Yes, but the problem with the folks on 14.313 is that most of them suffer 
from a severe intelligence deficit.

In response to your original rant (which I completely second, by the way), I 
wonder if any of this will change when the current group of young people 
start discovering that they can't use their favorite devices because they 
can't see to read the screens.  I sincerely hope so, but then they'll be old 
enough for people to ignore them.

Steve

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Martin G. McCormick" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, May 30, 2013 11:12
Subject: Re: accessible radio


> I agree totally. The older I get the less patient I get
> with technology because the only reason things aren't better
> regarding accessibility is unless you are that 1 per cent caught
> in the trap, it's not an issue. You can have entertainment
> devices that are all pointy-clicky monsters that you must see a
> screen to use, communications gear whose primary mode of
> operation is voice but there's that @%& eye candy control
> system. It does suck green trench water.
>
> My wife has perfect vision and she helps me when
> necessary but if you need sighted assistance to run some device
> on a routine basis, this is not a good thing. It has nothing to
> do with how smart one is or how much initiative you have, it is
> a matter of good design versus incomplete design and a huge
> amount of electronics these days has incomplete design. It is
> junk as far as I am concerned.
>
> The best we can hope for is that we can find the tools
> we need for ham radio and daily life that are either accessible
> by design or have enough remote operational capability that they
> are accessible almost by accident.
>
> I have two Uniden scanners that would be almost
> inaccessible if you had to just use them as is but they are much
> more accessible if you can connect a computer to their serial
> ports. I can read the displays and program them that way but
> they would be a huge pain to operate via the front pannel. It
> would be all counting silently, pushing buttons silently and
> hoping for no mistakes or contact bounces which could silently
> introduce more head-scratching later.
>
> On the BCD996, for instance, the beeps as you turn the
> VFO knob don't even keep up with the clicks as you turn it
> unless you turn it rather slowly. If you make a big mistake, it
> beeps higher but you don't know what you did.
>
> I don't feel sorry for myself at all, but I do get
> annoyed that as we move on through the years, this problem
> doesn't resolve itself. It just morphs in to new ways to bite.
>
> There's my rant for the day. I need to tune in 14.313
> to hear some truly handicapped folks and feel smugly superior to
> them.
>
> Martin
>
> Butch Bussen writes:
>> I don't want to start a big debate here, but I think saying the only
>> thing we give up is driving is over simplified.  I was married to a
>> wonderful person for ten years and lived in Los Vegasand we depended on
>> each other for a lot of things.  She had site so ccould drive as well as
>> read mail, tell me controls on radios, play video poker and slots, go
>> grocery shopping, and on and on and on.  Sure you can learn to do a lot,
>> but realistically I think it is a royal pain in the ass and always will
>> be, particularly since I'm back in a small town and depend on my mom for
>> reading mail and so forth.  Yep, I do a lot, and even do a lot most
>> sighted folks don't think I can do, but lets be real, blindness
>> sucks!!!!
>> 73
>> Butch
>> WA0VJR
>