[Nfbmt] Technology

[Rebecca Stewart]

Joy, you make me smile.  You're absolutely right, I feel like a kid in a
candy store.  I've been blind since 1989 and have had so much trouble just
navigating life.  Now, I am learning about all these awesome tools I never
heard of before, tools that will make my life so much easier.  You probably
can imagine what that is like.  I feel like I have been living in an amazon
jungle for my whole life and now I'm in America, the world of high tech
stuff.  I'm amazed with what I've been learning about since I joined the
NFB.  Why didn't I ever learn about any of this stuff before?  I've been
right here for the past almost 25 years since I went blind.  I'm so
frustrated that my parents and others who were leading me around by the hand
didn't ever let me learn about this before.  Sure, it's old hat to you but
to me, it's a new lease on life.  You're right though, I need to learn about
what's available and then decide what will work for me but I'm so far behind
the times on all this stuff.  It's almost like a foreign language to me.
I'm finally starting to make sense of some of it though.   

-----Original Message-----
From: Nfbmt [mailto:nfbmt-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Bruce&Joy
Breslauer
Sent: Thursday, January 9, 2014 6:14 PM
To: 'NFB of Montana Discussion List'
Subject: [Nfbmt] Technology

Hey Becca, 

Chill, baby, chill!  LOL 

You want to get out there and get acquainted with and taste and buy all the
cheeseburgers in the universe. Everybody has one, every company makes one a
little differently.  Some try to target a specific audience; others make
something more mainstream that will work with few or no modifications right
out of the box.  If you want a cheeseburger, you just need to find the one
you like and go for it.  Buying one of all the cheeseburgers in the world is
something you can never do.  The best way to get to know about technology or
cheeseburgers is to talk to friends, have them explain or demonstrate their
technology to you, see what they have and what they like or don't like about
it, and why they picked one over another.  This is fun to do at state
conventions if there is time.  Also, at national convention, there is always
a room set aside with things set up so you can see what is available and
have it demonstrated and see what you like and maybe buy it or put it on a
Christmas list or something.  This all takes time.  Some people are better
teachers than others.  You'll get to see a lot of cool stuff at the CCB too,
so don't just go for the first cheeseburger someone tells you about.  You
might decide you like another kind better no matter what I or anyone else
might say.  

Jim and Dar are good contacts for learning about technology;  Jim is a
gadget collector from way back.  We all have little gadgets that we use in
our everyday lives, either for living or recreation.  A lot of this boils
down to what you have been introduced to first, what you are familiar with,
and personal preference.  If you hear about all this stuff coming at you
from all sides, you may get overwhelmed and feel like you are really missing
out on something important.  Give yourself time to become more familiar with
what is out there, who makes what, what is competing with what, and what
some of the differences in technology are.  You may find you like something
fairly simple to use rather than something more complicated that maybe does
more stuff that you don't need. 

If I am correct, the Plex talk is something like a Victor Reader Stream.
It's just another company's version of it.  It basically does the same
thing: read books and store audio files.  There are several things out there
in the market place that you can use for storing and retrieving audio files.
It's like a personal data assistant or mp3 player for the blind.  

I get a kick out of you trying to learn everything at once, like a kid in a
candy store.  Chill out and enjoy yourself.  You'll get familiar enough with
the technology that's out there for us that you'll be able to make wise
decisions about what and what not to buy.

Hope you're having fun in Minnesota.  Joy   


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