Cheap Wheelchairs, Part I: You Get What You Pay For - Erik Kondo
There are millions of manual wheelchair users in the United States. The majority are using standard manual wheelchairs. These wheelchairs...
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Feb 135 min read
Wheelchair System Archetypes - Erik Kondo
Once you recognize that the mobility outcomes produced by a person using a wheelchair is the result of the interactions of a Complex...
Jan 293 min read
The Wheelchair System - Erik Kondo
The mobility performance of a person using a wheelchair is the result of the output of a complex adaptive system made up of the...
Jan 254 min read
The Tradeoff Between Wheelchair Comfort and Mobility – Erik Kondo
The primary purpose of a manual wheelchair is to provide mobility for replacing walking in the environment. The more active a wheelchair...
Nov 14, 20235 min read
Wheelchair Profiteering, Part VII: Here is How I Would Do it (If I had No Ethics) – Erik Kondo
Let’s imagine I own a large and influential wheelchair manufacturing company. And my goal is to make the most amount of money possible...
Nov 10, 20234 min read
Wheelchair Profiteering, Part VI: Exploring Solutions – Erik Kondo
Pointing out problems is fairly easy. Coming up with realistic solutions is much harder. So, lets take a look at a meaningful solution. ...
Nov 9, 20231 min read
Wheelchair Profiteering, Part V: Unneeded Upselling – Erik Kondo
Profiteering by Upselling Unneeded Assistive Technology This type of profiteering happens when the upselling is for items that the...
Nov 9, 20232 min read
Wheelchair Profiteering, Part IV: The Joy of Double Dipping – Erik Kondo
I am continuing on the theme from Part III which discusses how Ultra-Customization is used by the For-Profit Wheelchair Industry to...
Nov 7, 20236 min read
Wheelchair Profiteering, Part III: The Strategy of Ultra-Customization – Erik Kondo
In Part II , I expanded on the money making strategy of Ultra-Commoditization . While this strategy is effective, it pales in comparison...
Nov 6, 20234 min read
Wheelchairs Profiteering, Part II: The Wheelchair as a Widget – Erik Kondo
Let’s imagine that we own an industrial manufacturing company in China or some other industrialized country. We have excess manufacturing...
Nov 2, 20234 min read
Wheelchair Profiteering, Part I: How the For-Profit Industry Makes Money – Erik Kondo
There are two primary methods used by the For-Profit Wheelchair Industry to generate profits. They can be summarized as follows: 1. ...
Oct 24, 20234 min read
The Manual Wheelchair as a Personal Mobility Device – Erik Kondo
A few days ago marked my 39th year as a wheelchair user. That means for about 2/3rds of my life I have been using a wheelchair as my...
Oct 10, 20232 min read
The Trikester Wheelchair - Erik Kondo
The Trikester wheelchair is simply a trike wheelchair that has been either made from scratch with DIY techniques and materials, or is the...
Sep 18, 20235 min read
Beware the Wheelchair Users Performance Gap - Erik Kondo
In the active wheelchair world, there are a lot of people looking to obtain or create an assistive technology device that makes using a...
Jul 28, 20232 min read
Authenticity Matters! Stop Using Inauthentic Stock Photos to Depict Wheelchair Users - Erik Kondo
Who plays wheelchair basketball in a hospital chair wearing street clothes? These examples below are just some of the contrived and often...
Jul 28, 20233 min read
Stop Objectifying People with Disabilities for the Sake of “Niceness” – Erik Kondo
Let’s take a moment to bask in the glow of this feel good video. Afterall the negativity in the world, isn’t it wonderful to see people...
Jul 11, 20231 min read
The Caster Carry - Erik Kondo
The Caster Carry is a simple DIY dolly that enables wheelchair users with a fixed footplate to carry awkward/bulky/heavy items. The...
Jun 21, 20233 min read
The Misalignment Problem of the DME Industry – Erik Kondo
Recent developments in artificial intelligence have brought to the forefront the issue of the Misalignment Problem. The concept is that...
May 18, 20234 min read
Making Sense of Wheelchair Wheels, Part I - Erik Kondo
When it comes to wheelchair wheels, there is a tremendous amount of confusion. I am certainly not an expert on the subject, but I will...
Apr 20, 20235 min read
Systemically Flawed "Research Studies" on Wheelchair Propulsion - Erik Kondo
Muscular able-bodied man in a hospital wheelchair.
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