Hi. Is the following, from the NFB, really true? If so, it's really discriminatory! Why not extend this discount to the ACB, or, for that matter, to all blind people?
Is PDI really abandoning its policies of fairness, to offer a discount to a particular blindness organization? If they are, it's really a sad commentary!
Jonathan, could you please address this? Does your past history with ACB, and the current problems facing that organization have anything to do with this turn of events?
Doug Martin
NFB MEMBERS TO RECEIVE DISCOUNT ON PULSE DATA HUMANWARE PRODUCTS BALTIMORE, MD, AND CONCORD, CA (October 27, 2003)-The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) and Pulse Data HumanWare announced today that NFB members would receive a 5 percent discount on selected Pulse Data blindness related products. The NFB is a membership organization with more than 50,000 members who can benefit from this special discount. Pulse Data HumanWare specializes in assistive technology for persons who have difficulty reading print due to blindness, low vision, or learning and/or reading disabilities. The company is located in Concord, California. The discount, which will remain in effect indefinitely, will be available on the BrailleNote and VoiceNote, devices similar to the personal digital assistant (PDA) used by the sighted. Like the PDA or the pocket PC they each feature a scheduler, database and word processing functions, and access to e-mail and the Internet. Also discounted is the Braille Star, a forty-cell or eighty-cell portable refreshable Braille display that can be used with either a laptop or a personal computer. "Having a BrailleNote means that a blind person can have a whole library of Braille books and articles on a device the size of one print textbook," said Marc Maurer, NFB president. "Technology, when designed well, provides quick and easy access to information for the blind. We look to companies like Pulse Data HumanWare to provide these up-to-date technologies. We are especially pleased that Pulse Data HumanWare is helping to make these products available to more of our members by offering this discount," Maurer said. "Pulse Data HumanWare has always been dedicated to providing nonvisual access to information," said Jim Halliday, president emeritus of Pulse Data HumanWare. "Electronic data in the twenty-first century is changing the way information is stored, retrieved and used. Now blind people using the BrailleNote can have realtime access to information available in electronic books, newspapers, magazines, and Internet sites just like their sighted friends, coworkers, and classmates." The Mountbatten Brailler, a Brailler with a memory function, will also be available at the 5 percent discount. It allows young blind children to start writing and exploring Braille at the same ages that sighted children start exploring print. Other products include the PIAF, a tactile graphics device and the ScannaR, a tabletop reading machine that allows an individual to scan and read text in synthetic speech or to transfer the text directly onto a BrailleNote, where it can be read at a later time. Pulse Data HumanWare also carries a whole series of SmartView video magnifiers and the new portable PocketViewer for people with low vision. With more than 50,000 members and 700 local and state affiliates and chapters, the National Federation of the Blind, located in Baltimore, Maryland, is the largest and most influential membership organization of blind people in the United States. NFB members believe that with effective training and equal opportunity blind people can reduce the impact of this disability from tragedy to physical nuisance. The NFB improves blind people's lives through advocacy, education, research, technology, and programs encouraging independence and self-confidence. It is the leading force in the blindness field today and the voice of the nation's blind. Lorinda Riddle Coordinator of Public Affairs NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND 410-659-9314, extension 419 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]"mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]@nfb.org www.nfb.org
