Hi
What exactly do you mean, where have we gone? Are you talking in
terms of braille translators or in general? If in general, I have to
say the use of a computer has come one hell of a long way from that
point in time for us blind users. BrailleEdit was before my time, but
I remember BeX and the Apple II quite well--both the good and the bad.
First off, we can now access the majority of systems sighted people
do, and have been able to do so for quite a few years now. Granted,
not all mainstream systems are accessible but I'd go so far as to say
the majority are useable in one way or another. How about the use of
mainstream wordprocessors, rather than specialized programs, or other
mainstream programs? How about the majority of compatibility issues
between blind and sighted users' documents being eliminated because
of that? The access to multiple operating systems--OS X, Windows, and
Linux among them? The ability for us to use a GUI? I'd say computer
use for us has come a very long way from that time. I remember how
frustrating it was on the Apple II, trying to make an application
work with Textalker and the Echo II when it wanted to use the same
memory location as Textalker did, resulting in an application
modification--which was, in most cases, illegal without express
permission. I find what we have now to be much better. Perfect? Of
course not, and it probably will never be. Nor are computers perfect
for those who are sighted. But to say or imply that we've come
nowhere from the days of the Apple II is, in my opinion, pure nonsense.
Just my $0.02
On Mar 16, 2006, at 2:44 PM, BlindTech of BlindTechs.Net wrote:
I am currently going over the old raised dot computing news letters
and wondering that one thing
Where have we gone iin twnety years as blind people and computers??
This news letter specifically wrote about a translator and editor
of braille and word processing on the apple 2. called braille edit.
and I'll be damned and say it sounds lie what we talk about today.
so then I ask,
where have we really gone in twenty years. except change hardware,
and os.
you can read for yourself at
http://personalpages.tds.net/~ti51/rdcnews.htm
Gabe Vega
BlindTech of BlindTechs.Net
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
website: http://blindtechs.net
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