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The Digital Magnifying Glass in Your Pocket

by By Keith Gatling | 6 years ago

Magnified2If you, like me, are at “a certain age” – and even if you are younger – you might find that things below a certain font size are incredibly hard to read. I ran into this, a little while back, when I had to read the serial number off a piece of equipment …t he incredibly small serial number off a piece of equipment.

And the solution was right on my belt.

It was my smartphone.

No, I'm not talking about one of the many magnifier apps you can find by typing that single "M" word into your app store search. There’s already an app on every smartphone that’ll do the job quite nicely.

It’s the camera.

Really. Point your camera at that fine print you’re struggling to read, and use the controls to zoom in on it. You should be able to read it just fine now. You can even take a picture of it if you want.

I’ve Got Friends in Tight Places

Which reminds me of another great use for the camera in your smartphone … getting serial or model numbers that are hidden in tight places.

I once had to get the serial number off the back of the microwave in my kitchen. Rather than yank the whole thing out, turn it around, and still wedge my head back there to see what it was, I put my cellphone camera in selfie mode, aimed it at where the serial number was, and took a snapshot of it.

Worked like a charm!