OK, a little common sense break in this discussion. I'd hardly call a 5% discount a sweetheart deal for NFB. That not withstanding, since the deal has been offered also to ACB members, or at least to the officials of ACB to consider promoting to their members, I see nothing wrong with it from a business standpoint. PDI and PDH specifically have shown no signs of favoring one organization over the other and have, to my knowledge, attended both national conventions. They've shown no sign of not attending upcoming conventions or any public disdain for either group. That's smart business in my mind.
I am sad to see that NFB did get the word out about their member discount first, if indeed these were offered to both groups at the same time, but that speakes more to the ability of the NFB to publicize. With the ACB in the disarray it's in, we're lucky to get anything frankly, but I digress. <grin The thing so many of you don't seem to understand about this whole situation is that PDH and PDI are BUSINESSES. They are FOR-PROFIT COMPANIES that exist to make money. I realize this is abhorant to some, but that's how the world generally works. As for-profit companies, assistive tech manufacturers have to think about bottom line in order to have the capital to do research and development on their products. If NFB, which is a service provider through its national center and numerous state-sponsored rehab agencies, will buy more units by giving its members a 5% discount, great! PDH/PDI sells more product. NFB promotes the product and life is good. As NFB does have so many inroads into rehab centers and state purchasing of technology, this partnership makes sense. That would make me ask, in a purely business focused line of thought, what does ACB have to offer in the way of publicity to PDH and PDI? Well, we do have ACB Radio, nothing to sneeze at, and something that reaches a world-wide audience. OK, that's worth the 5% discount to ACB members. As for people who are not affiliated with either group, sorry. Again, this is business, not a social service. If you choose to buy a house, a car or any other big ticket item, no one is going to give you a special discount just because you are you, and you are blind, and you are paying for this out of your pocket. Now, I've seen companies offer time payment schedules for those paying for items themselves, a practice that allows you to have equal payments taken out of your credit card on a monthly basis until the item is paid off. That would be a huge selling point for me with much of the adaptive technology out there from pda's to bar code readers and color identifiers. "ONLY 100 EASY PAYMENTS OF $19.95!!" All right, I feel sooooo much better now. Happy Halloween to all of you! Jenine Stanley [EMAIL PROTECTED]
