OSXnews works just fine with voice over, and it's download page
isn't difficult at all to navigate. It's been mentioned here before
multiple tines. I find it interesting that you insist you can't do
things that folks have repeatedly stated is perfectly doable.
But, to each his own.
However, I find the procare thing a bit disturbing. When I got my
mac, I was clearly told that procare would cover amy questions I
might have, including voice over related ones. I'd call apple back,
and ask if what you were told is true, it's possible the person who
said that wasn't properly informed as to the current state of affairs.
On Dec 27, 2005, at 12:17 PM, LARRY WANGER wrote:
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
