[Nfbmo] I-Phone could take the win out of KNFB Reader.

Matthew Sievert msievert at sbcglobal.net
Tue Jun 29 17:37:14 UTC 2010


My thoughts as with all "stuff" is that the thing may not cost "x". But since te market is so limited for the item, then they have to charge an amount to make it worth their time.

As tech gets cheaper and moe common, the price will come down.

As far as the knfb reader, I have never seen the device.

I do know that any money I give or spend at NFB is primarily used for the main mission of scholarships, or funding specific programs. So even if NFB sells a mug or a cane. The "extra" cost is usually destined to the overall cause of the organization.

As far as unobtainable pricing for visual aids. I am going to let the rest of the community discuss that topic.

I don't have a solution for affordable visual aids.

Matt






On Jun 29, 2010, at 1:21 PM, "Fred Olver" <goodfolks at charter.net> wrote:

You're certainly right, Shelia, remember when the KNFB Reader came out with a price-tag of $3,300 or more. And then they reduced the price to $2,800 and now I believe the price is down to around $1,500. En lite of the fact that I heard an engineer at Kurzweil headquarters in 1988 say that the company could sell it's current product, the Kurzweil Personal Reader for $2,500 which at the time the low-end unit with hand scanner was selling for $7,000 and the top-of-the-line model for $12,00.00 and still make a profit, and since many blind folks consider the prices for Jaws and Window Eyes prohibitive the fact that the KNFB reader/phone sells for $1,500 plus makes this Apple application infinitely more affordable and the fact that the KNFB Reader/phone is priced nearly four times the price of the Apple I-Phone. And let's not use the argument that the KNFB Reader is not used in a main-stream product, because it is. The problem for me is that it appears that an
 organization of and for the blind has the appearance of making money off the blind when they give every appearance of acting in the best interests of the blind.

Fred Olver
----- Original Message ----- From: "Shelia Wright" <sbwright95 at att.net>
To: "'NFB of Missouri Mailing List'" <nfbmo at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2010 11:16 AM
Subject: Re: [Nfbmo] I-Phone could take the win out of KNFB Reader.


I am all for options and for affordability. If the Apple's OCR program is
comparable or even better than the KNFB Reader that is great. However, the
fact that the NFB and Kurzweill  has developed the technology through many
years of work, has in and of itself led to making it possible.

The tone of the posts that the KNFB Reader is a rip off is a bit niave and
annoying given the years of work I have witnessed. Bravo for the work Apple
is doing; Bravo that technology is advancing and becoming more affordable;
Bravo to the pioneers who led the way!

Shelia Wright



   --Original Message-----
From: nfbmo-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbmo-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Bryan Schulz
Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2010 9:25 AM
To: NFB of Missouri Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Nfbmo] I-Phone could take the win out of KNFB Reader.

hi,

any chance these phones have an option for not having to pay 30-60 bucks a
month?

Bryan Schulz

----- Original Message ----- From: "Fred Olver" <goodfolks at charter.net>
To: <Blindad at babel-fish.us>; <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: <msb-alumni at googlegroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2010 7:17 AM
Subject: [Nfbmo] I-Phone could take the win out of KNFB Reader.


the I phone will have an OCR  app soon.  thus no need to pay two grand for

the kurzweil reader , phone , and talks or moble speak.   the 3 g as well
as the new 4g phone will work with  this OCR software. and the I phone has

it's own speech software which is FREE. So  go and listen to the file
below and see for yourself.

SayText is an app designed especially for the visually impaired and by the

way, it's free! In a few words to describe it's use, you need to place the

iPhone on the center of a document. There's a big button for starting the
tool, tap it. ?Slowly elevate the i Phohne upwards from the document until

you hear a beep sound - this indicates, that the document is now fully in
frame and the camera will shoot automatically, when the picture is stable
/ focused. ?Now only thing you have to do, is to wait for a few seconds.
(You can tap the screen to hear the OCR progress, e.g. OCR 35%). ?When the

OCR is ready you can start the voiceover to read the document out loud.
The app should come to Appstore in a week or so. There is a website for
SayText:
http://www.docscannerapp.com/saytext/

There's also a video, where Mr. Heikki Ekola, a totally blind person uses
it. He's representing the Finnish Federation of the Visually Impaired -
You can find the video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlWJF27IdX4

This video is also at the SayText homepage.
http://www.docscannerapp.com/saytext/


Fred Olver

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