IF we standardized on one cable company, the price would go through the roof 
and no one could afford it. Perfect example, where I live, you can have 
Comcast cable, or Verizon FIOS, Comcast's prices and willingness to work 
with you if you want a better rate is much better here, than where my mother 
lives, just across town, where there is only comcast, they priced her right 
out of watching tv. I switched to verizon for the internet speed increase 
and being sick of dealing with comcast before verizon came in, the whole 
attitude was 100% different all of a sudden.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve Dresser" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, May 30, 2013 3:54 PM
Subject: Re: blindness sucks and more


> Harvey,
>
> One reason England can have accessible set top boxes is that they don't 
> have
> to deal with multiple methods of distributing TV programs.  Here in the 
> US,
> we have at least three different cable companies as well as two different
> satellite providers, and each one has its own set top boxes, all of which
> are different.  Add to that the fact that each company has multiple
> generations of set top boxes, and you begin to understand the tangled mess
> we have.
>
> It goes against the grain to say it in America, but we would have been 
> much
> better off if we had picked one standard for each distribution method and
> adhered to it.  Incidentally, the same problem exists with cell carriers.
> If you need an example to demonstrate my point, consider the cassette, 
> which
> was developed and standardized in the mid 60s by Philips.  The cassette
> remained viable until it was replaced by better technologies, but it took
> about thirty years for that to happen.  Today, we have this silly notion
> that we should let the marketplace decide, with the result that we keep
> differently inventing the wheel.
>
> Steve
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Harvey Heagy" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Thursday, May 30, 2013 15:13
> Subject: Re: blindness sucks and more
>
>
>> Look at England where they have accessible cable boxes, accessible DVD
>> players, DVR recorders made by Panasonic.  So if Panasonic can make them
>> for
>> England, why not for us?  There seems to be more sympathy for
>> accessibility
>> over there than here.
>>
>> Cobalt still makes the talking microwave oven that speaks everything, but
>> no
>> longer for the United States, and I don't know if a converter would make
>> it
>> work here.  But my point is that England seems to have far more
>> accessibility than we have.  Someone from England spoke at last year's 
>> ACB
>> convention on that very issue.
>> Harvey
>>