For the record, John, if I am given permission to say who my
particular contact is, I will gladly do so. However, I don't know if my
conversation was considered to be for public knowledge or not. I've been in
this business as someone who has and still does deal directly with
manufacturers and developers for almost a dozen years now, and I have been
in many a situation in which what was discussed was not intended to be
information for disclosure on a public list. Not that anything that I heard
or talked about at CSUN was anything secret, special or the like, as it
mainly concerned the overall list and assortment of what is still not
working right in VO, what can be done to improve the product and what other
third party applications would be helpful to work with VO. Still, I do not
know if this person wanted their name mentioned on this list or if they
intended our discussion to be conveyed in this setting. However, John, it
was someone who works for Apple for sure, and I mentioned it simply so the
rumor mill didn't start churning out mass panic, as tends to happen at times
with these types of lists. My point was also to assure folks that Apple is
actively pursuing the improvement and development of VoiceOver and is
working hard with third party vendors to create additional access for us.
Whether VoiceOver has been dropped down the priority list or not, that
is something only Apple can tell us for sure, but I definitely agree
strongly with your suggestion that we do let Apple directly know that we are
here and are concerned. Better to be safe than sorry. In no way was I
criticizing or refuting your claim to know someone, as many of us who do
network quite a bit will end up getting to know folks who work in various
aspects of the assistive technology industry, as well as the mainstream,
especially if we have been part of a particular community for several years.
We have spoken privately on a few occasions, and I trust your source just as
much as I trust mine
Take Care
John D. Panarese
Managing Director
Technologies for the Visually Impaired, Inc.
9 Nolan Court
Hauppauge, NY 11788
Tel/Fax, (631) 724-4479
Email, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Internet, http://www.tvi-web.com
AUTHORIZED DISTRIBUTORS FOR PORTSET SYSTEMS LTD, COMPSOLUTIONS VA, PREMIER
ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGIES, INDEX, PAPENMEIER, REPRO-TRONICS, PULSEDATA,
DUXBURY, DANCING DOTS, ROBOTRON AND OTHER PRODUCTS FOR THE BLIND AND
VISUALLY IMPAIRED
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of John Denning
Sent: Sunday, April 02, 2006 2:46 PM
To: General discussions on all topics relating to the use of Mac OS X by the
blind
Subject: Re: Continued VO development
Let me just say for a last time. First I never said that Apple intended to
cease development of access technology, or VO in particular. What i said was
that i heard that the priority has been lowered, less resources will be
devoted in the future to VO.
if this is true it is cause to be concerned. If there is any chance that it
is true it might be wise to send feedback to apple indicating interest in
the Universal Access technology. I'd suggest that such contact not be to the
accessibility, but rather a more general contact. I think all the people on
the access team are interested in continued support.
Apple really doesn't have any means to know how many people are utilizing
the UI technology. They can gauge by the number of support calls on any
given topic. But if customers don't give feedback apple has no way to really
know. It's not like we had to register UI to use it. They just know they
sold Tiger.
I'm sorry that some of you get so upset when someone says something you
don't agree with. Your life must either be hell,l or sheltered.
You all want me to give names. But funny thing is I see mentions by others
of "this apple rep told me." Or "that apple rep assured me."
Where are the names? Do you know how many people on the development team for
UI? And their names?
This isn't a matter of knowing something someone else doesn't know.
It's a matter of letting apple know we believe in the technology, we want
it, and we see a bright future for it. I don't believe apple realizes what
they really have with it. Apple is focused on the media industry. They have
been for years. And they do a fantastic job in it. I don't believe they
realize how many us us visually impaired computer users are out there, and
how are willing to look at something other than JFW.
What they do so however is all the press going around blasting VO and saying
things that are down right not true. Positive feedback never hurts, even if
it isn't needed.
On Apr 1, 2006, at 10:41 PM, John Panarese wrote:
> JD's source certainly might have other information, but it seems
> difficult to believe that VO will stop being developed,
- JD -
John Denning
AIM: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
A+ MCSA MCSE
And glad to be a Mac snob again!
Roswell, GA
My very old web site: www.jdenning.net
