Very well said. I just sent a message that illustrates your
point. I am guilty of settling for less. I'm not proud of that.
Kim
----- Original Message -----
From: "Olusegun -- Victory Associates LTD, Inc."
<[email protected]
To: <[email protected]
Date sent: Sat, 1 Aug 2009 18:42:13 -0600
Subject: Re: [Braillenote] Expressing Opinions
Hi Everyone:
It appears that amongst the blind, accepting MEDIOCRE SERVICE is
the norm.
I recently heard in the news about a musician whose guitar was
not only
broken, but lost by United Airlines. He tried to get United
Airlines to PAY
HIM for damages, the airline refused. What did he do? He went
into the
recording studio and RECORDED A SONG appropriately titled United
Broke My
Guitar ... within days, the song was on www.youtube.com . What
do you think
happened next? United Airlines contacted the canadian musician
and agreed
to DONATE MONEY to a nonprofit cause of its own choosing.
Suppose the gentleman HAD BEEN QUIET? After all, he ought to
have been
grateful that United Airlines FLEW HIM to his destination without
crashing
like those French and Yemenis airlines have done killing
virtually all their
pasengers! He ought to be grateful that he GOT A SEAT on the
plane at all,
so why should he complain about a broken guitar? Doesn't an
electric guitar
only cost about $400 for a brand new one? Surely, as a
successful musician,
the Canadian gentleman can afford it?
Hmm, the gentleman elected to alert the public about United
Airline's bad
behaviour and for that, he got their attention.
For us who are blind, paying $6,195 for a piece of equipment that
is FAR
BEHIND its time and inferior technologically is OK. No need to
even dare
TAKE ITS DEVELOPER to task! We were NOT FORCED to buy the
equipment, but it
is easily forgotten that the ADVERTS AND PROMOS on the part of
the developer
were what made us choose the product. We are fools for asking
direct
questions from the adaptive technology company that keeps letting
us LAG
BEHIND as we AMBLE OUR WAY along to keep up with changes that
keep stabbing
us in the face and on which our jobs depend.
I await the day when we, as blind folks, will SUMMON THE COURAGE
to BRING
ANTITRUST SUITS against these adaptive technology companies to
FORCE THEM to
treat us with decency and stop giving us obsolete equipment that
keeps us
one step too many behind our peers.
I recently asked an adaptive technology company to give me an
estimate for
writing scripts for a POINT OF SALE program that was NOT
accessible out of
the box; the cost, $180 per hour! The company stated that about
200 hours
will be required to produce the scripts! Conversely, I asked
another
company to do some CUSTOM WORK for me on their POINT OF SALE
software
offering which is ALMOST COMPLETELY accessible without any
scripts --$500
total cost. Anyone wonders why blind folks remain substantially
underemployed?
If Humanware or indeed any other adaptive technology company WILL
NOT HELP
ME to remain on the COMPETITIVE CUTTING EDGE like the rest of my
peers in
the work place, it is time for it to fold up! The buck MUST STOP
here, and
I MUST NO LONGER lag too far behind! And it DOES NOT matter who
pays for my
equipment, I have a right to ask for and get the best piece of
equipment
that will keep me on the competitive edge and make me a co-equal
in the
workplace.
Sincerely,
Olusegun
Denver, Colorado
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