Hi Anne,
I think it was you, it was actually a forwarded email I found at a list
called blind-l or something. I never new there is a podcast dealing with the
mac and VO, where do I find these? Are they like tutorials or something?
Maybe if I listen to a few it would give me a better idea of the Mac.
Thanks
Ari
----- Original Message -----
From: "Anne Robertson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "General discussions on all topics relating to the use of Mac OS X by
theblind" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Thursday, April 12, 2007 11:20 PM
Subject: Re: Hi
Hello Ari,
I think I must be the person you found praising the Mac. Was it the
podcast on the Assistiveware site?
Recently, things have got even better as iTunes is now accessible.
VisioVoice is a very worthwhile purchase if you are working with other
languages besides English, I'd be lost without it now.
Anyhow, welcome to the list and I hope you decide to buy a Mac: you won't
regret it.
Cheers,
Anne
On Apr 12, 2007, at 8:31 PM, Ari wrote:
Hi guys,
I am also new to this list, I have written to the other list, and got
quite a bit of help, but I would like to introduce myself and explain my
situation and of course would like feedback and suggestions.
I'm Ari, a politics student from South Africa. First, I'll say that I'm
really not a computer wizzard, but I am always keen to learn new ways of
doing things and technologies.
My old laptop that I was using with JFW has eventually failed. Now I am
really considering a Mac. My reasons are as follows:
1. I find it exciting that Apple have built the screen reader into the
OS, and, from what I hear, it seems as if it's actually usable, unlike
Narrator!
2. Obviously, taking this into account, I will not have to pay for the
new PC, plus upgrading JFW.
3. I find it brilliant knowing that, if I know how to use it, I can go
to any sighted person's Mac and work with it.
4. I also don't like the whole thing of Malware, Spyware, and all the
hassles that come with Windows.
I got very discouraged when I read this one article by a guy in
Accessworld, it seemed to me as if he really didn't have anything good
to say about VO and the Mac at all, but then when I did some more
searching, I found an email written by someone who says that she uses
her Mac without problems to do things such as Skype, Browsing, and even
translating documents from French (for me this is interesting, since,
because I'm also doing German, I'd like to know if there's a way of
allowing the Mac to read my documents to me in a German voice?)
Here is my sort of problem/question though. I don't know anyone with a
Mac, so can't test it properly in my time or somehow learn it. I'm going
on Saturday to the Apple shop, where I've told them I'd like to see the
Mac with VO. My problem is that I think that I'm probably one of, if not
the first blind person to whom they will be demonstrating it to, and I'm
concerned that the sales person might not exactly know how to show how
the Mac can work effectively for me, or somehow give me a propper taste
of how I will find using the Mac. You guys might think my complaint a
bit stupid, but you wouldn't believe the ignorance I've sometimes come
across, example, one guy who has quite a bit of experience with
computers was shocked to find that I didn't use the mouse like everyone
else, it understandably sort of didn't come into his mind. I'd like to
go to this shop and somehow be able to really make a propper judgment
about VO and buying a Mac.
Just to say, I'll also mainly be using the Mac for presenting my
assignments, email, internet (I've heard that VO and Safari can't handle
many web pages that people with Windows screen readers can, is this
true?) and skype, but I'm hoping that, if I choose a Mac, I won't regret
it somehow.
Thanks and sorry for the long email
Ari
