Hello everybody At the risk of being accused of trying to put people down, I am going to raise one further subject because this is something that I find outrageous.
I was just looking on a website here in the UK which is that of a company which sell equipment for the hearing impaired. <http://www.connevans.co.uk>. They sell a series of items designed for hearing aid users in an environment where it is difficult to hear the spoken content. For instance in a lecture room, meeting or similar where the desired audio source is either a considerable distance from the listener, or where the background noise makes it difficult for the listener to hear what's being said. These devices use Bluetooth to communicate with a receiver that's either at ear level or which interfaces with a hearing instrument to give the listener access to a desired audio source via a radio microphone which the speaker either wears or holds. The transmitter and receiver, as a kit, cost over £1100 Pounds Sterling. That, I would think, is way beyond the reach of most individuals, and I think it's absolutely outrageous that a company supposedly there to "help" the disabled is charging quite so much for its products. No; I'm not dumb! I understand fully that developers have to eat. I also understand that companies and developers have to make a reasonable profit on what they're selling. But that is outrageous. We're talking nothing but a transmitter/receiver here and nobody can convince me that a transmitter/receiver kit is going to cost anywhere close to that kind of money to develop. That, to me, is profiteering above and beyond the "reasonable" and I'm disgusted. I have already written to the company concerned to express my views. I don't for a second expect to receive a response; nor do I expect them to take notice of what I said. But I have at least made my views known. I think it's utterly wrong that those who are afflicted by what is a very debilitating disability should be victimised in that way, just because they can't take advantage of what the rest of us take for granted. Now I hope nobody will twist what I'm saying; but I think it's grossly unfair that companies are able to profit in that way in a market which, I accept, is a minority market. All the same, there should be some kind of dispensation for individuals struggling to buy that kind of equipment for their own use. Lynne ======================================= The Techno-Chat E-Mail forum is guaranteed malware, spyware, Trojan, virus and worm-free To modify your subscription options, please visit for forum's dedicated web pages located at http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/techno-chat You can find an archive of all messages posted to the Techno-Chat group at either of the following websites: http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/techno-chat/index.html Or: <http://www.mail-archive.com/techno-chat@techno-chat.net> you may also subscribe to this list via RSS. The feed is at: <http://www.mail-archive.com/techno-chat@techno-chat.net/maillist.xml> ---------------------------------------
