[r_p4rk]

My Grandmother was hospitalized many times from 2019 through to 2023 and passed in April, one of the standout things that made this a lot easier to go through was 2021 iPad Mini. During the years she suffered from various magnitudes of physical disability, including being almost completely paralyzed. A lot of this was during covid restrictions so we had to get creative with how we kept in touch.

Here are a few things that the iPad afforded her with no other easy options:

- The tracking webcam let her facetime with us without needing completely steady hands or even the capability to hold the iPad properly.

- The huge amount of accessories that let her use a pen (when capable), drop the iPad without risk of breaking, hold the iPad in various ways let us easily customise the ergonomics for her capabilities at various times.

- Shortcuts and automation let us ensure volume was always maximised during Facetime calls with us, set the volume lower at night so she didn't disurb the ward, have easy to press buttons to call certain family members, and even reset the volume and screen brightness when nurses changed it.

She chose the music to her own funeral, made drawings when she could, played games, and even drafted some pages of a book she left for us after her passing, letting her talk to us one last time. Maybe the author of the link disagrees, but seeing the difference in quality of the calls when she didn't have to worry about getting frustrated about trying to frame her face and everything was night and day.

[eddieroger]

My Grabdma passed away ten years ago, and aside from wishing she was still with us, I wish iPads had been more prevalent for her last several years. I had her comfortable on an older Windows laptop, but it always intimidated her some. She would move the laptop around when she wanted to sit in the kitchen or her chair, but it was heavy and clunky, and she preferred an external mouse, which was just _one more thing_. I had an iPad when she died, but couldn’t have dropped the money to get one, but dammit I wish I could have. She felt so isolated in her final years (despite living with my parents), and having a 2lb window to the world would have made such a difference. Especially when I see the improvements coming in iOS 17, I think it really would have been a game changer for her.