[nabs-l] Some Questions About the Mac

Marc Workman mworkman.lists at gmail.com
Thu Sep 8 16:44:10 UTC 2011 

The list is macvisionaries at googlegroups.com.  They have archives that I found very useful when first getting started.  There are also many podcasts on doing various things with the Mac.  In particular, I've listened to Mike Arrigo's series of podcasts on Blind Cool Tech, which you should have no trouble finding through a google search.  For a critical perspective on the Mac, which is valuable but which is not always delivered in the most productive way, I recommend Voiceover On, available through iTunes and co-hosted by a member of this list, Kevin Chao.  Lastly, David Woodbridge has done a series of tutorials for Vision Australia that you might find useful.

I second the suggestion to check out a refurbished product from Apple.  Haven't done it myself, but I've heard it's a great way to save a bit of cash.

HTH

Marc
On 2011-09-07, at 7:03 PM, Kerri Kosten wrote:

> Hi Mark:
> 
> What is the list you are on with 700 mac users? I would like to subscribe to it.
> 
> Well, I don't really use intense applications. I mainly browse the web
> a lot, listen to music all the time (I purchase lots of music), do
> word processing, and other things like that. I don't have any vision
> so I'm not playing graphical games or anything like that.
> 
> Having said all that, with so many apps in the store who knows what
> I'll want to do once I really get the hang of using the mac and
> discover other apps that work with Voiceover. Maybe I'll just go with
> the air. I guess I just want to make the best decision for paying such
> a high price and get the best bang for my buck. Keep the opinions/info
> coming. I want to make the best decision possible since a mac is so
> expensive.
> 
> Kerri
> 
> 
> On 9/7/11, Marc Workman <mworkman.lists at gmail.com> wrote:
>> I'm not sure it's purely a matter of preference.  I don't know, I suppose if
>> the issue is that I prefer to be able to browse in a variety of ways
>> depending on the situation (e.g., line-by-line, paragraph-by-paragraph, or
>> or from top to bottom), and I prefer to be able to select text with as few
>> steps as possible, then I guess it's preference, but I really can't imagine
>> why anyone would prefer less flexibility and a larger number of steps to
>> accomplish a task when browsing the web.
>> 
>> I've transitioned from snow leopard to lion, and the Mac mini is
>> considerably slower with 2 Gb of ram.  I used to be able to have a dozen
>> apps open, and switching back and forth did not result in busy messages, but
>> now I get such messages even when running only two or three apps.  It also
>> takes much longer to wake from sleep.  Perhaps the Air with the SSD does not
>> have these issues, but I'm on a list with 700 or so Mac users, and consensus
>> seems to be that you can run lion on 2 Gb (technically you can run it on 1
>> Gb, as I had to do for 10 days), but if you can afford it, get a machine
>> with 4 Gb.  Of course, this all depends on how hard you push the machine.
>> 
>> To turn on quick nab, just hit the left and right arrows at the same time.
>> The same action will turn it off.  Whether single letter navigation when
>> quick nab is on is enabled by default, I'm not sure, but you can easily set
>> this preference in the VO utility.
>> 
>> I only have the mini now, so I can't comment on the Air vs. the Pro.  If you
>> don't need the processing power, then the Air is the slimmer, lighter, and,
>> in some ways, faster machine.
>> 
>> Best,
>> 
>> Marc
>> On 2011-09-07, at 12:27 PM, Ignasi Cambra wrote:
>> 
>>> As you said, it's really a matter of what you prefer. I don't need to
>>> browse line by line and don't find the VoiceOver method to select text
>>> slow or annoying, so I'm fine with browsing the internet on my Mac. As I
>>> said on my previous email, if you get a Macbook Air with 2GB of ram it
>>> will run lion just fine because of the SSD. I'm pretty sure that all
>>> Macbook Pro models come with 4GB ram these days.
>>> On Sep 7, 2011, at 1:07 AM, Marc Workman wrote:
>>> 
>>>> Personally, I don't enjoy browsing on the Mac.  This is mainly because I
>>>> like to move down a page line by line, and this is not possible on the
>>>> Mac, unless I'm missing something; in which case, I'd love to be
>>>> enlightened.  Also, selecting text while browsing involves a series of
>>>> steps, which I have still not learned.  Don't plan on just holding shift
>>>> and hitting the down arrow because that ain't happening.
>>>> 
>>>> I love the mac for mail, iTunes, RSS feeds, and a few other applications,
>>>> but I am way more efficient with JAWS and a PC if I'm going to spend time
>>>> on the internet, or if I'm going to do serious text editing.
>>>> 
>>>> Lastly, if you get a Mac, I would recommend getting something with 4 Gb.
>>>> You can run Lion, the latest operating system with 2 Gb, but I'm finding
>>>> my Mac mini, bought in December 2010, quite sluggish with only 2 Gb.  And
>>>> this is with a monitor plugged in, which if you are thinking of getting a
>>>> Mac mini because it's cheaper, you will also have to do.  They are very
>>>> sluggish if a monitor is not attached.
>>>> 
>>>> Don't get me wrong, I really like my Mac, but they are not without their
>>>> problems.
>>>> 
>>>> Cheers,
>>>> 
>>>> Marc
>>>> On 2011-09-06, at 6:05 PM, Ignasi Cambra wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> Hello,
>>>>> Lots of questions here… First of all, I find navigating the internet
>>>>> with Safari and VoiceOver quite enjoyable. Especially with the
>>>>> introduction of single key navigation on websites finding links, headers
>>>>> etc is really quick and easy. You can configure VoiceOver to
>>>>> automatically interact with the HTML content when the page is loaded if
>>>>> you want to.
>>>>> As you mentioned, Flash is completely inaccessible under Mac OS X, but
>>>>> it won't bother you either. In other words, it's just not there at all
>>>>> for you, so if you are browsing a website with lots of Flash content you
>>>>> will be able to do everything that doesn't require Flash without
>>>>> problems. Navigating cluttered websites is just fine. You will probably
>>>>> find yourself using one key navigation very often, and then you also
>>>>> have the item chooser menu and the web items roter to make your life
>>>>> easier. Unless you absolutely need Flash, the Mac works great to
>>>>> navigate the internet. With some web applications such as Google Docs
>>>>> I've had much better results working with VoiceOver than with JAWS, for
>>>>> example.
>>>>> As for which Mac model to get, it just really depends on what you need.
>>>>> If you were to choose between the two macbook air sizes, I would
>>>>> definitely recommend that you get the 11 inch. It's small, and the
>>>>> bigger 13 inch screen won't do much for you if you're blind. Mainly,
>>>>> Macbook Airs are a lot thiner and lighter than Macbook Pros, but they do
>>>>> ship with slower processors. A big advantage of the Air is that it comes
>>>>> with a solid state drive instead of a hard drive. That alone makes the
>>>>> computer extremely fast when using it for normal tasks. A Macbook Air
>>>>> will probably feel faster to you than a Macbook Pro if you are just
>>>>> booting it, browsing the web and writing text documents. I'm in love
>>>>> with the 11 inch Air, but keep in mind that none of the Macbook Air
>>>>> models have an optical drive built in, so you will have to purchase an
>>>>> external one if you need to read CD's or DVD's. The optical drive
>>>>> offered by Apple is thin and light. I usually carry it in my laptop case
>>>>> and it never bothers me. Unless you are planning to use your laptop for
>>>>> processor-intensive tasks, I would really recommend the 11 inch air. If
>>>>> you don't mind spending a little more money I would upgrade the
>>>>> processor to the faster option provided on the Apple online store. This
>>>>> will make your computer a little faster, and it will probably handle
>>>>> future versions of the operating system a little better.
>>>>> Let me know if you have any more questions!
>>>>> 
>>>>> IC
>>>>> 
>>>>> On Sep 3, 2011, at 5:53 PM, Kerri Kosten wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>>> Hi Everyone!
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> I posted a few months ago about needing to get a new laptop and
>>>>>> whether to get a windows or mac. Currently, I am still using my
>>>>>> netbook. Anyway, my frend got a mac in July and we went through the
>>>>>> voiceover practice mode and listened to the quick start guide
>>>>>> together. While going through this she did let me play a little with
>>>>>> the mac.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> I realized that despite what I've previously been told the mac is
>>>>>> quite simple to use and though it is different from windows it isn't
>>>>>> that hard to use at all. I am now considering purchasing a mac but had
>>>>>> some questions befoore making a final decision.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> What is browsing Safari like on the mac? I love browsing the internet.
>>>>>> Is navigating the web with safari very complicated?
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> I have not been able to play with my friends mac using safari but I
>>>>>> have listened to her use it while she has done research for her
>>>>>> homework.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Once you click on a link on a webpage, how do you find the html/text
>>>>>> of the article to read it? Does voiceover automatically go to it and
>>>>>> then you interact with it? I love reading articles and such on the
>>>>>> internet.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> How does safari/voiceover handle webpages that are cluttered and have
>>>>>> lots of flash? I know the mac doesn't support/handle flash so how does
>>>>>> voiceover read these pages? Does voiceover read/handle these types of
>>>>>> webpages better than Jaws/windows does? Examples of pages I am
>>>>>> referring to are www.espn.com, www.cnnsi.com, or
>>>>>> www.usatoday.com/sports. I guess what I am trying to ask is how does
>>>>>> voiceover/safari handle webpages that are really cluttered, have lots
>>>>>> of flash, and have lots of links/headings?
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> If I decide to get a mac should I go with the macbook pro or the
>>>>>> macbook air? What are the differences between the macbook pro and the
>>>>>> air?
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> I was also looking at the apple store online last night and I noticed
>>>>>> that they have a 13-inch macbook pro with a I5 processor for $1200 and
>>>>>> a 13-inch macbook pro with I7 processor for $1500. Is there a big
>>>>>> difference particularly in speed between the I5 and I7 processors? Is
>>>>>> it worth the extra $300 for the higher I7 processor?
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Thanks so much! If I think of any more questions I'll post.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Kerri
>>>>>> 
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>>>>> 
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