,320 --> 00:43:13,440 Speaker 1: if you train an image recognition system to identify a 729 00:43:13,560 --> 00:43:16,680 Speaker 1: face and you only train the system using a data 730 00:43:16,719 --> 00:43:20,000 Speaker 1: set that includes photos of white people, that system could 731 00:43:20,040 --> 00:43:23,000 Speaker 1: have problems working when you feed in pictures of people 732 00:43:23,040 --> 00:43:26,400 Speaker 1: who aren't white. We've seen this happen with some pretty 733 00:43:26,520 --> 00:43:30,560 Speaker 1: awful results. More than a few facial recognition systems have 734 00:43:30,640 --> 00:43:34,120 Speaker 1: shown to work well when they're identifying white people, but 735 00:43:34,320 --> 00:43:37,920 Speaker 1: not well whenever trying to identify people of color. That 736 00:43:37,960 --> 00:43:41,440 Speaker 1: bias leads us to a technological kind of racism that 737 00:43:41,520 --> 00:43:46,279 Speaker 1: has real world effects and consequences, much worse effects than 738 00:43:46,560 --> 00:43:49,760 Speaker 1: the little frustrations I've encountered as a left handed person. 739 00:43:50,000 --> 00:43:53,040 Speaker 1: I can't even begin to understand how that all plays 740 00:43:53,040 --> 00:43:55,520 Speaker 1: out in a day to day life, except to know 741 00:43:55,800 --> 00:43:58,439 Speaker 1: that it's just worse than what I have to cope with. 742 00:43:58,920 --> 00:44:02,960 Speaker 1: So that's really the message of this episode. It's not 743 00:44:03,120 --> 00:44:07,239 Speaker 1: that we need more left handed strato caster guitars, though 744 00:44:07,280 --> 00:44:10,839 Speaker 1: that is also true. We do need them, more specifically, 745 00:44:11,160 --> 00:44:16,440 Speaker 1: I need them even more specifically. I just need one, really, 746 00:44:16,640 --> 00:44:19,040 Speaker 1: and it's gonna be a while before I can justify 747 00:44:19,120 --> 00:44:23,919 Speaker 1: buying a silver burst left handed strato caster, So get 748 00:44:23,960 --> 00:44:28,239 Speaker 1: on that fender. No, the real message of this episode 749 00:44:28,640 --> 00:44:32,040 Speaker 1: is that the purpose of technology, when you really get 750 00:44:32,080 --> 00:44:35,799 Speaker 1: down to it, is to make our lives better. But 751 00:44:35,920 --> 00:44:39,600 Speaker 1: that's only true if we're designing technology that addresses the 752 00:44:39,640 --> 00:44:43,920 Speaker 1: needs of people in general, not subsets of people or 753 00:44:43,960 --> 00:44:47,480 Speaker 1: through excluding groups of people. Whether you are designing a 754 00:44:47,480 --> 00:44:51,799 Speaker 1: physical gadget or an app or whatever, it is important 755 00:44:51,800 --> 00:44:54,640 Speaker 1: to step outside of yourself and to think about how 756 00:44:54,719 --> 00:44:58,600 Speaker 1: people who are different from you will be accessing and 757 00:44:58,680 --> 00:45:02,480 Speaker 1: experiencing the use of that technology. It could be that 758 00:45:02,600 --> 00:45:04,920 Speaker 1: with just a few tweaks, you could turn what was 759 00:45:05,040 --> 00:45:09,520 Speaker 1: a decent idea into a world changing one. I plan 760 00:45:09,719 --> 00:45:13,200 Speaker 1: on doing more episodes like this one, and I hope 761 00:45:13,239 --> 00:45:15,760 Speaker 1: to get some women on this show to talk about 762 00:45:15,760 --> 00:45:18,880 Speaker 1: how the tech world has tried to cater to women 763 00:45:18,920 --> 00:45:24,600 Speaker 1: in various ways, sometimes successfully and perhaps way too frequently, 764 00:45:25,120 --> 00:45:31,720 Speaker 1: sometimes in colossal failures. Just look at all the pink stuff. 765 00:45:32,880 --> 00:45:35,640 Speaker 1: But I think that that is really a related issue, 766 00:45:35,640 --> 00:45:39,840 Speaker 1: particularly in an industry that is still dominated by male 767 00:45:39,920 --> 00:45:44,040 Speaker 1: designers and engineers and executives. It's a problem that we 768 00:45:44,120 --> 00:45:47,600 Speaker 1: have to confront and fix in order to make stuff 769 00:45:47,840 --> 00:45:52,120 Speaker 1: that really works for everybody, or at least works for 770 00:45:52,200 --> 00:45:55,880 Speaker 1: the intended audience, because otherwise you just get a bunch 771 00:45:55,920 --> 00:46:00,960 Speaker 1: of you know, knuckle headed guys saying, you know, I 772 00:46:01,000 --> 00:46:05,720 Speaker 1: think women like pink things. Let's make it pink. That's 773 00:46:05,719 --> 00:46:10,160 Speaker 1: so not cool. Anyway. This is an issue that obviously 774 00:46:10,160 --> 00:46:14,280 Speaker 1: goes beyond technology, but we see it really with laser 775 00:46:14,320 --> 00:46:17,680 Speaker 1: focus in the tech world over and over again. That's 776 00:46:17,680 --> 00:46:19,399 Speaker 1: why I wanted to bring it up, and I brought 777 00:46:19,480 --> 00:46:21,640 Speaker 1: up the left handed perspective because it's one I can 778 00:46:21,680 --> 00:46:25,280 Speaker 1: speak to directly. It's one that I have experience, and 779 00:46:25,480 --> 00:46:29,600 Speaker 1: I can acknowledge that while it can be frustrating, it's 780 00:46:29,719 --> 00:46:33,239 Speaker 1: nothing like what other people go through all the time 781 00:46:33,239 --> 00:46:36,319 Speaker 1: in their day to day lives. So that's it for 782 00:46:36,360 --> 00:46:41,160 Speaker 1: this episode. More of a kind of abstract approach to technology, 783 00:46:41,160 --> 00:46:44,759 Speaker 1: but one I think is important and our goal, I 784 00:46:44,800 --> 00:46:49,040 Speaker 1: think should always be to create technologies that work for 785 00:46:49,080 --> 00:46:51,879 Speaker 1: as many people as possible, to improve things as much 786 00:46:51,920 --> 00:46:55,799 Speaker 1: as possible, and not just to you know, throw in 787 00:46:55,840 --> 00:46:58,160 Speaker 1: a feature because you think it's cool, or to throw 788 00:46:58,200 --> 00:47:00,759 Speaker 1: in a feature and call it accessibility in order to 789 00:47:00,800 --> 00:47:03,280 Speaker 1: have a little box checked off of your to do list. 790 00:47:03,680 --> 00:47:06,719 Speaker 1: That's not good enough. If you guys have suggestions for 791 00:47:06,760 --> 00:47:09,880 Speaker 1: future topics of tech stuff, whether it's a specific technology, 792 00:47:10,000 --> 00:47:12,319 Speaker 1: maybe it's a company, maybe it's a person in tech, 793 00:47:12,400 --> 00:47:15,840 Speaker 1: maybe it's a theme, let me know. Reach out on Twitter. 794 00:47:16,080 --> 00:47:19,600 Speaker 1: The handle is tech Stuff H s W and I'll 795 00:47:19,600 --> 00:47:28,759 Speaker 1: talk to you again really soon. Tex Stuff is an 796 00:47:28,760 --> 00:47:32,440 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio production. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, 797 00:47:32,800 --> 00:47:35,960 Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 798 00:47:36,040 --> 00:47:37,560 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.