Introduction
- Something that has turned out to be a major issue for our website is that a large percentage of our subscribers refuse to use anything but a phone. It is to such a degree that some subscribers have told us that they would rather not use the site and not be subscribers if they can’t use the site with a phone.
- Regarding technical issues, roughly 80% of subscribers that contact Julie to resolve a technical issue have technical problems because they are using a phone. As soon as they switch to a computer or tablet, these issues go away.
The Reality of the Limitations of a Phone
The site can be used with a phone, but the experience is not as good. Secondly, many of the articles are long and have embedded videos and other things like tables and graphics that must be enlarged to be viewed on a phone.
By requiring that the site only be used through a phone, greatly limits how we can set up the site, the types of articles we can write, and even the type of navigation we can use for the website.
Options for People Who Only Have a Phone
Option #1: Chromebook
As for your comment about not having a computer. Chromebooks can be purchased used on eBay for around $50, which will work fine with our website.
See this link to used Chrombooks.
They run the Chrome OS, not Windows — so they are much simpler to use than Windows and require much less overhead.
Option #2: Tablet
A second option is an inexpensive tablet. Amazon sells a new one for $74 with an 8-inch screen, and it’s much more preferable to read pretty much anything on a tablet like this than a phone. The site also works better on a tablet than on a phone.
Conclusion
- A phone is designed to fit in your pocket. It was never designed to be the optimal device for reading.
- If you look at the overall cost — and the potential improvement to health, a good case can be made for getting a second device with a larger screen. It makes less sense to forgo the information at the site just to keep from purchasing an inexpensive device that not only makes our website much easier to use but makes other websites easier to use and read from.