Kelly,

  You wrote that "[in 1974] Not only had computers not been invented...."
However, the ENIAC had been built during WWII by the University of
Pennsylvania, and it was computing firing tables for Army guns.  It filled a
whole room, could do far less than the hand-held calculators of the 1970's,
and was slower than they, but it was a computer.  During the 1950's many
better but still very large computers were built--mostly one of a kind, and
in the 1960's transistorization and mass production came along.  In the
1970's computer terminals began to appear that could sit on desktops and
utilize the power of a central room-sized computer.  This is when the
Internet began development under the name ARPAnet, and there were certainly
keyboards at the terminals for creating files, sending messages, etc.

  But self-contained desktop computers, as you pointed out, weren't
available till the late 1970's, employing the technology that Ray Kurzweil
and Kenneth Jernigan needed for their reading machine.  We're all deeply
indebted to them  and to THEIR sponsor, the NFB.

Nelson Blachman
Oakland, Calif.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kelly Pierce" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, July 22, 2002 7:08 PM
Subject: Re: you should read this especially if you are indifferent to the
acb/nfb:


> This article about the NFB technology center reminds me that last year
> was the twenty-fifth anniversary of the reading machine, which I
> celebrated in my column on the eSight Careers Network at www.esight.org
> .  It was on January 13, 1976 that Walter Cronkite had awakened the world
> with the news that a revolution had begun in how the blind access
> information.  Ray Kurzweil and the national federation of the Blind
> demonstrated the first working prototype of a reading machine that
> converted printed text into synthetic speech.  Blind attorney Jim Gashel
> was at the controls when the CBS news anchorman signed off his broadcast
> with the reading machine saying his famous signature line in synthetic
> speech "And that's the way it was, January, 13, 1976."
>
> The machine and its constituent technologies that would deliver the wild
> dream of information independence to the blind was achieved through hard
> work, significant involvement by blind end users and a passionate
> organizing vision.  These are the same skills used and needed today by
> blind end users in mastering current technology.
>
> The big bang in information access started in 1975 when Ray Kurzweil
> approached Jim Gashel who was and is the Governmental Relations Director
> of the National Federation of the Blind for funding assistance with his
> project.  Gashel was intrigued and introduced Kurzweil to the radically
> visionary blind leader Kenneth jernigan, who was the president of the
> National Federation of the Blind and director of the Iowa commission for
> the Blind.  In 1975, Kenneth Jernigan was riding high with national
> acclaim, demonstrated results, and an organized blind membership that
> approached 50,000.
>
> Kenneth jernigan came to Iowa in the early 1960s to improve the blindness
> service system there.  He immediately applied his philosophy of
> self-reliance, independence, self-respect, and pride of blind people.  He
> was one of the first disability leaders to identify his concerns as a
> civil rights issue and believed the blindness problem was one of poor
> societal attitudes, low expectations, and blindness service agencies that
> created and perpetuated dependency.  In slightly more than a decade the
> blind furniture maker from Tennessee transformed Iowa to the place with
> the best blind school, best orientation center, and most employed blind
> people in the world.  In the 1960s and 1970s, there was no better place
> on the planet for a blind person to be.
>
> There was one significant problem in 1975 that still eluded Kenneth
> Jernigan, now the most powerful blind man in America:  Neither he, nor
> any blind person could read print independently.  Blind people relied
> heavily on people who read to them, either in their homes or on
> audiocassettes.  Braille was not any better, as it was produced by a
> limited number of sighted transcribers who underwent weeks of training.
> No matter how good the agency, how high the expectation, or positive the
> attitude, print remained a major barrier.  Ray Kurzweil's idea, which had
> been turned down by dozens of charities, funders, and other disability
> organizations, could transform the lives of the blind, but it was a bit
> of a longshot.
>
> Intel had just perfected a microprocessor that could run a whole computer
> in 1974.  By January, 1975, the world's first personal computer went on
> sale, with computer magazines picturing the Altair 8800 on their front
> covers.  The Altair, created by a retired Air Force General in the desert
> near the airport in Albuquerque New Mexico, was not even a computer.  It
> was a computer kit.  You had to build it yourself and then it usually
> didn't work.  When it did, it had no keyboard or monitor, or input jacks
> for anything.  Everything was entered by switches.
>
> Not only had computers not been invented, but neither had the three
> constituent technologies of speech synthesis, flat-bed scanning, and
> optical character recognition that would comprise the reading machine and
> later be the building blocks of access for the blind to the information
> society.  These technologies had to be developed to make the machine
> viable.
>
> "Impossible, however, was not in the vocabulary of the charismatic figure
> that organized a succession of Iowa governors, dozens of business
> leaders, hundreds of state legislators, and thousands of blind persons to
> turn the vision of independence and equality for the blind into reality.
> Kenneth Jernigan knew the creativity and resourcefulness of blind people.
> They, through the Federation, could create the King Kong of machines for
> the blind, if they had the confidence in themselves and set their
> expectations high enough.  It could have the impact that landing a man on
> the moon did six years earlier -- creating and spinning off new
> technologies and opportunities.
>
> Kenneth jernigan then made a proposal to Ray Kurzwel that would be the
> model of technology design, manufacture, policy, and end user selection
> for the blind and later for the larger disability community in the
> decades to come.  His Federation would organize the funding effort and
> lend his and the Federation's credibility to the project only if the NFB,
> specifically its blind engineers would be involved in the design of the
> reading machine and its user interface and controls.  Further, this group
> would help evaluate and refine all aspects of the product's operation and
> various functions.  These blind engineers would be equal partners
> throughout the entire process.  Ray Kurzweil had not expected the
> request, but agreed reluctantly as he had exhausted all other leads and
> was at the end of the road.  Jim gashel coordinated the blind engineers
> and began working until midnight throughout 1975 at his Washington office
> drafting dozens of funding proposals needed to raise the $350,000 for the
> project, a sizeable sum in those days.
>
> That single reading machine that sold for what was the equivalent of a
> small house 25 years ago has led to a digital revolution that has
> transformed the lives of the blind.  Now, nearly every written item is
> independently accessible through technology for as little as a few
> hundred dollars.  Today, the millions of library books and those
> available at Amazon.com and other booksellers are independently
> accessible to us.  Magazines, newspapers, and even the church newsletter
> are now available in an accessible way on the World Wide Web or just
> waiting for us in our inbox.  Don't like reading with synthesized speech?
> No problem.  In a few keystrokes, you can enlarge the type font or
> translate and emboss the item into Braille.  Added to all of this are the
> newer and emerging technologies of audio described movies and television
> programs, digital books, 500 channels of cable television, and telephones
> that allow you to call anyone and surf the Internet from nearly
> everywhere.  The access barriers of a quarter century ago have narrowed
> considerably and will be virtually eliminated in a few years.
>
> Here on vicug-l and at vicugs worldwide, we celebrate the strengths and
> capacities all bring to increase the independence of the blind:
> professionals, family members, end users, software developers, advocates,
> net geeks, and even sighted readers.  We are all peers working together
> cooperatively to bring the vision and promise to every print impaired
> person.  We welcome the varied ideas, techniques, and perspectives.  Our
> efforts are dedicated to those who have stayed up working on a problem
> all night only to discover that the night is gone, they are full of
> adrenaline and there is a whole day in front of them.  They do not care
> because they have uncovered new tools and options that will increase
> independence, reduce reading hours, and make life easier.  they are
> infused with an unexplainable energy.  the energy of empowerment through
> technology.
>
> As a student Dave Porter, one of the co-founders of digit-Eyes: the
> Chicago Blind Computer User Network, believed there were people who knew
> the way things worked.  They had the right answers and all Dave had to do
> was hitch a ride on their credentials and they would see to it that he
> got what they knew .  As an adult, Dave has come to learn that a
> credential is more a product of stamina than know-how.  "We learn by
> doing.  We succeed by asking questions, bartering ideas, leveraging
> information, trial and error, and perseverance.  We are mentors, teachers
> and students simultaneously.  We observe and, where possible, incorporate
> what we gathered into the litany of our experiences," Dave Says.
>
> Never stop asking questions.  Answers will bring more questions.  When we
> ask questions, interpret and incorporate answers into our common
> experiences, we will have then the complete solution and the energy we
> need to move forward.
>
> In 2002, it seemed as if top NFB leaders were trying to describe the
> importance of today's technological events, explain options, review
> products, catalog experiences, document ideas, and ask challenging
> questions of the students.  During one short weekend, they were trying to
> inform, challenge, entertain, and, maybe, inspire them to come back and
> join them on a regular basis.
>
> this general orientation to blindness does not need to be expert driven
> and provided at some one of a kind center for the blind.  It can be and
> often is provided to many teenagers and newly blinded people in the homes
> of successfully employed and independent blind persons.  I think we often
> try to find the magic solution, the right expert, the best practice and
> overlook success and talent in our own communities and regions.  We can
> teach each other, empower each other, and build a learning and support
> network that spans the world.  I think this belief in experts led
> officials in New York to justify the bus trip to Baltimore without what
> it seems to be any specific goals, clearly articulated objectives, a
> defined purpose, or a set structure of a program.  yes, it does appear
> that the NFB's visionary outlook on technology has changed considerably
> in about the past 25 years.  yet the State of New York expected little
> and got little in return.  As Kenneth Jernigan so clearly showed in his
> own life, high expectations lead to high performance.
>
> Kelly
>
>
> VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
> To join or leave the list, send a message to
> [log in to unmask]  In the body of the message, simply type
> "subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations.
>  VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at
> http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/vicug-l.html
>


VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
To join or leave the list, send a message to
[log in to unmask]  In the body of the message, simply type
"subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations.
 VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/vicug-l.html