[nfbcs] NVDA product question

[George]

Thank you for your email, but, sorry, I don't think I get your point.

> I find Jaws to be just as frustrating as the next guy
and I don't use it in my daily work.  However, I purchase it because it is
there if I really need it and there may be a day, and there have been a
few, when it did something I really needed.

If you don't like it and you purchased it even if you don't use it in your 
daily life, just because you might need it some day, you might be very rich, 
or you probably hadn't heard about NVDA by that time.  I definitely 
recommend you NVDA; you'll use it everyday and it'll be there when you need 
it even if you can't pay.
However, if you want to pay and you are rich, go ahead! You are free to do 
so...

I'll use NVDA instead and don't tell me that it might disappear because it's 
free! I live in the present: What will happen in the future, nobody knows; 
anything might die or disappear and noone can prevent that from happening. 
The same might be true about JAWS or even about Windows.
All software have a life circle.
Will you stop using Windows because it might disappear some day?
Or will you use now what you have now?

Are you trying to tell me that I should boycot NVDA and buy expensive screen 
readers to keep them alive?

Please also think about Linux, Wikipedia, etc.
Don't tell me that you don't use Wikipedia and buy all the encyclopedias on 
the market to keep them alive.

Do you prefer to pay to feel that JAWS or other screen readers will live 
forever that way?
Then go ahead! Noone prevents you from doing so.
Just don't expect to convince me to do the same.

If JAWS is so good, it will survive. If some other screen reader is better, 
it will survive and if both are good, both will survive.
I seek the greatest benefit at the lowest cost.

I see where you are trying to go, but your words don't convince me at all.
In stead of paying hundreds of dollars to keep some expensive screen readers 
alive, I would prefer to pay tens of dollars when I can to keep NVDA alive.
The freedom to use your computer for free even if you are blind is a 
wonderful thing and it's freedom not based on future worries or threats. And 
using your computer now is much more important that doing something that you 
might need, maybe some day.

Don't worry so much!
You don't need to convince anyone: If expensive screen readers are so 
useful, many people will go on buying them. And, if NVDA covers all your 
needs, then welcome to NVDA.

This is my last post to this thread.

----- Original Message ----- 
Sent: Tuesday, November 04, 2014 3:45 PM
Subject: Re: [nfbcs] NVDA product question


> Hello.  Everyone who has been following or contributing to this thread
> on this list needs to read, multiple times, tim Connell's article in the
> November 2014 Braille Monitor, "What is the Cost of a Free Product?"
> In that article, he lays out the various funding models for all the
> access technology available today and lists the vices and virtues of each
> model.  He makes the point, in a few wores, that I've been trying to make,
> in a very clumsy fashion, for a number of years.  Free is not always 
> better.
> I'll add to his point that even more important is the fact that we as 
> blind
> consumers need to be aware of the cost of free products before we end up
> paying the ultimate price of freedom, i.e. with our jobs and, potentially,
> our independence.  I find Jaws to be just as frustrating as the next guy
> and I don't use it in my daily work.  However, I purchase it because it is
> there if I really need it and there may be a day, and there have been a
> few, when it did something I really needed.  Many blind professionals I
> know rely on Jaws every day and I would be very sad to see them lose their
> livelihoods because Freedom Scientivic could no longer afford to support
> their products.  Sure there are excesses in the market place and companies
> who've stocked their treasure chests with the gold of the poor who bought
> their products.  However, let's not let the exception make the rule.  Most
> folks working in the access technology arena are not becoming filthy rich
> off our baksand, even better for us, they are dedicated individuals who
> truly believe in helping us achieve independence through improved access 
> to
> technology and training.  As Tim points out, the philanthropic model, 
> which
> is how NVDA is funded, is a fragile beast and subject to the whims of the
> funders which, are, in turn, influenced by a wide array of factors
> including political considerations, share holder concerns and issues I
> can't even think of.  Contrary to Tim's essay, I'd argue that technologies
> like VoiceOver in Apple's iOS  and Talkback in Google's Android survive on
> the philanthropic model as well, all be it from one donor rather than 
> many.
> The point I want to make here is that while everyone is discussing the
> merrits of NVDA versus Jaws relative to their costs, remember that, as Tim
> points out, we probably don't truly know the cost of free yet. I pray that
> we will before we actually pay it!
>
> -thanks
> -Brian
>
>
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