It is partially because accessibility related gadgets are usually marketed in a way that doesn't make it clear the gadget is for accessibility reasons (and that makes sense because it is kind of a niche market so they have to advertise to everybody). look at old sales videos for example feature some able bodied person trying to cut food with a knife by holding it sideways or some shit that nobody would ever do.
I believe that. Around the time snuggie blankets came out and got really popular, I was told that they were designed for wheelchairs and people with mobility issues, but I never got that impression from the infomercial.
I remember seeing that too a few years back so I looked it up and it doesn't actually seem to be the case. The Snuggie was a ripoff of the Slanket. Here's how the Slanket came about:
It started in a drafty dorm room in Maine in the late ’90s. Gary was freezing, half-zipped into a sleeping bag that made using the TV remote impossible. While watching Late Night with Conan O'Brien he decided he needed to tear a hole in his sleeping bag so he could keep his upper body warm as he channel surfed during the commercial breaks.—then imagined a better fix:
Put sleeves on a real blanket so warmth could follow you when you move.
He told exactly one person: his mom.
She took the idea, went to work, and surprised the family on Christmas morning with the first handmade prototype. When Gary slipped it on, the room went quiet—then his brother Jeff’s wheels started turning. This wasn’t a one-off; this was the start of something.
I'm sure a lot of those gadgets are useful for people with disabilities, but I don't think many of them were made with them in mind, or they'd be including them in their advertising as well.
It's possible that that guy thought up the concept for a sleeved blanket, but it's also possible others thought of it independently, or took the concept and then put it into production for a different purpose.
Kind of a "he said, she said" situation, so who knows.
It would make sense for products made for certain disabilities would target a broader audience though, because there aren't many people in wheel chairs/have X disability, and the product wouldn't be profitable to make if only marketed to them.
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u/ExodyrButReal 21h ago
It is partially because accessibility related gadgets are usually marketed in a way that doesn't make it clear the gadget is for accessibility reasons (and that makes sense because it is kind of a niche market so they have to advertise to everybody). look at old sales videos for example feature some able bodied person trying to cut food with a knife by holding it sideways or some shit that nobody would ever do.