[nabs-l] Scanning And Reading Appliance (SARA) vs. Kurzweil

[Antonio M. Guimaraes Jr.]

I wonder how many of us do not use something like fine reader because we feel like it is somehow in competition with another assistive technology product.

I would guess that most of us on this list would have no trouble using the Fine Reader interface.

It will not be hard to find $50 to pay for something like this.

I find it incredible that Voc rehab is willing to fork over $1000 for something that has been proven to work, but may not be utilized by the student to its full potential, but will not evaluate, or investigate the feasibility and usability of something like Fine Reader.

Sometimes it is about the financial interests of adaptive technology vendors. That is the unfortunate truth.

The profit margin on a $50 product is so small that no one in their right mind will sell it to commission for the blind agencies.

I've heard enough about Fine engine that I must go out and get one, even if just to play with. I'm sure it will be a nice and useful toy. Commission for the blind will never pay for it, but I will have the benefit of a portable and fast scanner in the palm of my hands.

Just thinking!



On Jul 12, 2013, at 7:59 PM, "Antonio M. Guimaraes Jr." <freethaught at gmail.com> wrote:

> Steve and Joe,
> 
> It occurs to me that using fine reader is not simply a choice over using Kurzweil, or Sara, or Openbook.
> 
> I would like to know more details about the fine reader package so that I can add it to my arsenal of scanning solutions.
> 
> I wouldn't mind dropping $40 on a speedy scanner that I can later converted to, and use within Kurzweil.
> 
> I am sure I can get used to the interface, and would love the portability and speak that fine reader  will provide.
> 
> So, is fine reader compatible with the Mac computer?
> 
> Can also be used with APC machine?
> 
> How portable is it?
> 
> Where can I buy the thing?
> 
> And finally, Joe, would you be so kind as to provide a price match should I not be able to find find the reader for the price you have? Big smile.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Antonio
> 
> On Jun 12, 2013, at 10:02 PM, Ashley Bramlett <bookwormahb at earthlink.net> wrote:
> 
>> Good question. Sara and kurzweil do similar things but are made by different companies.
>> 
>> Also, what does the sara speech sound like? Does it have the same synthesizers as jaws?
>> Do sara and kurzweil support the same file types such as conversion to a word file and mp3 files?
>> I think sara is more expensive being a stand alone product but not sure.
>> 
>> Ashley
>> -----Original Message----- From: Justin Young
>> Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2013 3:45 PM
>> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>> Subject: [nabs-l] Scanning And Reading Appliance (SARA) vs. Kurzweil
>> 
>> Hi All,
>> 
>> Hope you are doing well.  I was wondering if any of you have used a
>> devise called Scanning And Reading Appliance (SARA) from Freedom
>> Scientific?  I currently have Kurzweil, but was interested in hearing
>> if anyone knew if it handled documents better than Kurzweil?  For
>> example, at least with my version of Kurzweil, you can't really do
>> anything with handwritten text.  Can SARA support these types of
>> documents?  Just curious if anyone first hand could provide any
>> information on this devise.
>> 
>> Thanks,
>> 
>> Justin
>> 
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