[blindlaw] Microsoft built-in screenreader and anti-competition

[Mike Freeman]

I can remember back in 1995 at an "accessibility summit" held at Microsoft 
HQ (ironically, held just after W95 was released -- you should have seen the 
way one of the buildings was trashed from the party!), many blind Europeans 
in attendance actually wanted Microsoft to build its own screen-reader; it 
was we Americans that expressed doubts. Wonder if blind Europeans still feel 
that way or whether the anti-corporate feelings in some countries over there 
has rubbed off on them?

Mike

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "E.J. Zufelt" <lists at zufelt.ca>
To: "NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, September 03, 2010 8:25 PM
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Microsoft built-in screenreader and anti-competition


>I don't remember if it was mentioned in the article, but I imagine they 
>care about competition because they truly want to see better screen-reading 
>products available for Windows.  I imagine that they believe that strong 
>competition is key to ensuring that the experience of a screen-reader user 
>on the Windows operating system continues to improve.
>
>
> Everett Zufelt
> http://zufelt.ca
>
> Follow me on Twitter
> http://twitter.com/ezufelt
>
> View my LinkedIn Profile
> http://www.linkedin.com/in/ezufelt
>
>
>
> On 2010-09-03, at 11:01 PM, David Andrews wrote:
>
>> They care, they get donations, grants, etc., so are competing if a little 
>> indirectly.
>>
>> Dave
>>
>> At 01:32 PM 9/3/2010, you wrote:
>>> NVDA is open source, what do they care about competition?
>>>
>>> On Thu, Sep 2, 2010 at 10:06 PM, David Andrews <dandrews at visi.com> 
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> > It isn't the same, there were not any other screen readers available 
>>> > for
>>> > the Apple at the time.
>>> >
>>> > Dave
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > At 09:39 PM 9/2/2010, you wrote:
>>> >
>>> >> Certainly not.
>>> >> Apple does it and hasn't gotten into trouble.
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >> On Sep 2, 2010, at 10:17 PM, E.J. Zufelt wrote:
>>> >>
>>> >> > Good evening,
>>> >> >
>>> >> > The lead developer of NVDA recently wrote a brief post pondering if
>>> >> Microsoft could be liable for anti-competitive practices if they were 
>>> >> to
>>> >> bundle a built-in screen-reader with its operating system.
>>> >> >
>>> >> >
>>> >> http://blog.jantrid.net/2010/09/why-cant-microsoft-build-screen-reader.html
>>> >> >
>>> >> > Curious if anyone has any thoughts on this topic?
>>> >> >
>>> >> > Thanks in advance,
>>> >> > Everett Zufelt
>>> >> > http://zufelt.ca
>>> >> >
>>> >> > Follow me on Twitter
>>> >> > http://twitter.com/ezufelt
>>> >> >
>>> >> > View my LinkedIn Profile
>>> >> > http://www.linkedin.com/in/ezufelt
>>> >> >
>>> >> >
>>> >> >
>>> >> > _______________________________________________
>>> >> > blindlaw mailing list
>>> >> > blindlaw at nfbnet.org
>>> >> > http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindlaw_nfbnet.org
>>> >> > To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info 
>>> >> > for
>>> >> blindlaw:
>>> >> >
>>> >> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindlaw_nfbnet.org/jorgeapaez%40mac.com
>>> >>
>>> >> Thanks.
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >> Jorge Paez
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >> ---
>>> >> President And CEO:
>>> >> Paez Production Networks
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>
>>                        David Andrews:  dandrews at visi.com
>> Follow me on Twitter:  http://www.twitter.com/dandrews920
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> blindlaw mailing list
>> blindlaw at nfbnet.org
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindlaw_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
>> blindlaw:
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindlaw_nfbnet.org/lists%40zufelt.ca
>
> _______________________________________________
> blindlaw mailing list
> blindlaw at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindlaw_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> blindlaw:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindlaw_nfbnet.org/k7uij%40panix.com