While I agree that adding a speech chip to something like this might make
the shopping experience more accessible to people who are blind, true
independence isn't going to be as easy as slapping in a speech chip in my
opinion.  Even if one knows the general layout of a store, how long do you
imagine it would take to sort out the 22-ounce box of Rasin Brand you are
seeking from the hundreds of other items in just the cereal isle?  Multiply
that time by even 15 basic products and you'll quickly see that the time it
would take to shop in this fashion would grow to hours on end.

At 01:29 AM 5/19/99 -0400, you wrote:
>Sorry friends, this is not a sales pitch nor a spam.
>
>Symbol Technologies, Inc  <http://www.symbol.com/ST000270.HTM> (Home
Office One
>Symbol Plaza, Holtville, NY.  11742 800-722-6234) has a product called
"Portable
>Shopper" that is being used in many stores across the U.S.
>
>"Portable Shopper" is a bar code scanner.  A customer picks one up from
the rack
>near the entrance to the store.  As the customer goes around the store
they scan
>the bar codes on the merchandise and price and other information appears
in the
>window on the scanner.  If you want the item you press the plus button and
put
>it in the cart, if not you press the minus button and when finished you press
>the equals button and the portable shopper gives you a printout slip.  The
>customer goes to the checkout counter gives them the slip and "portable
shopper"
>and pay the bill and leave.
>
>The bottom line reason for my posting this??  With the addition of a
speech chip
>and speaker, this device can talk and provide all those with visual
impairments
>a TRULY INDEPENDENT shopping experience.  I for one, would like nothing
better
>than to be able to SHOP MYSELF. Doing this is really as simple as I have
stated
>it to be, for many years many cash registers at the checkout have been able
>"talk" and when an item is scanned it actually tells what the item is and the
>price.  The company is not interested in making a talking portable shopper.
>Maybe someone reading this will know a way to convince them how truly
important
>a device this can be and the positive PR the company can gain by this simple
>modification. WHY NOT ACCESSIBLE SHOPPING???
>
>Suggestions??  Ideas???  Letters to the Company CEO??
>
>Pete
>
>