Hi Richie,
There is an old expression that says that the squeaky wheel is
the one to get greased. Also, it is said that you draw more bees
with honey than vinegar. This topic has come up in various forms in
the past, but you have hit the nail on the head. Communication, and
doing so in a constructive and positive manner goes a lot farther
than general griping, bashing and aggression. This can be applied
to just about any company, and is not specifically limited to how we
deal with Apple, btw.
The problem is the blind are in the significant minority in
terms of market shares, and money is the driving force for any
company. Yet, if we make our voices loud and let folks know we are
out there, folks generally will hear. Again, though, one has to put
things into perspective and understand all of the factors involved in
a situation. Because we, the blind, want something or feel we "need"
it, that does not necessarily equate to it being viewed in the same
manner as others. I'm not going to debate anyone on the entitlement
and civil rights issues that I am aware some blind folks like to take
matters. That is beyond the point of this list. How this relates to
VoiceOver development is simply that it is important to keep feedback
coming and to state the problems/bugs and dissatisfaction in a way
that expresses our points without appearing to just be complaining or
whining.
Take Care
John D. Panarese
Managing Director
Technologies for the Visually Impaired, Inc.
9 Nolan Court
Hauppauge, NY 11788
Tel/Fax, (631) 724-4479
Email, [EMAIL PROTECTED] net
Internet, http://www.tvi-web.com
AUTHORIZED DISTRIBUTORS FOR PORTSET SYSTEMS LTD, COMPSOLUTIONS VA,
PREMIER ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGIES, INDEX, PAPENMEIER, REPRO-TRONICS,
DUXBURY, DANCING DOTS AND OTHER PRODUCTS FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY
IMPAIRED
AUTHORIZED APPLE BUSINESS ASSOCIATE
MAC VOICEOVER TRAINING AND SALES
On Sep 26, 2006, at 3:50 PM, Richard Gardenhire wrote:
Like most aspects of communications, we as members of the blindness
community, and in particular, Mac users, need to approach our
communications with Apple, on a concise and professional manner.
Too often, I believe, many of us, (myself included), become
aggressive and, rather than taking the time to think about the
needs we want, we aggressively demand to have certain things
accessible to us. While there are times and places for such
approaches, if we want change, it has to come from the "grass
roots" level. How Apple will respond to us is going to depend
largely on what strategies we use to best market our needs for such
programs as itunes. As an employee of a local Apple reseller, our
bosses have encouraged us to communicate our suggestions either to
store management, or directly to Apple. I am not as well versed as
many of you on this list, and I will work hard to improve in this
area; I will, however, continue to write to those who are in the
development department at Apple, and express to them, to the best
of my ability, some things which I feel would be most beneficial
not only to me, but to any of our blind/visually-impaired
customers. Up until 1996, when sales of Apple products fell
significantly, in favor of Windows, Apple had the best tech support
for the blind going; at least, they did in the 1980's. Now I
realize a lot of us don't always have direct access to our local
Apple dealers and resellers to address our needs; and though Apple
has, for the most part, been pretty good for me, if I ever needed
to call them for technical issues. But since I work for our local
reseller now, if I get stuck somewhere, I can get help from our
technical staff. They have gone far beyond the call of duty for me
here in Anchorage. Y'all have been most helpful to me, in the
short time I've been on this list, and I will continue to
participatte as much as I can, in the time the store will allow.
And speaking of which, I must close for now to get ready to go to
work today, since we are shorthanded today. Take care and I trust
that what I've said makes some sense. Thanks for reading/
listening. Richie Gardenhire, Anchorage, Alaska.
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