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Reply To: | VICUG-L: Visually Impaired Computer Users' Group List |
Date: | Sun, 17 May 1998 10:53:16 -0500 |
Content-Type: | TEXT/PLAIN |
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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.
* * *
(other unrelated material from collum snipped)
Copyright © 1998 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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