[nabs-l] FW: Serotek declares war

[David Andrews]

Well, Mike Calvo makes some good points, and there is some truth in 
what he says -- he also simplifies most things and glosses over a 
lot.  System Access is a good product, for what it is -- but in many 
employment situations it just can't compete with JAWS or 
Window-Eyes.  They are more sophisticated products, and have a 
variety of tools to customize them etc.  You have to pay some how for 
the development of this stuff.

Freedom Scientific dropped the price of one of its refreshable 
Braille displays by approximately $1500 yesterday.

We aren't going to see built in access to lots of products, they are 
to inexpensive, designed and made overseas, have short life cycles 
etc.  Maybe for the big things, but not all the little electronic 
stuff there is out there.  Without legislation there will be islands 
of accessibility and oceans of inaccessibility.

Dave

At 10:08 PM 3/3/2010, you wrote:
>Hi:
>
>Just thought I'd put my opinions.
>
>I like this a lot!
>I totally agree with everything Mike says in this blog.
>With what Apple is doing, there is no reason for such a high price for
>screenreaders such as Jaws.
>I will admit, right now I do not currently use System Access but am
>going to switch soon.
>I use the Iphone and love it...no more Mobile Speak for me!
>I will be getting the Ipad soon and may just use it instead of my
>windows netbook depending on how it works for me and how much I like
>it.
>I have a Pacmate and ocationally use the braille display for reading
>but take notes with my netbook. I barely use the Pacmate anymore.
>
>I think the big thing here is the braille displays. With so much
>technology out there today, there is no reason why braille displays
>should not be cheaper, even if that means changing their functionality
>a little to make the cost of production go down.
>
>I think blind people should be taking more of a stand to get these
>companies to lower their prices and quit this ridiculousness.
>I hope very strongly for a day when Windows is like the Mac where
>there is a built-in fully functional screenreader so people can use
>Windows right out of the box just like Voiceover for the Mac and
>iPhone.
>
>Just my two cents!!
>
>Kerri