[Trainer-talk] My Further Predictions about the GW Micro Window-eyes for Office announcement

[David Goldfield]

     I have to confess that I've been doing a great deal of thinking 
about this latest announcement from GW Micro and Microsoft.  Of course, 
I'm pleased about this and I think it will produce great results for 
consumers, even though it will turn the industry on its head.  Like most 
of us in the field, I wanted to know the deeper picture, the why behind 
the what, and we certainly won't know very much of that, at least right 
now.  However, after listening to the majority of the recent press 
conference, I've been trying to connect the dots and I have a reasonable 
guess as to what we're going to be seeing in the next six to eight 
months.  At this point, I want to stress that my predictions are not, in 
any way, based on insider information or on second-hand rumors.  If I 
happen to be wrong, I don't want any organizations contacting me, 
accusing me of slander or starting rumors, as this is not my intent.  If 
I happen to be right, what I'm about to write is just a set of 
reasonable conclusions and nothing more.  I'm just a user of a.t. 
technology, coming up with what I think is a pretty good guess as to 
what may be happening behind the scenes, in much the same way that 
writers of mainstream tech magazines write analyses of product 
announcements in an attempt to predict future trends or other 
possibilities.
First, let's examine some intriguing comments made during the press 
conference.  A questioner asked several things: how does giving away the 
flagship product affect GW Micro, if GW Micro was getting something from 
Microsoft, as well as whether GW Micro might be steering toward being a 
nonprofit company.  The response was, and I'm paraphrasing, that these 
are good questions and we'll have a better indication of the answers in 
six months.  Dan Wehrich (sp) also implied that this partnership allowed 
GW Micro to do this.
During another response, Dan said that GW Micro doesn't make screen 
readers for phones but said that they would be open to other 
possibilities, or words to that effect.  Examining these responses, 
here's what I think is happening behind the scenes.
1.  GW Micro is indeed being paid by Microsoft.
2.  GW Micro is working on a new screen reader, a version of Window-eyes 
specifically designed for the Windows Phone operating system.
3.  JAWS is likely dominating the market when it comes to screen reader 
usage.  If my last statement is correct, GW Micro can now afford to give 
away their flagship product, if they indeed are being presented with a 
very comfortable financial cushion from one of the most stable and 
richest software giants on the planet.  This move places a rather bright 
spotlight on GW Micro, allowing their user base to grow at a much larger 
rate without having them become bankrupt in the process. They'll also be 
able to make up for some of the losses by offering support and extra 
synthesizers.

4.  Window-eyes for Windows Phone will be released in six to eight 
months.  It will either be free or extremely affordable, but likely it 
will cost users nothing.  If there is a cost, Microsoft may set up a 
system, allowing blind consumers to buy specific phones for them, in 
exchange for a free copy of Window-eyes for their phone.

5.  As I've indicated in a previous message, Freedom Scientific will 
attempt to compete but won't do it in precisely the same way, as I think 
they will resist giving the full JAWS package away at no cost.  They 
will either produce a lighter, stripped-down version for free or for a 
reduced cost or they will implement a subscription service, allowing 
users to essentially rent the software on a monthly or annual basis.

My thoughts on this have nothing to do with whether I like JAWS less 
than Window-eyes or whether I prefer window-eyes over JAWS. However, I 
think this is a reasonable, if not likely scenario. David Andrews 
correctly summarized the state of Microsoft's accessibility initiatives 
in a previous message.  They're improving with Narrator and their 
accessibility helpline is getting rave reviews and high praise, but 
they're still struggling.  I believe that this partnership we're seeing 
is Microsoft's way of branching out, tapping into some additional 
resources to add even more accessibility into their products.  They 
certainly know that it's needed for windows Phone.  My final prediction 
is that we're going to see some major restructuring going on at GW 
Micro, perhaps something as radical as them becoming the official 
accessibility arm or hub of Microsoft.