[gui-talk] Basic inquiry about Mac, including the laptops

Sat Aug 15 15:40:44 UTC 2009

Mike,

Would you mind posting the URL that will get me closest to the Web page 
containing a selection of your Mac blobs, please?

Thanks/
seclectio----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Arrigo" <n0oxy at charter.net>
To: "NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List" <gui-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, August 15, 2009 6:53 AM
Subject: Re: [gui-talk] Basic inquiry about Mac, including the laptops

Those interested in learning more about the mac and voice over may
want to check out the 9 pod casts I have done on blind cool tech
On Aug 15, 2009, at 12:49 AM, Les Kriegler wrote:

> Hi Joel,
>
> One important factor is the commitment one wishes to make about
> learning a
> new way of doing things.  Not everybody will want to do this.  The
> Mac does
> things differently than Windows, and I'm certain it will take some
> getting
> used to.  The terminology is different as well from what I can
> tell.  Human
> nature being what it is, I think we relate to what we know, which is
> Windows
> for most of us, so the Mac will take some getting used to.  I think
> that's
> where much of the controversy has come from about the Mac, as
> reviewers
> often try and compare it with Windows, it's not Windows.  I compare
> this to
> becoming blind after having vision for many years.  If that happens,
> one
> remembers how one did things in the past, and that can either be an
> advantage or not.  If one is blind from the start, that's all he or
> she
> knows and hopefully learns to function as an individual who is blind
> from
> the start.  I view one's computer useage in a similar fashion.  If one
> starts with the Mac, it will likely be easier to learn, as one has
> no other
> experience on which to draw.  But for thos of us who have used
> Windows for
> many years,  we have some re-learning to do, that is the challenge.
>
> Les
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:gui-talk-
> bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Joel Deutsch
> Sent: Friday, August 14, 2009 11:34 PM
> To: NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [gui-talk] Basic inquiry about Mac, including the laptops
>
> Doug,
>
> Now how am I supposed to know which OS is sufficiently accessible
> for me,
> once I make my list? How on earth would I know?I'm just into a lot of
> writing using Word, no other Office programs at all, email like
> this, and of
> course where would Audible and Amazon and The New York times be
> without my
> visits? but that's about it.
>
> So? Now that I have enumerated those expectations, how to find out
> if a Mac
> will be sufficient? I already know how Windows and Jaws works for
> me. For
> years and years.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Doug Lee" <dgl at dlee.org>
> To: "NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List" <gui-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, August 14, 2009 1:36 PM
> Subject: Re: [gui-talk] Basic inquiry about Mac, including the laptops
>
>
> I don't think nearly all blind Mac users are techie types.  VoiceOver
> is fairly powerful but not as powerful as JAWS at this point, but I
> suspect it's the techie types that would want the power. :)
>
> That said, I still think the question of whether you should use a Mac
> or a Windows machine is not so much about general accessibility, but
> more about accessibility for the specific things you need to do.  If
> you need to browse web sites, you can do that on either platform.  I
> find the Mac's Safari slightly faster at filling out Peapod orders and
> quite effective on Youtube, but I'm faster at managing company time
> sheets in Internet Explorer under Windows.  Editing works in both
> places, though you have to understand the difference between how the
> Mac and Windows assistive technology reports the location and
> navigation of the cursor.  If you actually need to handle a lot of
> Microsoft Office files, I think many can be viewed on the Mac but not
> written there accessibly.  Other applications like mail, instant
> messaging, calendars, audio editing, scanning, etc., I can't comment
> so fluently about.
>
> So I would recommend this process for deciding which platform to stay
> with:
>
> 1. List the things you need to do with it, including file formats
> where applicable.  Example:  Read and write Word .docx files, read but
> not write PowerPoint presentations, handle mail, fill out web forms,
> manage appointments.
>
> 2. For each of those, find out how well they can be done with
> assistive technology on each platform.
>
> 3. Weigh in the inevitable money factor to settle any ties. :)
>
> On Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 12:11:47PM -0400, albert griffith wrote:
> A few weeks ago I discussed the Mac Verses Windows question
> thoroughly and
> decided I'd wait until next year at the least.  The group of
> successful
> users is mainly comprised of techie types.  Before I hoist Windows
> in to the
> rafters I want the Mac software to be fully operational.  I don't
> believe
> this will be true until next year at the earliest and I can afford
> to wait
> since I have one notch left on my  SMA for my copy of jaws.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:gui-talk-
> bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Les Kriegler
> Sent: Friday, August 14, 2009 5:49 AM
> To: 'NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List'
> Subject: Re: [gui-talk] Basic inquiry about Mac, including the laptops
>
> Hi Joel,
>
> Interesting you're bringing this up.  Actually, I've decided that
> when the
> upgrade to the Mac Operating System comes out, I'm purchasing a Mac
> laptop.
> Many of their laptops come with 4 Gigs of memory, and I plan to
> install
> Windows 7 on the laptop as well.  There is software that allows one to
> switch back and forth Between Mac and Windows without the need to re-
> boot
> one's system.  So I'm taking the plunge, likely next month.  I've
> started
> reading up on the Mac and on the screen reader called VoiceOver and
> I like
> what I've read thus far.  Obviously, I cannot give you impressions
> of using
> a Mac yet, although I've confident I'll learn it when I start
> working on it.
> I took a year to learn Doss, I'll invoke the same plan with learning
> the
> Mac.  Eventually, I hope to be in a position to train others, as I
> suspect
> there will be a need for this to occur.
>
> Les
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:gui-talk-
> bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Joel Deutsch
> Sent: Friday, August 14, 2009 2:16 AM
> To: GUI-Talk
> Subject: [gui-talk] Basic inquiry about Mac, including the laptops
>
> as I've sort of watched the Mac evolving over the past couple of
> years in
> the sense that its operating system seems to be getting close to
> achieving
> self-voicing screen reader capability that an experienced jaws guy
> like me
> might be able to take seriously, I'm asking for some thoughts.
>
> Aren't there a couple of folks on this list who actually, already,
> *are* Mac
> desktop or laptop users? How do you folks like your Macs? And
> Albert, I know
> you've been toying with the idea of going Mac, same as I'm
> expressing now.
> Just seems interesting to think about, now that I allow myself. This
> in
> spite of the fact that I have Jaws 11 already paid for on my SMA,
> but my
> goodness. I guess if I could get myself a brand new computer that
> didn't
> heed it, would be nice to give away my old PC with new Jaws on it.
> To the
> Braille Institute or something.
>
> Nice ,anyway, a thought experiment. How about it, Mackies?
>
> I have one more question, also to do with my daydreaming, but I'll
> post it
> separately.
>
>
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> -- 
> Doug Lee                 dgl at dlee.org                http://www.dlee.org
> SSB BART Group           doug.lee at ssbbartgroup.com
> http://www.ssbbartgroup.com
> "While they were saying among themselves it cannot be done, it was
> done." --Helen Keller
>
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