[nfbcs] Adaptive Technology and Your Pocketbook

Fri Feb 5 15:54:30 UTC 2010

I can remember when I was so excited to see the Versa Braille for the first time. It actually stored things you wrote on cassette tape! Now for those of us talking about the cost of technology, in 1974, I got a talking calculator from TSI. It only cost $500.00. I don't know if the price was high artificially or not, but it was high.

In 1980, or there about, AFB came out with a talking clock. It was priced for around $95.00. Dr. Jernigan was able to negotiate a price down to $65.00. We now buy them for $10.00. Was the price high then?

There are a couple of things that have driven the price down. First, of course, is the fact that these products are sold to more than just blind people. We are a small market. Now the voice for the Mac may have the same effect as the desire of folks to buy a talking clock. 

Another factor is the  rice of the chips and their capacity. I paid $500.00 for my TI99 4A in 1986. It had a whole four bites of ram. Today, for the same about of money, I can increase that by a factor of over a billion.

It seems to me we are waiting for a coupled of things. A braille display that can work using non-mechanical parts. I keep hearing of one in the works, but haven't seen one yet. Other computer manufacturers to decide that speech output is cool, and that kind of a bell or whistle might help sell the product. Go get um Apple. I think that Universal Access is a nice idea. I believe that it will never be universal until there is a profit in it.  

-----Original Message-----
From: nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Lloyd Rasmussen
Sent: Friday, February 05, 2010 8:51 AM
To: NFBnet NFBCS Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfbcs] Adaptive Technology and Your Pocketbook

Video Voice is one of the many DOS screen readers which fell by the wayside in the 1984-93 era.
And in the cab from Baltimore to DC Sunday night, I was telling one of our R&D Committee members about the Speaqualizer.  Do you remember when we agonized over the fate of the SSI-263 speech chip?  Sometimes it's scary to contemplate all the products that have disappeared from the market and are disappearing from the public consciousness, too.  Not to mention all the money that was urgently spent on them.

At 09:04 AM 2/5/2010, you wrote:
>Dave:
>
>Er, um, what's Video Voice?
>
>Mike
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Hyde, David W. (ESC)" <david.hyde at wcbvi.k12.wi.us>
>To: 'Ationfbnet NFBCS Mailing List' <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
>Date: Friday, Feb 5, 2010 5:55:15
>Subject: Re: [nfbcs] Adaptive Technology and Your Pocketbook
>
> >
> >
> > This is an issue in which, all of us who use adaptive tech have a
> stake. As I said before, I too am interested in what we can do to make 
> it more affordable for me (enlightened self interest) and for others. 
> In the interest of developing a solution, or range of solutions, I 
> think many of us would appreciate an eye to the tone of the posts. It 
> is a volatile issue. I don't always agree With John, or with Joe. I 
> hope we will all stop short of making assumptions about, or casting 
> aspersions upon what or why any of us take a particular stance.
> >
> > For the best behaved member of the list, I just might have a free 
> > copy
> of Outspoken, or for the PC users, Video Voice.
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Joe Orozco
> > Sent: Thursday, February 04, 2010 7:19 PM
> > To: 'Ationfbnet NFBCS Mailing List'
> > Subject: Re: [nfbcs] Adaptive Technology and Your Pocketbook
> >
> > John,
> >
> > You're quite the little ray of sunshine, aren't you?
> >
> > Competition is not the answer, because as long as there is a small
> group of players, neither one will blink and drop prices to get more 
> customers.  Why should a company drop prices if they can get away with 
> staying in the same general neighborhood as the others?  This is not 
> exactly a phenomenon limited to the blindness market.  It's simple enterprise.
> >
> > Freedom Scientific is not losing customers to Apple, because the PC 
> > is
> still dominant.  People have certainly migrated to the Mac, and there 
> are benefits to purchasing a computer that comes talking out of the 
> box.  Yet, the average consumer will be hard pressed to learn a new 
> operating system for the sake of a built-in screen reader that is 
> still growing and whose overall platform is still inferior to the 
> compatibility of the PC.  I'm not bashing Apple.  On the contrary, I 
> applaud their work, but don't allow your own computer preferences to 
> make you assume your views are shared by the majority of consumers, blind or sighted.
> >
> > And, no, I think that while some people will move over to less
> expensive options like NVDA, people ultimately know that the 
> accessibility of these choices does not rival the accessibility of 
> JAWS and Window Eyes.  Talk to David Andrews who pointed out that the 
> introduction of these products can actually hurt the adaptive industry.
> >
> > I'm not looking for a JAWS alternative.  I don't care for the price
> associated with purchasing new upgrades, but for now it's what I have 
> to pay to get the accessibility I need.  Yet, you assume this is a 
> self-motivated campaign designed to air out my own grievances.  
> Believe it or not, I care about people without the means to buy their 
> own technology.  In today's economy there's no telling when I find 
> myself in the same position to be unable to buy what I need to get by.
> >
> > It's not a matter of ethics when you compare the cost of a 
> > mainstream
> product to the astronomical cost of an adaptive one.  I think this is 
> the strategy of an informed consumer.  Voting with my dollars will 
> hardly put a dent in what is already at least a $30 million sales 
> operation in the case of Freedom Scientific, according to public 
> records, and that's only an estimate.  WAFRA Partners only purchases 
> companies that generate a minimum revenue of $20 million.  That too is 
> public record.  I could be stupid and assume my refusing to pay $260 
> for a JAWS upgrade will make them shake their heads and think, "wow, 
> you know, maybe I should bring down prices."
> > Seriously, don't be delusional.
> >
> > And, don't be a naysayer.  You have no idea how the campaign will evolve.
> > If people don't step up to the plate, it won't even happen, because
> ultimately I am only interested in helping people who want to try to 
> help themselves.  You don't even know how the companies will respond, 
> because until there is reason to believe otherwise, we can only hope 
> that what is achieved is a true compromise that does not deprive 
> companies of the funds necessary to step up development and does not 
> bar consumers from taking advantage of all the technology.  What you 
> do know is that whatever benefits are achieved from our little group 
> of diverse professionals are also going to benefit you.  Don't sit 
> there and throw up objections to something good that could happen 
> without your raising a finger.
> >
> > Respectfully,
> >
> > Joe Orozco
>...

----------------------
Lloyd Rasmussen, Senior Project Engineer National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
Work:  202-707-0535             www.loc.gov/nls
Home:  http://lras.home.sprynet.com
The preceding opinions are my own, and not necessarily those of the National Library Service, Library of Congress.

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