[gui-talk] Freedom Scientific Reduces Price of Focus 40Blue Braille Display by 38%

Fri Mar 5 01:20:33 UTC 2010

Hi all.
I bought a brailliant a while back after the first general drop in prices 
for braille displays.  The price of the brailliant remained high and the 
manufacturers were unaware of the current market. I ended up haggling the 
price down by pointing out the price of some of the other displays. I don't 
think the brailliant has any great advantage over any other to justify the 
price they were charging. It's just that they were new when I bought mine. 
Now I wish I had waited.
I am disappointed with my brailliant, mainly because the battery needs to be 
replaced by the techs if you let the charge go completely out of it. I have 
done this twice -- once when I moved and it didn't get unpacked for months, 
and another time when I went a stretch without using it.  That's well over 
$200 a shot for letting the battery run out. Very annoying.
Anyway, for those shopping for a braille display, add that to your list of 
things to ask about.
Happy brailling.
--le

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dean Martineau" <dean at topdotenterprises.com>
To: "'NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List'" <gui-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, March 04, 2010 2:37 PM
Subject: Re: [gui-talk] Freedom Scientific Reduces Price of Focus 40Blue 
Braille Display by 38%

True, but to FS's credit, I don't see other braille display manufacturers
following suit yet.  So either the Focus displays are junier than the
others, which may well be, or the others are even more overpriced.

Dean

-----Original Message-----
From: gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Baracco, Andrew W
Sent: Thursday, March 04, 2010 10:06 AM
To: NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [gui-talk] Freedom Scientific Reduces Price of Focus 40 Blue
Braille Display by 38%

That only goes to show how overpriced it was to begin with.

Andy

-----Original Message-----
From: gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Gary Wunder
Sent: Wednesday, March 03, 2010 7:41 PM
To: david.andrews at nfbnet.org
Subject: [gui-talk] Freedom Scientific Reduces Price of Focus 40 Blue
Braille Display by 38%

I forward FYI. ----- Original Message ----- From:
@ Freedom Scientific News To:
gwunder at earthlink.net Sent: Wednesday, March 03,
2010 3:20 PM Subject: Freedom Scientific Reduces
Price of Focus 40 Blue Braille Display by
38%       Having trouble viewing this email?
Click here  Greetings! FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Brad Davis 800-444-4443 or
727-803-8000 www.FreedomScientific.com Sales:
info at FreedomScientific.com Freedom Scientific
Reduces Price of Focus 40 Blue Braille Display by
38% to Support Drive for Braille Literacy (St.
Petersburg, Florida  March 3, 2010) - Freedom
ScientificÂ® today announced that it has reduced
the US list price of its Focus 40 Blue Braille
Display from $4,495 to $2,795, a $1,700
reduction, in a move to support Braille literacy.
The National Federation of the Blind, in their
report from the Jernigan Institute, has declared
that there is a "Braille Literacy Crisis in
America," citing such statistics as:   a.. Fewer
than 10 percent of the 1.3 million people who are
legally blind in the United States are Braille
readers   b.. Only 10 percent of blind children
in the US are learning Braille   c.. Over 70
percent of blind adults are unemployed, and as
many as 50 percent of blind high school students
drop out of high school The factors that
contribute to a low Braille literacy rate in the
US are many, among them a shortage of qualified
Braille teachers and an increasing reliance on
recorded audio and text-to-speech technologies.
"We believe that technology should be supporting
Braille literacy, not replacing it," states Dr.
Lee Hamilton, President and CEO of Freedom
Scientific. "The combination of JAWSÂ® and a
Braille display makes learning and using Braille
easy. JAWS can translate almost any electronic
document or Web page into Braille and then
display them on the Focus 40 Blue. JAWS also has
a built-in Braille tutor that works with the
Focus 40 Blue to provide immediate spoken help
when the reader encounters an unfamiliar Braille
symbol. This makes independent Braille study
easier as it can be used with any document of
interest to the student. With a computer and a
Braille display, a person who is Braille literate
can carry hundreds of books on a single memory
card or USB thumb drive. "Unfortunately, Braille
displays have always been expensive, which has
meant that not everyone who wanted a Braille
display could get one. Freedom Scientific wants
to open the world of Braille to as many blind
people as possible. We first drastically reduced
the cost of Braille displays in 2004, when we
introduced models 40% below the average price of
currently available Braille displays. We are
pleased that the manufacturing efficiencies
inherent in our latest product design make it
possible for us to reduce prices once again and
hope this will make Braille accessible to many
more people." The Focus 40 Blue is a compact
portable Braille display that is the perfect
companion to a desktop, laptop, or netbook PC. It
connects via USB or BluetoothÂ® and has a Braille
keyboard. The 40 Braille cells are constructed
without seams between characters, so the user
experience is like reading Braille on paper. The
Focus 40 Blue works with AppleÂ® computers and
cell phones as well as with JAWS for WindowsÂ®.
Freedom Scientific's Braille displays are the
most reliable in the industry and are backed by
technical support and service teams based in St.
Petersburg, Florida. The new US/Canada list price
for the Focus 40 Blue is USD 2,795 and includes a
two-year manufacturer's warranty. For more
information, please visit the Freedom Scientific
Web site or call 800-444-4443. About Freedom
Scientific Freedom Scientific is the leading
worldwide provider of assistive technology
products for those with vision impairments. The
Company sells its products worldwide and has
offices in Florida and Switzerland. The Company's
products have been translated into 24 languages
and are available in 55 countries. Freedom also
has a line of software products for those with
learning disabilities. Freedom ScientificÂ® and
JAWS for WindowsÂ® are either trademarks or
registered trademarks in the United States and/or
other countries. The names of actual companies
and products mentioned herein may be the
trademarks of their respective
owners.             Forward
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