Well, one of the very apparent differences between my past use of Windows based screen readers and my new experience with VO is kind of surprising to me. There just isn't support available from Apple.
Here is some background. I've asked a few times about different programs that I could use to meet my needs with my Mac and access to class newsgroups that I use in conjunction with courses I take as well as insuring that I have access to normally used file formats like Word, Excel and PowerPoint. You guys have offered some good suggestions. I can use text edit for word documents. I should be able to use iWork or Apple Works as well for many of these purposes but I've tested both products, Made by Apple I might add, and neither works with VO. Additionally, I was able to activate the Office 2004 test drive that came on my Mac and none of the applications in that suite of programs was accessible either. Beyond this, I called the University technical support line to ask what programs they support for use with newsgroups on the Mac and they were able to suggest Thunderbird and or Onterage which are available. I tried Onterage as said with the Office suite and it would not work and could not get Thunderbird to allow for access either. Finally, out of frustration, I called Apple and tried to ask questions, thus the subject line of this message. I was told that because I have the Apple Care plan that I could get tech support but the questions I was asking about VO are usage and therefore I would need to pay $199 to talk with someone. Guys, this is beyond ridiculous. I've been patient and worked very hard to make the Mac work for me. I really like it too but the bottom line here is that the computer must meet my needs and it shouldn't be a project to make it do so. I've spent now nearly 2 weeks with it and clearly know what I need it to do. Unfortunately, I'm not getting it to do that. Many of you will argue that I should be patient and keep working with it. However, the bigger issue here is that for Apple to make it in the blindness community and to be a mainstream product, they must realize that probably 99% of blind people...or anyone else for that matter, won't have the patience and tech skills to continue to work with it. It must be user friendly and ready to go right out of the box and folks, it isn't!!! Perhaps in the future the Mac will make it but its not working for me right now. Someone made the argument that it's only been six months since VO has been available and eventually it will get there. I'm sure this is the case but that won't help me at this moment when I need it to work for me now. I'm really unsure on what to do at this point but its clear that while I can use the Mac to read and write Word documents, I can not work with Excel or PowerPoint documents and I can not yet at this point subscribe or work with newsgroups for my classes. Someone suggested using Snownews but remember, not all of us understand this advanced garbage that was on the page there and I could not even tell which version to download. I'm trying to balance maintaining a clear overall picture of my experience here which has been relatively good with the major short-falls that I find with some specific issues I've got. Realize though that one buys a computer to perform specific tasks for them. I clearly know what I need to do with it but the Mac thus far is not allowing me to do so. I'm increasingly unhappy with it and may in fact need to return this. I expect some of you to have some sharp reactions to this.How could anyone go back to a PC after experiencing the Mac? I can see that point but if the computer won't do what I need it to do and Apple wants $200 each and every time I want to ask a question then what is the point. I might as well keep paying Freedom Scientific or GW Micro the high price for a screen reader and get support as part of that package. I fail to see how Apple defines tech support verses user questions but maybe someone has some insight on that as well? Check out my blog at http://lsw999.blogspot.com/ Larry Wanger Check out my blog at http://lsw999.blogspot.com/ Larry Wanger
