Here's another example of how blind people are currently being left behind
for lack of access to information technology.

Steve

   A novel idea in the air
   By John Schmeltzer
   Tribune Staff Writer
   August 17, 1999

   When Lori Ketterling spotted the videotape-cassette-size electronic
   device at the far end of the British Airways lounge, she decided it
   had to be the latest combination electronic scheduler/address book.

   A longtime fan of techno-gadgets, she told herself that she and her
   daughter Lindsey, 11, would have to try it if given the chance before
   their flight left for London.

   "I was surprised when I discovered it was a book," the American Red
   Cross fundraiser said when she was offered one of the devices about 30
   minutes after arriving in the lounge.

   "I learned two things -- about interest rates and about MCI Worldcom
   dropping their calling-card plan -- that I wouldn't have known," she
   said while browsing that morning's electronic version of the Wall
   Street Journal.

   For British Airways, the world's largest international carrier, the
   handheld "Rocket e-Books" are the latest in a long line of
   high-technology improvements the airline has offered its passengers,
   not the least of which was the Concorde Supersonic airliner that was
   introduced 25 years ago.

   British Airways was one of the world's first airlines to offer
   personal video screens in first and business class, and earlier this
   year it became the first major European airline to equip its planes
   with heart defibrillators and monitors.

   In an era when competitors offer flights to the same location for
   virtually the same price, gadgets increasingly are one of the
   attractions that carriers use to set themselves apart.

   On Monday, for instance, American Airlines, the dominant carrier on
   most U.S.-to-Latin America routes, announced it would become the
   world's first airline to install DVD in-flight video players,
   beginning Sept. 1 on scheduled flights between Miami and Buenos Aires.
   Later this year, the airline said, it will offer DVD players to
   first-class passengers on flights to London from its hubs in Chicago,
   Dallas/Ft. Worth, and Miami.

   Similarly, electronic books would give British Airways another way to
   offer first class and business passengers a custom service with a
   personal device -- a gadget loaded with the user's choice of reading
   material displayed on a screen. Buttons are used to "turn the page" or
   "open" another article. Users are also able to choose between two
   sizes of type for the text, a boon to those whose eyesight has been
   strained by their work computers. And because the screens are backlit,
   travelers don't need an overhead light to read.

   A typical international flight might need as many as 50 of the books,
   which retail for about $350 each, to accommodate the passengers.
   Therefore, buying several thousand machines is no slam-dunk decision
   for British Airways.

   "We're trying to determine how this might be of value to our customers
   in the future, and how we might continue to be able to offer our
   customers something that is different and leading in technology," said
   Jim Barry, British Airway's manager of customer service at O'Hare. He
   said the airline chose Chicago for the test because of the large
   number of business-class passengers that board here.

   So new is the technology that British Airways personnel are uncertain
   exactly how to put the program together, but they believe electronic
   books have strong potential.

   Spokesmen for the airline suggest that first-class and business-class
   passengers could check out the electronic devices and have them loaded
   in the terminal or on board with their choice of books, magazines,
   newspapers or other information. Initially, at least, the airline
   probably will require the gadgets be turned in when the flight arrives
   in London.

   Not only do the electronic books represent a novel, high-tech perk for
   British Airways passengers -- no more shuffling through worn magazines
   for an interesting title or vying for a newspaper -- uses for the
   technology are sure to grow.

   The airline already has learned there is great interest among
   business-class customers for access to U.S. stock market information
   after the 3 p.m. (Central time) close of trading -- something no
   international carrier is able to deliver once a plane is airborne.
   Most international flights bound for Europe begin departing O'Hare at
   about 5 p.m.; it would be easy to make fresh business and market
   information available for loading into electronic books.

   Russell Trezise, an interactive marketing project manager, said the
   airline became intrigued by the electronic books shortly after they
   were introduced last year by NuvoMedia Inc., a 2-year-old Mountain
   View, Calif., high-tech firm that has staked its future on the
   devices.

   At that time, electronic books cost about $500 each. Since then,
   prices have come down to about $350 a copy, still a sizable investment
   for the airline. Weighing not much more than a half-liter bottle of
   water, the books are capable of holding the contents of 4,000 pages of
   type -- more than enough space for a copy of "War and Peace," a copy
   of Tom Wolfe's "A Man in Full" and still have room for Tom Clancy's
   newest, "Rainbow Six."

   Practically speaking, however, that's far more reading material than
   most passengers will look at during a flight. And Ketterling, the
   traveling technophile, has a suggestion:

   "Let us take the books with us and return them when we get back to
   Chicago," she said.


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