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

Tue Jun 29 19:42:18 UTC 2010

Hello Fred. Some of what you write below is exactly what you wrote to me in 
a letter earlier this year, unless you believe that I have lied to you about 
what I said, I'm surprised that you continue to say it. I told you, and will 
state for the record, that at this point the national Federation of the 
blind has yet to recoup any of its investment In the KNFB Reader, That KNFB 
Reading Technologies is not yet making a profit, and that certainly it, as a 
for-profit corporation, has every right to do so. Why then do you tell me 
that it is wrong for an organization of or for the blind to be involved in 
the development or the sale of a product such as this? Either you have 
evidence of which I am unaware about the finances of the NFB or KNFB Reading 
Technologies, you did not read the letter in which I talked with you about 
the KNFB Reader project, or you simply like what some engineer told you a 
long time ago and so you repeat it and try to make it apply to this 
situation.

If somehow the mainstream market comes to embrace technology which is usable 
both by the blind and sighted, they will beat hands down any blindness 
company which tries to compete with them because they will have the numbers. 
As long as they truly meet our needs, then we who are blind are the 
beneficiaries. Until they do, we're going to have to live with the fact that 
it costs a lot more money to develop a product that will be used by 
thousands than it does a product used by millions. It is incredible to me 
that the NFB can in any way be disparaged for planting the seed, sprinkling 
it with money, and developing a product which works in the here and now. If 
at some point we start to put down Apple or any other company because they 
have a competing product, then take us to task, but stop pretending we're 
making a killing at the hands of our fellow blind consumers.

Gary
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Fred Olver" <goodfolks at charter.net>
To: "NFB of Missouri Mailing List" <nfbmo at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2010 12:21 PM
Subject: Re: [Nfbmo] I-Phone could take the win out of KNFB Reader.

> 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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>>
>>
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