Hi Chris, Thanks for that well written post on the subject. As you said the way technology is growing and advancing when exactly is the right time to stop innovating, improving processor speed, updating software with new features, etc.I've been using computers since the Apple II-E days and I can say what I have now was unimaginable back then. Who knows what will happen in the next 20 to 30 years the way technology is evolving.
It seems very short-sighted not to accept or embrace new technology when we don't have a specific use case for it right now. I'm sure there are lots of things in Windows I don't use on a regular basis but could and very well might come in handy down the road. For example, most of us rely on Jaws, Window-Eyes, SuperNova, or some other comercial screen reader purchased through a state agency, school, or some other form of donation. That's fine, but beginning with XP Windows ships with Narrator. Granted its not the best screen reader in the world, but it has come in handy in a number of cases where I had to trouble shoot someones computer and they didn't have a screen reader installed. I have it on good authority that in Windows 8 Narrator is getting a pretty serious upgrade, is becoming more like VoiceOver for Mac, and will be a fully featured screen reader. Maybe its not a compelling reason to upgrade to Windows 8, but I'm certainly not going to complain if Microsoft improves Narrator and creates a free screen reader for Windows that works out of the box. If anything else it may come in handy as a fallback screen reader, or come in handy when I'm visiting family and access a computer that doesn't have another screen reader installed. Just because I don't have a need to use Narrator on a daily basis doesn't mean that feature isn't worth having or won't come in handy in the future. After all, it wasn't that long ago I was running a system with MS Dos 6.2 and Windows 3.1. Was there a built-in screen reader, magnifier, and voice dictation software? Well, heck no! Just imagine if we all stopped at Windows 3.1. Accessibility applications like Windows Narrator, Windows Magnifier, and Microsoft Speech Recognition wouldn't exist let alone come with the operating system out of the box. Several other applications I use such as Windows Media player, Windows Mail, Internet Explorer, etc wouldn't come with Windows either. When you think of the several major and minor applications that have been added to the Windows basic install we are getting a lot of useful applications that use to be sold separately or simply didn't exist 16 years ago. Bottom line, you are right. Just because we can't think of a specific use for feature x doesn't mean one won't come along to change our mind. We need to at least be open to the possibilities instead of just slamming the door closed on them without considering the long term impact of this or that feature. Unfortunately, far too many people are willing to close the door, consider it an open and shut case, without really thinking about how the advances in technology may serve them down the road. Cheers! On 12/11/11, Christopher Bartlett <themusicalbre...@gmail.com> wrote: > When is it the right time to stop innovating? When can you be certain that > more processing power will never be necessary? When will you have found > everything that everyone needs to do, and when will they be able to do it > well enough? > > The thing about technological advances is that each one not only makes > things possible that weren't, but makes things possible that no one could > imagine before the advance took place. > > Sure, computers work well enough, if you discount all the myriad times when > they don't. I can do everything I need to do currently (except music > editing/production) on my two-year-old netbook running Windows XP. I > haven't upgraded to Windows 7 because I haven't had a compelling use case to > do so. But it would I think be presumptuous of me to say that the evolution > of computers and operating systems has gone far enough and can't we please > just be happy with what we have? > > Look at the cell phone world. Even two years ago, the idea of full > accessibility to a cell phone was still a fractured dream for blind users. > IOS began changing that thought, but now there's competition and different > ways of doing things, and the dream of a voice-powered, pseudo-intelligent > personal assistant is at least on the horizon, with early prototypes out in > the world. The revolutions in access these technologies promise weren't > imaginable for most people when we had dumb phones that simply made calls > and maybe kept a calendar and task list. We are within a few years of the > mass obsolescence of a lot of specialized access technology, with the > accompanying "blindness tax" that will make access to many things available > to people who can't afford to drop a thousand dollars on a piece of > specialized software, or $7,000 for a notetaker. > > So be not over hasty to say that we've gone as far as we need to. The fact > that you, or I may not have a use case for updating a particular item now > doesn't mean that at some point a new set of possibilities may not occur > that would make such a use case compelling. > > Sorry for this near rant, but I see this kind of thinking in all sorts of > arenas and not just among disabled folk. I think it's important that we > embrace advances in technology when it is prudent to do so and not be afraid > of change. > > Chris Bartlett > > > -----Original Message----- > From: gamers-boun...@audyssey.org [mailto:gamers-boun...@audyssey.org] On > Behalf Of Charles Rivard > Sent: Sunday, December 11, 2011 5:32 PM > To: Gamers Discussion list > Subject: [Audyssey] my beef about Microsoft - Re: plans for an updated Lone > Wolf > > Do they really have to continually upgrade the operating system and > programs, making more power hogs, making us buy more powerful computers to > do the same tasks we were previously doing but having to use more powerful > processors and use more of the resources to do those tasks? Why can't they > just leave well enough alone once they get a system that actually does what > it's supposed to do? > > --- > "Security is not the absence of danger. It is the presence of the Lord." > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "dark" <d...@xgam.org> > To: "Gamers Discussion list" <gamers@audyssey.org> > Sent: Sunday, December 11, 2011 4:04 PM > Subject: Re: [Audyssey] plans for an updated Lone Wolf > > >> Hi Alex. >> >> As I said I'm not annoyed that Microsoft update their os, they have to, >> even if we don't like some of their decisions on interfaces etc. >> >> it just seems though that they don't give a dam about running older >> programs, games or anything else, they just claime "newer = better" it >> seems without actually considdering what people want their computers for, >> namely to run programs. >> >> comador didn't do this with their os or machines, even with compltely new >> hardware, going from amigar 500 to 1200. >> >> Even the big console developers are realizing that people like running >> their old games, hence the wii virtual consoles, virtual arcade and other >> such software versions of older games stil available on modern machines. >> >> Microsoft though just seem to expect everyone to update, buy their >> products and cope, because newer is always better in their opinion. >> >> for myself, if i could be certain all my games and other applications >> would work under windows 7, I'd be much less wary about updating. >> >> I just see this as a case of not listening to the customer and doing their > >> own dam thing and expecting everyone to cope simply because they are a big > >> fat company who just care about the prophit. >> >> Beware the grue! >> >> Dark. >> >> --- >> 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://mail.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. > > > --- > 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://mail.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. > > > --- > 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://mail.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. > --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. 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