I beg to differ. The state agency I work for has in fact purchased several Macs for individuals who requested them. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jake" <j.schm...@gmail.com> To: "MacVisionaries" <macvisionaries@googlegroups.com> Sent: Saturday, November 28, 2009 10:28 PM Subject: Re: no mac for blind people in Belgium
Hi Scott Although I agree with you completely, I'd argue that this situation exists in the US as well. Has anyone successfully gotten the government to buy them a Mac? I've never heard of a case, and the reasons given are similar and some are even open about dealing exclusively with one company or another. Ours, too, is a socialist program gone wrong. I'm actually curious now, has anyone gotten a Mac from any sort of government agency and if so, what country? In either case, though, let one thing be clear. You always have choices, and you've the power to make them. I got my Mac because I purchased it. Yes, I had to save up for a bit to do it, but it was well worth it. You always have that option no matter what your government decides to provide for you. So a ban on blind people getting a Mac does not exist. Maybe if enough exercise their power of choice we might counter the FUD spread by these blind companies. Come to think of it, that's the only way I can think to counter it. The sad thing is that these types of lobbies are all too successful when they crop up, because most people will listen to anything as long as the person speaking it acts like they know what they're talking about. Marketing hype, in other words, and it's a very good way to get at those in governments who know absolutely nothing about blindness or access technology of any kind. That's why we do need to exercise our freedom of choice. No one knows what product is better for a person than the person in that situation. On Nov 28, 6:52 pm, Scott Howell <scottn3...@gmail.com> wrote: > Well there ya go, a socialist program run totally amuck. If your going to > get something for nothing, your going to be strapped with someone's idea > of what you can and can't have. Yep, quite unfair, but obviously some > screen reading developers are afraid of the Mac's ability. Well I'm sure > my comments won't set well with some, but it is what it is and I'm glad I > can make my own choices. > On Nov 28, 2009, at 8:29 PM, anouk radix wrote: > > > > > Hello, I got this message from a friend (Paul Erkens) who will join the > > forum soon (his status is pending now). I am not really up to scratch > > with the general regime in belgium of giving access technology to blind > > people. I am just afraid that this will spread to the Netherlands. > > Here I know htat high school and university students that are blind can > > get a laptop, a screenreader and a braille display from the state. You > > dont have to pay for anything in this scenario. In this case clearly > > getting a mac with infovox voices and a braille display would be the > > cheapest scenario but if the screenreader manufacturers start a lobby > > here as well... > > Once again I am not sure how it all works out in Belgium. > > Greetings, Anouk > > On Nov 29, 2009, at 2:07 AM, Buddy Brannan wrote: > > >> So what's the problem here? Does the government (or insurance) > >> routinely buy computers for blind people, or just the screen reader? If > >> the former, I can see why this is a problem, but if the latter, the > >> good news is that any Mac comes with built-in access anyway, not > >> requiring any extra access add-ons. > >> -- > >> Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA > >> Phone: (814) 860-3194 or 888-75-BUDDY > > >> On Nov 28, 2009, at 7:50 PM, anouk radix wrote: > > >>> Hello, A friend of mine told me this morning htat in Belgium windows > >>> screenreader companies have won a lobby that effectively bans blind > >>> people in belgium from getting a mac from their insurance (or the > >>> government). Because the screenreader people say it is unusable. > >>> I think this is a very sad state of affairs indeed and I hope this > >>> wont happen in other countries as well. > >>> Greetings, Anouk > > >>> -- > > >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > >>> Groups "MacVisionaries" group. > >>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@googlegroups.com. > >>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > >>> macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > >>> For more options, visit this group > >>> athttp://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. > > >> -- > > >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > >> Groups "MacVisionaries" group. > >> To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@googlegroups.com. > >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > >> macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > >> For more options, visit this group > >> athttp://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. > > > -- > > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > > Groups "MacVisionaries" group. > > To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@googlegroups.com. > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > > For more options, visit this group > > athttp://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. 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