[Nfbmt] FCC Chooses to Approve the Waiver for E-book Readers for One Year

Mon Feb 10 18:58:45 UTC 2014

Becca,

Yes, the new Stream is pretty awesome!

You are definitely on the right track with the idea that we should
work with these manufacturers.  The NFB has reached out to almost
every major company involving consumer electronics over the past
decade and a half.  Some efforts have been successful, like Apple.
Some have been dismal failures, like Amazon.  Still others are
frustratingly slow, like Google.  The International Braille &
Technology center staff at the National Center in Baltimore are
awesome, and the NFB always tries to work with dot--coms and
manufacturers before it takes any other steps.

Enjoy your Stream!

Dan

On 2/10/14, James Aldrich <jkaldrich at samobile.net> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I like the direction we are heading!  We no longer have two or three
> companies dominating the field of blindness technology! We now have
> more and more access to main stream technology with accessibility built
> in!  The IPhone is a great example of this! I understand great strides
> have been made with the latest Kindle Fire.  It isn't perfect but
> people are beginning to purchase it! We may have lost a battle with the
> FCC reviewing the need to have accessibility built in and included in
> all reading devices! We simply need to stick to our guns and insist all
> devices must be accessible to us and this accessibility must be built
> in! If we don't, the writers, publishers and manufacturers will attempt
> to make more of their devices with no accessibility included!  Our
> National Office is certainly on top of this issue! We will be notified
> when we need to write our congressman to state our case!  When a
> company does something right, it doesn't hurt to contact them about how
> pleased you are with your recent  purchase!
>
> I can agree to a point about the free marketplace but that is an empty
> argument when we have been told over and over again, we are a
> specialized market and our products aren't needed by the masses
> therefore, we must pay much more for our technology!  I think some
> companies felt they knew better than we did about what was truly
> needed!  iI can go into allot of detail about this!  The cost for
> screen readers is also going down and one company isn't dominating the
> field as it once did! It really makes allot of sense to put a thousand
> dollar, maybe two thousand dollar screen reader on a three hundred
> dollar netbook right?!  Okay, I have two computers but the cost of some
> screen reader technology exceeded the cost of the computer it would be
> used on. This technology is competing with Voiceover which is built
> into the Mac computer.  System Access and GW Micro are bringing the
> cost of screen reader technology down!  The founder of Serotek Corp
> invisions a day when the company he founded would no longer be needed!
> All computers would be accessible off the shelf! Perhaps the computers
> we now know may not exist as they do in a few years!  Technology is
> constantly changing!
>
> I think Dan has it right for the most part!  I'd rather have a device
> which can access as many books as possible and it would be a pleasure
> to read something which has been recently published! It would be nice
> to pay $60 for it!  on the other hand, I tend to take the middle ground
> on this issue!  If something works well for someone, why not promote it
> especially if it costs $350 or so.  That is much better than $900 or
> $5000! I have two of those $5000 notetakers with braille displays which
> are no longer repairable or replaceable.  They can no longer go online.
> Even the $1500 notetakers Dar and I purchased over five years ago
> cannot go online any more!  They are no longer supported by the
> manufacturer.   They work fine, but if they quit, they go to the dump I
> guess!  We'll use them till they croke! Meanwhile that $350 or so
> netbook could go online the day I bought it and if I still had it here,
> I'm certain it could connect to my present network.  I've wondered why
> the blindness devices I purchased did not have the latest connectivity
> features and I' paid much more!  I had someone bring in the Humanware
> APex notetaker and it did work on our Wi fi.  I paid $800 for a second
> hand Trekker Breeze and a bit over $900 for a new one!  Now one can get
> them for $300.  I think they are on the way out!  I can get a better
> GPS app for my phone for $20 which will equal the Trekker Breeze I
> think.  My Trekker Breeze still works fine and it had been to the shop
> once but it is hardly used! I can buy allot of IPhones for $5000 even
> if I pay $850 or so through Apple.  Thank goodness, I got most of them
> subsidized through Verizon Wireless.  I'm not crying in my beer really!
> i don't drink beer as a rule unless it is a very hot summer day!
>
> Right now, the latest Victor Stream with its present upgrade is ahead
> of  all the other reading devices!  I think second in line are the Book
> Port Plus and the Book Port DT as well as the Plextalk line of
> products.  The Book Sense has an excellent TTS Engine, but I can
> utilize this through my IPhone!  So if I were to let go anything, it
> might be the Book Sense!  They have some great features, but it doesn't
> go online and it is harder to put books on the unit than the other
> above mentioned reading devices.
>
> I don't wish to tell anyone what they should use!  I won't pay anything
> above $4000 for a braille notetaker.  I'll purchase one reconditioned
> or used if it has been refurbished by the factory.  I may get a braille
> display which can connect via bluetooth with my phone or IPod. I'm
> still thinking it over!
>
> For what it is worth!
>
> Jim
>
>
> Original message:
>> Very good points Dan.  I'm very new at having a Victor and at this point
>> I'm
>> still in awe that it does everything it does.  I have no idea what's
>> available to the sighted users of other electronic toys.  I feel very
>> fortunate to have been introduced to the Victor, I love it's versatility,
>> it's portability and so much more about it.  Ted sent me a message from
>> the
>> company who made it and I loaded an ap into it to get internet radio
>> stations but I haven't yet figured out how to play them but I'm sure I
>> will
>> eventually figure that outas well.  For me, I love the tools that are
>> available to us blind users.  In time, I will doubtless start to feel as
>> you
>> do.   I'm still so new at  all this cool technology.  Perhaps we should
>> get
>> with the manufacturers of some of these toys and help them design them to
>> be
>> accessible to the blind, sort of like advisors.  We, after all, know what
>> we
>> need and what we like.  Just a thought:)
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Nfbmt [mailto:nfbmt-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Dan Burke
>> Sent: Saturday, February 8, 2014 6:59 PM
>> To: NFB of Montana Discussion List
>> Subject: Re: [Nfbmt] FCC Chooses to Approve the Waiver for E-book Readers
>> for One Year
>
>> True, except that Kindle has tens of thousands more books than we can
>> ever
>> get on our Streams, and the e-book readers sold to the mainstream are
>> about
>> $100 or less, instead of $380.  I  want the free market that everyone
>> else
>> has access to.  I want to pay those same prices and get accessible
>> mainstream readers and books.
>
>> The FCC's decision is indeed a big disappointment..
>
>> Dan
>
>
>> On 2/8/14, Rebecca Stewart <becca33 at bresnan.net> wrote:
>>> Well, that's bad news of course but it can only create more business
>>> for companies who have chosen to cater to our needs, companies like
>>> the one that makes the Victor Stream.  If these companies show a great
>>> profit by catering to the blind, then other companies who are not
>>> forced to will make the choice to become accessible in order to get
>>> our business, that's how the free market works:)
>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Nfbmt [mailto:nfbmt-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Rik James
>>> Sent: Friday, February 7, 2014 11:53 PM
>>> To: NFB of Montana Discussion List
>>> Subject: [Nfbmt] FCC Chooses to Approve the Waiver for E-book Readers
>>> for One Year
>
>>> Hello, list members. This is Rik.
>
>>> I read this as a bit of disappointing news. Maybe some of you already
>>> had heard about it.
>>> I found it as one of the items in Blind Bargains today, which is a
>>> pretty neat place to find stuff for sale in addition to news bits, and
>> what not.
>
>>> http://www.blindbargains.com/
>
>
>>> FCC Chooses to Approve the Waiver for E-book Readers for One Year
>
>>> Back in  August,  we told you about the Coalition of E-book Reader
>>> manufacturers asking the FCC to waive the requirements to make their
>>> basic e-book readers accessible. Then in  October,  we let you know
>>> that a temporary waiver had been granted to the Coalition while the
>>> FCC reviewed the case. Today, we're sad to announce that the FCC has
>>> decided to grant the waiver, granting these companies the right to not
>>> have to make their basic e-book readers accessible to people with
>>> disabilities. According to the Digital Journal, here are some of the
>>> requirements that the FCC laid out for which devices would qualify for
>>> the waiver: the device must not have an LCD screen, the device must
>>> not have a camera, and the device must be marketed as a reading
>>> device. The waiver that was granted will last for one year.
>>> Posted by Alena Roberts Sunday, 02-Feb-2014 2:02 PM ET in
>>> Books/Movies/Music
>
>
>>> If your email is in rich text and not plain text then you can TAB down
>>> to this link below and hit ENTER, and it should open the full story in
>>> your
>>> browser:
>
>>> FCC Chooses to Approve the Waiver for E-book Readers  for One Year
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>
>
>
>> --
>> Dan Burke
>> My Cell:  406.546.8546
>> Twitter:  @DallDonal
>
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-- 
Dan Burke
My Cell:  406.546.8546
Twitter:  @DallDonal