The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition -- May 7, 1998
   
Digits: Gambits and Gadgets
In the World of Technology

   At a New York pep rally this week lauding Windows 98, Microsoft Corp.
   brought in some unlikely cheerleaders: groups representing disabled
   Americans. Now some of these folks have second thoughts about
   appearing alongside executives from Compaq Computer Corp., CompUSA
   Inc. and their ilk.
   
   The gathering was designed to drum up opposition to possible Justice
   Department and state action that could delay the launch of Windows 98.
   "I'm not sure why they picked us to come," says Curtis Chong, director
   of technology at the National Federation of the Blind. Only a few
   seconds of the 90-minute event were spent on a Windows 98 feature that
   allows visually impaired people to enlarge text. Mr. Chong, who says
   he wouldn't benefit from the feature because he's blind, feels
   suckered. "I think what they were trying to do was enhance their PR. I
   felt like I was being used to some extent," he says. Edmund L. Cortez,
   president and chief executive officer of the National Center for
   Disability Services, says Microsoft asked him to be on hand to "be
   around and be available for interviews." Microsoft, which paid the
   activists' travel expenses, defends its invitation list. "Individuals
   with disabilities have profited from the personal computer just like
   anyone else," says Microsoft product manager Gary Moulton.
   
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(other unrelated material from collum snipped)
                                   
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