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Topic: iPad

Surprising uses for an iPad

Summary: Stand-up comedians to magic and surgery, the possibilities are endless.

Charlie Osborne

By |

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Stand-up comedian Lost Voice Guy made his debut at Mission in Sunderland on 4 February this year.

His slogan -- "(Probably) the first stand up comedian to use a communication aid" says it all.

Lee Ridley suffers from cerebral palsy and lost his voice at a young age, but it hasn't stopped him from being able to use it in comedy -- through a text-to-speech app called Speak It!. The iPad has taken the place of his natural voice on stage, and athough people may not know what to make of it when he begins, the video below shows that it can be used to his advantage. 

Lost Voice Guy has become a popular comedian through his iPad use, and currently performs in London.

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Topics: iPad, Mobility

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16 comments
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  • Uh ... running a starship? ...

    Okay, to us [i]tech[/i] folks that's old news ...
    Rick_R
    Reply 1 Vote

  • As a toilet

    could be its most suitable use
    markbn
    Reply 1 Vote

    • Wow! When you guy's an gal's hate Apple,

      You really Hate Apple! Just get over yourselves already! If you don't like their products, then don't use them! It really is that simple....
      It's called choice!!!

      This guy really finds a great benefit of mobile tech, and all you can do is focus on your hatred of a device...

      And you really think your more informed than Joe Sixpack?? Really?
      Amazing, just amazing....
      I really do feel sorry for you...

      TW
      T-Wrench
      Reply 2 Votes

  • I know it hurts to know when there is nothing that even comes close it.

    Adroid tablets bombed, Windows tablets are unimpressive, amazons kindle fire turned out to a be a mear puff of smoke. While other companies are fumbling with how to make a relevant product. Ipad is sold by the millions and it does not just entertain people. It actualy changes people's lives. It's a long road to change people's perception of computing because we have been using the keyboard amd mouse for nearly two decades. Ipad has only been out for 3 years, yet it's domainating everything.
    Bakabaka
    Reply 1 Vote

  • $500 gimmick

    Who wants use an iPad like this. That's a waste
    Van Der
    Reply 1 Vote

    • Apparently the guy in the video does

      Which would be obvious to anyone with half a brain, and less of a chip on their shoulder.
      .DeusExMachina.
      Reply 1 Vote

    • waste??

      He may be using it to make comedy that you don't like, but he joins countless others who suddenly have access to a voice. Prior to the iPad and some of the more robust communication apps that have been made available, one had to spend $7,000 dollars to get a communication device! Yes! Look up Dynavox, Vantage, etc.
      kathrynfw
      Reply 1 Vote

  • Interesting.

    Interesting feature. Never thought iPad can be used in these ways. Even the inventors of the iPad must not have thought about it.

    - Sara
    http://www.hiredotnetprogrammers.com/
    Sara_Parker23
    Reply 1 Vote

  • Surprising?

    Wait, what's surprising about the iPad being used as a toy and an entertainment device? Isn't that exactly what it was DESIGNED for?
    fawlty70
    Reply 1 Vote

    • Troll

      No, it is not what it is designed for.
      Nor is it being used as either a toy or an entertainment device here. Do you need that spelled out for you?
      .DeusExMachina.
      Reply 1 Vote

      • Sure, spell it out...

        In all of these clips, it's being used either to play back audio/video or for playing games. THIS IS WHAT IT WAS MADE FOR. I'll ask again, how are any of these uses surprising? OK, I'll give you that viewing video on it during surgery doesn't count as entertainment. But it's just playing back video - THE primary purpose of the iPad.

        But please, spell it out for me. What is surprising about the iPad being able to play audio and video and games?
        fawlty70
        Reply 1 Vote

      • A B C

        The issue is not that it is surprising, the issue is whether this use is as either a toy or an entertainment device. But nice job shifting the argument. Are you really that dense? The device in this context is NOT being used as either. It is being used as a TOOL to allow interaction between a handicapped man and society. The fact that he, himself, is an entertainer, and is using it to entertain an audience is neither here nor there. Just like a desktop being used by an aeronautical engineer to design an airplane does not make the computer capable of flight, so to use of the device to entertain an audience does not make this use "entertainment".
        Clear enough for you?
        Beyond that, you have said NOTHING to prove ANYTHING about your central claims regarding the purposes for which that the device was designed. In fact, the designer (Apple) is a far more reliable source of information in that regard than a disgruntled internet troll who spews forth years-old memes and tries to pass them off as if they were their own original ideas.
        In fact, the device is being used for any number of tasks that do not fit into your two pigeon holes, your willful ignorance of these uses notwithstanding. From its use in fortune 500 companies for inventory control to its use in creating and displaying presentations, its use by surgeons as an imaging device to its use by caregivers to interact with severely autistic children, from its use even as just a simple e-mail reader, the iPad is used everyday by thousands, if not millions of people for tasks that do not fit with in your ignorant forced classification.
        But even if that were not the case, the issue is not even what it is used for, but your claim as to what it was DESIGNED to be used for. Here, again, Apple was quite clear their intent.
        .DeusExMachina.
        Reply 2 Votes

      • @fawlty70

        I'd hardly classify [i]making[/i] music (e.g. the DJ) or being used as an instrument as simply playing back audio or video. Both of those better classify as content creation and/or performance than simply playing back recorded audio/video.
        piousmonk
        Reply 1 Vote

    • toy

      So, do you use your voice as only a toy?
      kathrynfw
      Reply Vote

  • Please!

    Are you serious people?

    THIS is a perfect use for the technology. Do you know how much a voice generator costs? No, me neither, but I bet its a lot, probably more than an iPad, and if not, I bet you couldn't even play angry birds on a 'Hawking" voice generator
    @...
    Reply 1 Vote

  • wow

    more "news"
    costinul
    Reply 1 Vote
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