Hi Charles, Yes, I fully recognize upgrading is expensive, but if a person sets aside a little money for Windows upgrades, a new computer, Jaws updates, etc they would be investing in their own future. I think this is more an issue of planning ahead rather than trying to come up with all the money at once.
What you say about free screen readers is untrue though. NVDA 2013.2 is actually superior to Jaws 14 and works much better than Jaws on Windows 8. I've actually already tested NVDA 2013.2 on Windows 8.1 beta, and it works fine. If someone were willing to throw their old expensive screen reader away and try something new such as NVDA they would find that upgrading to Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 is less expensive right there.. As far as the learning curve that is problematic for some. Probably more for some rather than others. I am a power user and can sit down and use anything without much experience with it, and can quickly adapt to new user interfaces and Windows 8, for instance, didn't throw me as much as some. However, I have met more than my share of people who got new computers with Windows 8 on it and didn't know what to do. So I can see how the learning curve might be a concern for some people, but there are tutorials etc out there that should help in that regard. I don't think anything is impossible if someone puts their minds to it which is really the problem. I don't think a lot of people really have the motivation or desire to upgrade, learn something new, so when they get a new operating system they freeze up and mentally trip out because they don't want to start over from scratch feeling like a newbie again. Windows 8 of course is really different from XP, and I can see how the ribbons, tiled screens, etc are a bit of a shock for some, but its not hard once you take a little time to figure it out. Its all a matter of sitting down and taking some time to learn it. Cheers! On 9/11/13, Charles Rivard <wee1s...@fidnet.com> wrote: > How do you figure that upgrading is not expensive? Some of us, myself > included, have old machines that still work fine for what we use them for. > Unemployed and on very tight budgets, so cannot afford a newer machine. > Then, there is the cost of the new OS software. Although I do have JAWS 14, > > some don't have the money to upgrade to that or to JAWS 15 which will soon > be released. If you need a new SMA from FS, that now costs $160, which I > don't have. I know there are free screen readers available, but they are > not as good as what tons of money has already been spent on. And there is > also the point that a lot of software we have spent money on that, as far as > > I know, won't work on, or is troublesome to get working on, the newer OS we > > will get. And there is the learning curve to deal with as well. Maybe we > should upgrade, but can we? > > --- > Shepherds are the best beasts, but Labs are a close second. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
