[Electronics-talk] Digital TV Discussion

[Ghost Child]

Hi All,

     Personally, I wouldn't buy such a thing, as one can find a far more
useful gadget for far less and learn to use it just fine without having it
made specifically for the blind, but that doesn't make having such a device
available nuts, any more than having talking microwaves nuts when I can use
my "normal" off-the-shelf at WallMart model just fine with no modifications.
I just bought the one whose touchpad had slightly raised round spots over
each number/function, and memorized which did what. 

     I'm fortunate in that I have sighted friends who live nearby and can
help me select and learn to use a lot of the standard appliances and devices
out there, but not everyone can or wants to do things this way, and, if I
could afford most of the equipment designed for the blind, I'd probably have
a lot more of it, but most such gadgets are many times more expensive than
their standard equivalents, so those of us on a fixed income either have to
learn to adapt what we can or do without.  A TV or microwave, for example,
should be easy enough to learn to use without buying a pricier and less
versatile adapted model if one is careful to check how the device is set up
before buying it, as some things just plain can't be used by the blind, no
matter how many patient or inventive friends/family one has!

     I guess I'm just saying each to his or her own, and if you can and want
to afford to get something which you can use without having to ask for help
to set up, adapt, or learn to use, then why not?  Imagine how nice it would
be to be able to just use anything you felt like buying!  Just my
un-asked-for two cents' worth.

Becky C.