[Blindtlk] Some Questions About Watching/Accessing Television

Sun Apr 13 20:51:22 UTC 2014

hi,

thanks for the update.
we forget that we are not the only ones wanting talking or magnified menus.
the boomer generation has a hard time reading the screens from across the 
room.
Bryan Schulz

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ray Foret Jr" <rforet7706 at comcast.net>
To: <gwunder at earthlink.net>; "Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, April 13, 2014 2:09 PM
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Some Questions About Watching/Accessing Television

> Let me point out something here about the Comcast talking boxes.  I need 
> to point out that the X2 service which will be the hoast operational 
> platform on which the boxes will run is totally cloud based.  This, among 
> other things, means that the speech you will be hearing will not come from 
> the box itself.  In fact, the X2 boxes will not have the following in them 
> at all:
>
> 1.  No TV tuner.
>
> 2.  No physical hard drive at all.
>
> thus, the speech you hear will actually be coming from the cloud based 
> platform itself in a customizable form which makes it seem as though it 
> were the box itself.  As for the box itself, it's going to be almost not 
> much more than a dummy terminal with input and output circuits and that's 
> really about it.  The advantage of doing things this way is that, with 
> cloud based speech output and everything else, (including channel tuning 
> and DVr storage) the box itself becomes really just an IP device.  This 
> allows the X2 subscriber to literally take their DVR shows with them from 
> one place to another if they move.  No more losing shows just because you 
> have to switch boxes.  No on board physical hard drive would, I suspect, 
> also mean way faster start up times.  Way faster response when controling 
> the system too.
>
>
> Sent from my Mac, the only computer with full accessibility for the blind 
> built-in!
>
> Sincerely,
> The Constantly Barefooted Ray, still a very happy Mac and Iphone 5 user!
>
> On Apr 13, 2014, at 2:01 PM, Gary Wunder <gwunder at earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>> I have seen the Comcast devices. They have real promise. One set top box
>> won't cut it--each is proprietary. Stretching the analogy from the car to
>> the set top box may be like asking how jet fighter pilots can have 
>> goggles
>> in the simulators, so why don't we have better snow tires.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: blindtlk [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Mike
>> Freeman
>> Sent: Saturday, April 12, 2014 6:35 PM
>> To: 'Blind Talk Mailing List'
>> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Some Questions About Watching/Accessing 
>> Television
>>
>> The ultimate purpose of the car -- one which I am not certain was 
>> achieved
>> -- was to get universities and the like interested in the problem of 
>> other,
>> more efficient, ways of accessing information.
>>
>> So while your suggestion makes sense on its surface, I doubt we have the
>> capital to develop such equipment as accessible appliances and it is by 
>> no
>> means certain that we could get any manufacturer to produce items we
>> designed.
>>
>> Moreover, if we're talking medical devices, there's the old problem of
>> medical liability.
>>
>> Supposedly Comcast is working on accessible set-top boxes. They've got a
>> good guy working with them. We shall see.
>>
>> Mike
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: blindtlk [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Bryan
>> Schulz
>> Sent: Saturday, April 12, 2014 3:04 PM
>> To: Blind Talk Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Some Questions About Watching/Accessing 
>> Television
>>
>> hi,
>>
>> the 2-mil car was supposed to lend technology to other situations.
>> so why can't the nfb create a talking direct tv
>> box/microwave/washer/stove/etc?
>> Bryan Schulz
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Mark Tardif" <markspark at roadrunner.com>
>> To: "Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Saturday, April 12, 2014 2:36 PM
>> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Some Questions About Watching/Accessing 
>> Television
>>
>>
>>> Kerri:
>>>
>>> First of all, LOL, Mike.  Is there anything worth watching besides
>>> baseball, MSNBC, (I guess I just showed my polits a little) and
>>> documentary programs such as The American Experience.  But seriously, 
>>> one
>>> reason I like to watch such programs is that there is narration and one
>>> can follow pretty well what is going on.  Unfortunately, I have no idea
>>> how to program a VCR so it can record other programs while I am watching
>>> something else or while I am out.
>>>
>>> Mark Tardif
>>> Nuclear arms will not hold you.
>>> -----Original Message----- 
>>> From: Mike Freeman
>>> Sent: Saturday, April 12, 2014 10:25 AM
>>> To: 'Blind Talk Mailing List'
>>> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Some Questions About Watching/Accessing 
>>> Television
>>>
>>> Kerri:
>>>
>>> The following is said with tongue firmly in cheek: how do I watch
>>> television? A: Is there anything worth watching on TV anymore outside of
>>> the
>>> news, baseball and hockey? But the *real* answer is that I let my wife
>>> (who
>>> is sighted) pollute her brain with TV and I just put up with it.
>>>
>>> Mike
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: blindtlk [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Kerri
>>> Kosten
>>> Sent: Friday, April 11, 2014 11:24 PM
>>> To: Blind Talk Mailing List
>>> Subject: [Blindtlk] Some Questions About Watching/Accessing Television
>>>
>>> Hi All:
>>>
>>> When I was younger, (many years ago) I used to watch TV all the time.
>>> I loved and primarily watched shows on channels such as ABC Family,
>>> MTV, and the CW (formerly the WB) so they had a lot of talking in them
>>> so I could follow along with what was going on pretty well just by
>>> listening to the context clues.
>>> I would like to get back into watching television.
>>> First, are popular television shows described? Could I go to a certain
>>> setting or something on my TV and access an audio described version of
>>> the shows?
>>> For those of you who love and regularly watch TV, do you just listen
>>> and try to use context clues to figure out what is going on or how do
>>> you keep yourself interested in the show when there is usually so much
>>> action and shows are very visual?
>>> Also, being that I likely won't be home when the shows I want to watch
>>> air, is there any way to access on demand through Exfinity/Comcast (my
>>> cable provider)? I know sighted people can access on demand through
>>> the menus on the remote control but of course neither my remote nor
>>> Television have speech so I can't access the menus or anything like
>>> that. For those of you who watch tv regularly, how do you get around
>>> this?
>>> Is there an app I could download on the Iphone or something to maybe
>>> somehow control my TV using the Iphone to access the on demand menus?
>>> I know these questions may sound weird, but I haven't really watched
>>> TV in so long the times have sort of changed. Television seems to be a
>>> huge thing for sighted people and I'd like to get back into watching
>>> popular TV shows again. I know I can access TV listings through NFB
>>> Newsline.
>>> Thanks,
>>> Kerri
>>>
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>
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