[blindkid] Looking forward
Mike Freeman
k7uij at panix.com
Fri Mar 5 03:14:13 UTC 2010
I agree. And Steve is right; there was far more than a great deal of hidden
marketing in Calvo's diatribe. And this is what bugs me about his doings; he
tends to try to push his products while appearing to be a knight in shining
armor. I'd much rather have a straightforward sales pitch.
Although I applaud Apple's efforts toward accessibility, I think we, the
blind, should think long and hard before we espouse so-called "universal
design" willy-nilly. Why? Because it is almost inevitable that products
designed for a range of disabilities will not serve any one of them
optimally. So we'll end up in a world of accessibility mediocrity.
AS I say, Steve's post has much to recommend it.
Mike
----- Original Message -----
From: "Deborah Kent Stein" <dkent5817 at worldnet.att.net>
To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)"
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, March 04, 2010 5:33 PM
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Looking forward
>
>
> As a dedicated Braille reader I am wary of the idea of eliminating
> companies that design technology exclusively for the blindness market. I
> highly doubt that mainstream companies will ever come forth with devices
> that include Braille displays. Refreshable Braille has expanded Braille
> access beyond my wildest dreams, and I worry that a shift to purely
> mainstream products could turn out to be a giant step into speech access
> only.
>
> Debbie
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Steve Jacobson" <steve.jacobson at visi.com>
> To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)"
> <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, March 04, 2010 4:45 PM
> Subject: Re: [blindkid] Looking forward
>
>
>> Sally,
>>
>> I have hesitated to say anything because I feel that Serotek has very
>> nice products but somewhat questionable marketing techniques. The fact
>> is that to talk you
>> away from JFW, HAL, or Window-Eyes right now is really talking you into
>> his products in my opinion. He over-simplifies the situation with
>> braille displays, too. He is
>> using our frustrations and civil rights to direct frustration against his
>> biggest compettitors without letting you know that he is doing that.
>> This is also coming out just
>> before the large CSUN conference which I feel makes the timing
>> interesting. Let me be clear, he makes some good points, and his
>> products tend to be good
>> values, but this hit me wrong, too. There are some reasons that many of
>> us have felt that we have been better served to have some competition in
>> the screen
>> reader arena even though it cost us more, rather than to push Microsoft
>> to create a screen reader, and I'd be glad to explain that sometime if
>> you are interested.
>> The picture is complicated.
>>
>> We should push to raise awareness of accessibility within mainstream
>> software, and we need to watch how it works to do what Apple is doing.
>> The writer is correct
>> that things will be changing over time, but I think there was a good deal
>> of hidden marketing here.
>>
>> Best regards,
>>
>> Steve Jacobson
>>
>> On Thu, 4 Mar 2010 08:31:24 -0600, Sally Thomas wrote:
>>
>>>Do you think he's self serving? It seems to me that supporting
>>>technology
>>>that is accessible right out of the box is a good thing. I bought my son
>>>a
>>>Victor Reader and it languishes beside his iPod Touch which is used every
>>>day. The Touch is smaller and more useful to him but both technologies
>>>cost
>>>me about the same. I also thought that the NFB Technology Bill of Rights
>>>was along these lines--equipment accessible right out of the box.
>>
>>>I would believe that his motives aren't pure since he is a businessman
>>>but I
>>>am a bit tired of buying very expensive equipment only to find out a
>>>couple
>>>of months later that it is obsolete.
>>
>>>Sally Thomas
>>>----- Original Message -----
>>>From: "Mike Freeman" <k7uij at panix.com>
>>>To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)"
>>><blindkid at nfbnet.org>
>>>Sent: Wednesday, March 03, 2010 11:01 PM
>>>Subject: Re: [blindkid] Looking forward
>>
>>
>>>> Pure demagoguery.
>>>>
>>>> Mike
>>>>
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: "Sally Thomas" <seacknit at gmail.com>
>>>> To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)"
>>>> <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
>>>> Sent: Wednesday, March 03, 2010 9:16 AM
>>>> Subject: [blindkid] Looking forward
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>I received the following email from the TABS list. I hope this isn't
>>>>>redundant for you. I'm really excited by Serotek's plan.
>>>>>
>>>>> Subject: [leadership] Serotek declares war on the traditional adaptive
>>>>> technology industry and their blind ghetto products
>>>>> This is no warm fuzzy of a read, but something well worth the read and
>>>>> in my opinion long over due. Kudos to SeroTekCited from
>>>>> http://blog.serotek.com/
>>>>> The Serotek Ultimatum
>>>>> Serotek declares war on the traditional adaptive technology industry
>>>>> and their blind ghetto products. With this announcement we are
>>>>> sending out a
>>>>> call to arms to every blind person and every advocate for the blind to
>>>>> rise
>>>>> up and throw off the tyranny that has shaped our lives for the past
>>>>> two
>>>>> decades. It is a tyranny of good intentions - or at least what began
>>>>> as
>>>>> good
>>>>> intentions. But as the proverb says, "the road to hell is paved with
>>>>> good
>>>>> intentions." And for the past two decades the technologies originally
>>>>> conceived to give us freedom have been our shackles. They have kept us
>>>>> tied
>>>>> down to underperforming, obscenely expensive approaches that only a
>>>>> small
>>>>> percentage of blind people can afford or master. They have shackled us
>>>>> to
>>>>> government largess and the charity of strangers to pay for what few
>>>>> among
>>>>> us
>>>>> could afford on our own. And we have been sheep, lead down the path,
>>>>> bleating from time to time, but without the vision or the resources to
>>>>> stand
>>>>> up and demand our due.
>>>>> That time is past.
>>>>> We stand today on the very edge of universal accessibility. Mainstream
>>>>> products like the iPod, iPhone, and newly announced iPad are fully
>>>>> accessible out of the box. And they bring with them a wealth of highly
>>>>> desirable accessibility applications. The cost to blind people is
>>>>> exactly
>>>>> the same as the cost to sighted people. It's the same equipment, the
>>>>> same
>>>>> software, the same functionality, and fully accessible.
>>>>> What Apple has done, others are doing as well. The adaptive technology
>>>>> vendor who creates hardware and software that is intended only for
>>>>> blind
>>>>> folks, and then only if they are subsidized by the government, is a
>>>>> dinosaur. The asteroid has hit the earth, the dust cloud is
>>>>> ubiquitous,
>>>>> the
>>>>> dinosaur's days are numbered.
>>>>> But dinosaurs are huge, and their extinction does not happen
>>>>> overnight..
>>>>> Even as they die, they spawn others like them (take the Intel Reader
>>>>> for
>>>>> example). Thank you, no. Any blind person can have full accessibility
>>>>> to
>>>>> any
>>>>> type of information without the high-cost, blind-ghetto gear. They can
>>>>> get
>>>>> it in the same products their sighted friends are buying. But let's
>>>>> face
>>>>> it;
>>>>> if we keep buying that crap and keep besieging our visual resource
>>>>> center
>>>>> to
>>>>> buy that crap for us, the dinosaurs of the industry are going to keep
>>>>> making
>>>>> it. Their profit margins are very good indeed. And many have invested
>>>>> exactly none of that profit in creating the next generation of access
>>>>> technology, choosing instead to perpetuate the status quo. For
>>>>> instance,
>>>>> refreshable braille technology, arguably the most expensive
>>>>> blindness-specific(and to many very necessary) product has not changed
>>>>> significantly in 30 years. Yet, the cost remains out of reach for most
>>>>> blind
>>>>> people. Where's the innovation there? Why have companies not invested
>>>>> in
>>>>> cheaper, faster, smaller, and more efficient ways to make refreshable
>>>>> braille? Surely the piezoelectric braille cell is not the only way?
>>>>> And
>>>>> what
>>>>> about PC-based OCR software? It's still around a thousand dollars per
>>>>> license, yet core functionality hasn't changed much; sure, we get all
>>>>> sorts
>>>>> of features not at all related to reading, along with incremental
>>>>> accuracy
>>>>> improvements, but why are these prices not dropping either, especially
>>>>> when
>>>>> you consider that comparable off-the-shelf solutions like Abby
>>>>> Finereader
>>>>> can be had for as low as $79? ? And let's not forget the screen reader
>>>>> itself, the core technology that all of us need to access our
>>>>> computers
>>>>> in
>>>>> the first place. Do we see improvements, or just an attempt to mimic
>>>>> innovation with the addition of features which have nothing to do with
>>>>> the
>>>>> actual reading of the screen, while maintaining the same ridiculous
>>>>> price
>>>>> point.
>>>>>
>>>>> This maintaining of the status quo will, inevitably, face an enormous
>>>>> crash,
>>>>> worse than the transition from DOS to Windows based accessibility. You
>>>>> can
>>>>> expect a technology crash that will put users of the most expensive
>>>>> accessibility gear out of business.
>>>>> Why? I won't bore you with all the technical details, but the basic
>>>>> story
>>>>> is
>>>>> that some of these products have been kept current with patches and
>>>>> fixes
>>>>> and partial rewrites and other tricks we IT types use when we haven't
>>>>> got
>>>>> the budget to do it right, but we need to make the product work with
>>>>> the
>>>>> latest operating system. That process of patching and fixing creates
>>>>> an
>>>>> enormous legacy barrier that makes it impossible to rewrite without
>>>>> abandoning all who came before. But you can only keep a kluge working
>>>>> for
>>>>> so
>>>>> long before it will crumble under its own weight. That, my friends, is
>>>>> exactly where some of the leading adaptive technology vendors find
>>>>> themselves today.
>>>>> There are exceptions. Serotek is an exception because we have
>>>>> completely
>>>>> recreated our product base every three years. GW Micro is an exception
>>>>> because they built their product in a highly modular fashion and can
>>>>> update
>>>>> modules without destroying the whole. KNFB is an exception because
>>>>> they
>>>>> take
>>>>> advantage of off-the-shelf technologies, which translate ultimately
>>>>> into
>>>>> price drops and increased functionality.
>>>>>
>>>>> But even we who have done it right are on a path to obsolescence. The
>>>>> fundamental need for accessibility software is rapidly beginning to
>>>>> vanish.
>>>>> The universal accessibility principles we see Apple, Microsoft,
>>>>> Olympus,
>>>>> and
>>>>> others putting in place are going to eliminate the need for these
>>>>> specialty
>>>>> products in a matter of just a very few years.
>>>>> Stop and think. Why do you need accessibility tools? To read text?
>>>>> E-book
>>>>> devices are eliminating that need. None of them are perfect yet, but
>>>>> we
>>>>> are
>>>>> really only in the first generation. By Gen2 they will all be fully
>>>>> accessible. To find your way? GPS on your iPhone or your Android based
>>>>> phone
>>>>> will do that for you. To take notes? Easy on any laptop, netbook, or
>>>>> iPad.
>>>>> Heck, you can record it live and play it back at your convenience.
>>>>> Just
>>>>> what
>>>>> isn't accessible? You can play your music, catch a described video,
>>>>> scan
>>>>> a
>>>>> spreadsheet, take in a PowerPoint presentation - all using
>>>>> conventional,
>>>>> off-the-shelf systems and/or software that is free of charge.
>>>>> There are still some legacy situations where you need to create an
>>>>> accessibility path. Some corporations still have internal applications
>>>>> that
>>>>> do not lend themselves to modern devices. There will certainly be
>>>>> situations
>>>>> where a specialized product will better solve an accessibility problem
>>>>> than
>>>>> a mainstream one, especially in the short term. We don't advocate
>>>>> throwing
>>>>> the baby out with the bathwater, but we do advocate that we begin to
>>>>> hasten
>>>>> the inevitable change by using accessible mainstream solutions
>>>>> wherever
>>>>> possible. Even now, the leading edge companies are reinventing their
>>>>> internal systems with accessibility as a design criteria, so the
>>>>> situations
>>>>> that require specialized products will certainly become fewer as time
>>>>> goes
>>>>> on.
>>>>> If our current Assistive technology guard's reign is coming to an end,
>>>>> why
>>>>> the war? Why not just let it die its own, natural, inevitable death?
>>>>> Because
>>>>> nothing dies more slowly than an obsolete technology. Punch cards hung
>>>>> on
>>>>> for twenty or thirty years after they were completely obsolete. The
>>>>> same
>>>>> is
>>>>> true for magnetic tape. Old stuff represents a comparatively large
>>>>> investment, and people hate to throw away something they paid a lot of
>>>>> money
>>>>> for even if it's currently worthless. But that legacy stuff obscures
>>>>> the
>>>>> capabilities of the present. It gets used in situations where other
>>>>> solutions are cheaper and more practical. The legacy stuff clogs the
>>>>> vocational rehab channel, eating up the lion's share of the resources
>>>>> but
>>>>> serving a tiny portion of the need. It gets grandfathered into
>>>>> contracts.
>>>>> It
>>>>> gets specified when there is no earthly reason why the application
>>>>> requires
>>>>> it. The legacy stuff slows down the dawning of a fully accessible
>>>>> world.
>>>>> It hurts you and it hurts me.
>>>>> To be sure, I make my living creating and selling products that make
>>>>> our
>>>>> world accessible. But first and foremost, I am a blind person. I am
>>>>> one
>>>>> of
>>>>> you. And every day I face the same accessibility challenges you face.
>>>>> I
>>>>> have
>>>>> dedicated my life and my company to making the world more accessible
>>>>> for
>>>>> all
>>>>> of us, but I can't do it alone. This is a challenge that every blind
>>>>> person
>>>>> needs to take up. We need to shout from the rooftops: "Enough!"
>>>>> We need to commit ourselves in each and every situation to finding and
>>>>> using
>>>>> the most accessible off the shelf tool and/or the least-cost, highest
>>>>> function accessibility tool available. With our dollars and our
>>>>> commitment
>>>>> to making known that our needs and the needs of sighted people are 99%
>>>>> the
>>>>> same, we can reshape this marketplace. We can drive the dinosaurs into
>>>>> the
>>>>> tar pits and nurture those cute fuzzy little varmints that are
>>>>> ancestors
>>>>> to
>>>>> the next generation. We can be part of the solution rather than part
>>>>> of
>>>>> the
>>>>> problem.
>>>>> And all it takes is getting the best possible solution for your
>>>>> specific need. Once you have found the solution to fill that need, let
>>>>> the company know you appreciate their work towards better
>>>>> accessibility. Let your friends (sighted and blind) know about these
>>>>> accessibility features; they probably don't know that such features
>>>>> exist. Make your needs known to the vocational rehab people you are
>>>>> working with, and don't allow them to make recommendations for a
>>>>> specific technology for no other reason than that it's been in the
>>>>> contract for years. Make sure your schools and your workplace
>>>>> understand the need to push technology in to the accessible space.
>>>>> Show them the low-cost alternatives. In this economy some, the
>>>>> intelligent ones, will get it and the tide will begin to turn. And
>>>>> then in short order the tsunami of good sense will wash away the old,
>>>>> and give us the space to build a more accessible world for all of us.
>>>>> Let the demand ring out loud and clear and the market will follow.If
>>>>> this message rings true to you, don't just shake your fist in
>>>>> agreement and leave it at that. let your voice be heard! Arm yourself
>>>>> with the vision of a future where there are no social, conceptual, or
>>>>> economic barriers to accessibility, and let your words and your
>>>>> actions demonstrate that you will not rest until that vision is
>>>>> realized. Take out your wallet and let your consumer power shine! You
>>>>> do mater as a market people! You have kept this company alive with
>>>>> your money for 8 years this month! I believe that if we all get
>>>>> together and do our part, we will finally say "NO more!" same old same
>>>>> old! Join the revolution! Together we can change the world!Posted by
>>>>> Mike Calvo at 2:15 PM
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>
>>>>
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>>
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>>
>>
>>
>>
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