Hi,
In response to everyone's posts (even though what I'm about to say
isn't assistive technology related), I'd add hearing aids to the
expensive products out there.
Jeanne
On 11/2/20, Ana G <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> This will probably be the last thing I'll say on this thread ...
>
>
> The car/computer example isn't a good one for defending assistive tech
> producers who overprice without keeping up with the real needs of end
> users. Mainstream consumers do make demands, so the market has lots of
> options: from laptops that cost 200 bucks to systems that cost a couple
> thousand dollars or from cars that sell for fifteen thousand dollars to
> cars that sell for ten times that amount. Our range of options has been
> virtually nonexistent, until recently and until the emergence of
> mainstream companies and other outsiders. Mainstream consumers can
> easily find people to repair or upgrade their purchases. We can not.
> Mainstream users can find other ways of meeting their needs, such as
> going to a public library to use a computer or riding a bus to get to a
> destination when they can't afford to make a purchase. We don't have
> comparable free or low-cost alternatives when we don't have the goods.
> Finally and most importantly, the products I'm talking about are closely
> related to equal access rights to education and work; they are not
> helpful conveniences. I don't expect companies to make these products
> for free, but I do resent that they have become an obstacle for many.
>
> The niche-market and high-cost-of-research explanations made sense
> twenty years ago. They don't now.
>
>
> I very much agree with Steve's point about how existing access
> technology can be used to make the world a more inclusive place. I also
> wonder why the concepts that make our touch screen phones accessible
> aren't being applied for use in home appliances and other products that
> rely on tactile displays. It seems to me that the assistive tech
> companies I'm referring to have the know-how to help mainstream
> companies make this happen. They can share this knowledge for a
> reasonable fee, helping themselves and their community.
>
>
> Again, I think I'm done.
>
>
> On 11/1/2020 10:01 PM, Angels Desk wrote:
>>
>> Have you priced automobiles lately? I chose that expense because”
>> They depreciate constantly, and need such expensive maintenance.
>> Particularly, due to the gadgetry built in to them. Either sighted
>> people don’t purchase them at all, as have my family; or they pay the
>> cost to own them. You don’t find many of them making demands on
>> vehicle manufacturers to lessen the cost. Because they might use
>> them. In the course of doing their jobs. Or, they finance their
>> purchase. On one hand, we talk all about inclusiveness, and about
>> seeking to be mainstreamed. But, it seems, only when that
>> inclusiveness and mainstreaming is to our advantage. We always want
>> to be treated as if we were a separate class of people. When it is to
>> our advantage, and to be “included”; and to be given all sorts of
>> accomodations when that suits us. Technology costs money to develop
>> and to update. Why should we make demands on the developers of
>> assistive technology. Sighted people don’t make on manufacturers of
>> technology for the sighted? Why shouldn’t we blind individuals be
>> required to either not use such technology; as there is available to
>> us. Or use the free alternatives available to us. Which free
>> technology is improving constantly. Or take out loans or make other
>> arrangements to pay for what we want or need to have. Our market is a
>> small one, and those who create specialist products ought to be
>> handsomely financially rewarded for their efforts. Because those who
>> develop, and sell such technology could, just as easily, take their
>> talents to a company developing technology for sighted consumers. The
>> only reason technology for sighted consumers is so much less costly
>> than that for we blind consumers is: There are so many consumers to
>> purchase it.
>>
>> Sent from Mail <https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for
>> Windows 10
>>
>> *From: *Ana G <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
>> *Sent: *Sunday, November 1, 2020 11:33 PM
>> *To: *[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
>> *Subject: *Re: [VICUG-L] the future of Assistive Technology
>>
>> W
>>
>>
>>
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>
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