[NFBMT] a world to dream about or to rant about- free of the graphic rabbit hunt

[Rik James]

I don't know but I wonder what any of you all might think.

 

I want to dream of a world that is free of this what I call the rabbit hunt.

The dogs are all barking. They are on the scent of a rabbit. But the rabbit
has already gone down a hole. The rabbit is laughing at me. He knows I am
still just looking for the mouse cursor.

Is this some strange joke, Rik, you ask? Well, sure. Sort of. But read on.
And then join in, to find the rabbit scent.

 

I have days when it seems the first half hour is just dealing with the stuff
that torments us so often, in the way of accessing information, when setting
about to use a personal computer.

Now, some days, sure, I just get right to it. But Murphy's Law just may
apply when I really just needed to get that one thing done, and whoopsie do.
Here I am dealing with some thing that won't talk, or there is a freeze up,
or a website that is so tethered with advertisement my head gets dizzy and
my idea of fun is to just walk away, and stay away.

 

I wonder why. Back when Windows 95 came, it was like a revolution. There had
been all of these DOS-based programs, we learned a bunch of keyboard
shortcuts, hooked our printers up with cables, got these funny sounding
modems to reach out on a phone line, to upload and download, and send the
occasional fax to congress to ask for funding for the education of blind
children. It wasn't easy. It was even slow. But doggone.

 

Pretty soon it was the mouse this, and the mouse that. The graphic user
interface war was on. And it has not really relented, to my mind.

 

And sure, the internet boomed, it became such a big cash cow, they of course
had to just populate all of the pages up with pop up advertisements.

 

And yes, of course malicious people got into the mess, too. And so we had to
find the right way to protect ourselves, and hopefully with something that
is also accessible to the environment in which we try and function
confidently.

 

So many things, there used to be a few buttons and dials and switches.

Now, electronics. Touch screens, things that have no access to their display
required to use them.

 

I just think what if?  Is it just being nostalgic?

Why can't we design our own world, free from all of this?

Why don't we just wean ourselves from this business of chasing our tail,
trying to get access to the graphic ever changing with each new platform?

 

Now, I say all this, and I know it is pie in the sky.

I know that I can't just sit again with that world. Louis Braille had an
idea. Do we have something that could last as long as his ideas?

 

Every device I have that does not have a screen seems to make me happy. It
can be operated manually. No need to work around all of those mouse over
things.

I find I just get some peace of mind from its simple and direct function.

 

Plus, there are those, in truth and reality, and I bet we all know some of
them. They will never get the hang of some of all of this. And what are they
left with? Just the feeling of being behind, and with little hope to catch
up.

Catch up? Why, that would mean there was no need for each year or two to
throw out the window the technology we just got to using fairly well! It is
important to develop new products to sell, don't you know?

 

I have asked a few blind persons who are pretty well respected. I say,
didn't they really mess things up when they came up with this whole touch
screen idea?

Oh, no, no, they say. Those are actually quite a good thing. 

I just lose my patience with them. I do okay. But I don't have to like it.

 

Am I just a crank?

Or is there a world of electrical engineers that we can reach out to and
give us the pie in the sky of which I dream?

 

Please, discuss. Dream big. Or tell me I'm just out of order.

My rant phase is over. I hope I didn't upset or bore anyone too badly.

 

Rik James

Celebrating the universe, as best I can, within certain obvious parameters