Hi Richie and all,
My comments are made with some concern of brushing the parameters
of the walls of what is useful for all to read, but I must say that
I don't get the correlation between Freedom being a sponsor for the
NFB convention and the topic of compatibility; they were also a
sponsor of the ACB convention. Neither bares any wait to me in
dealing with how they will follow through when out of the
convention halls and back in their offices at home.
As for the ACB resolution concerning the iPhone: I think "gurrr!"
would best express my feelings. I was on the floor during the
debate period in order to speak against it and never got the
opportunity as discussions were closed. To say I was appalled
would put it mildly. There was no history to the motion made, that
is, who it was presented by, their experience with Apple products,
what they currently know on an experience level of VoiceOver, etc.
For me, I am more than proud of Apple and what they are doing;
their commitment to create a product in VO that is far superior to
that of their competition, though it is yet in it's youthful stage;
it is a platform rock-solid. I am proud of them because they have
kept forward momentum despite the fact VO's "user-base" would start
out small; I am proud of them because they went beyond the critics
who said all they were doing was making themselves compatible with
508 regulations. If that were the case, they would have stopped
long ago. I could go on with more, but suffice it to say ACB's
resolution, to me, was without responsibility. Like a child
throwing a temper-tantrum because they can't play with one
particular toy. Yet have they spent any time playing with any
other offered them? (And no, I am not likening VO or any other
Apple product to a toy; just an analogous statement). Will they
come along side and say, "Wow, look what you've done thus far! How
can we help make things better?" No, it's much easier to make
demands of instant functionality and whine and cry when things
don't work. I wonder if those who have used their established
products can remember the day when they were in their infancy.
Okay, it's time for me to stop talking though I could go on and on
as my mind is swirling with things I'd like to say on a topic near
to my heart. I'm going to tuck this subject into bed now so that
Slau does not get to tempted to lock me up in my inbox and not let
me out. Smile!
Thanks, everyone, for all the input you are giving the VoiceOver
team, enabling them to help VO grow up a little more; thanks VO
team for the countless hours, the time invested, and all the spent
energy you give to create a product that gives me as a blind
computer user, something functional, stable, and absolutely cool
called VoiceOver!
Sincerely,
Cheryl
----- Original Message -----
From: Richie Gardenhire <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [email protected]
Date sent: Fri, 20 Jul 2007 20:27:46 -0400
Subject: Re: Mac compatibility with freedom
With all due respect, Cheryl, in my opinion, FS and other
third-party
Windows vendors are fearing the worst; that Apple has found a
niche in
that small market and they are aggressively going after it. I
refer to
Greg's message about Freedom Scientific's being a sponsor of
NFB's
convention, and I honestly believe that, perhaps they are
defending
their position as accusing Apple of being "an enemy of the
blind."
This is why I fear ACB's resolution concerning Apple, while
well-meaning, had a combative tone that could do more harm than
good,
and those of us who use Apple products should have been consulted
before the resolution was put forth. To that end, I hope that
those of
us who are Mac users will work with Apple and not be combative
toward
them; they are tryi9ng to make access to information and to their
computers a dream for blind people who want to get out from
underneath
the agency bonds. In fact, I convinced one of our counselors in
Alaska
to purchase a MacBook for a student; I don't know how the Alaska
Center
for the Blind is going to react, but more and more requests will
be
forthcoming from graduating students from the school districts
throughout our state, and if they don't address that need, they
will
lose students, as well as money they would get via fees for
services.
I have warned them the whole time I was there. Richie
Gardenhire,
Anchorage, Alaska.
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