Hi.

Since we are going to go completely off topic, I might as well throw my two 
cents in.  I suspect that you have an axe to grind with Freedom Scientific, 
which is your right, but since you don't know where people on this list 
work, you ought to be a little careful where you throw your stones.  It 
just so happens that I am one of the people who work in adaptive 
technology, and when I recommend programs like JAWS, it is generally for 
specific reasons, generally having to do with a strength of that program 
over others.  For example, if someone is going to use Microsoft Office 
primarily, I would go with Window-Eyes because at this point in time it is 
superior to JAWS in its handling of MS Office.  But, if I am working with 
someone who is going into a workplace where customization needs to be done 
to work with a particular program, I am often more likely to go with JAWS 
because you can do things with scripting that Window-Eyes simply doesn't 
support.

I can't say how things run in other states, but here there are reasons why 
we do what we do that go well beyond what we have always done, and even 
well beyond personal preference.

I get a little tired of hearing people rip on an industry that has done so 
much to elevate blind people to jobs where they can actually make a 
living.  While I think it is too bad that the prices are as high as they 
are, I think you also have to look at the volume of sales and realize that 
the people who write the software, the people who support the software, the 
people who sell the software, and all of the support jobs for those people 
all have to make a living, too.

So, I have a challenge for you.  If you can show me a screen reader that 
has the same scripting capabilities, the same ability to work with Java 
Access Bridge, and the same level of support for a wide variety of 
applications as JAWS, I'll stop recommending it.  I don't think you can do it.

73, de Lou K2LKK



At 03:24 PM 1/23/2007 -0600, you wrote:
>Their are better and or cheaper products for everything they
>make.  The sad thing is that they have most of their market share
>because the people who make the state decisions know nothing about
>the workings of adaptive technology for the blind, so they go with
>what they have always gone with.  This has nothing to do with lowest
>bider like every other state purchase is supposed to do with.  Let
>alone does that eliminate user choice, it means a waste of tax payer dollars.
>Nobody is held accountable for that.  We all pay more both in tax
>dollars, but if we purchase their products with our money, their
>prices are higher because the market will pay that price.
>
>
>
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>6:48 PM

Louis Kim Kline
A.R.S. K2LKK
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