Hi Ryan, and like the laptops and desktops it supports braille displays
On 2 Feb 2008, at 17:25, Ryan Dour wrote:
Hello,
I had the chance to spend a lot of time with a MacBook Air
yesterday. Here are my initial observations when it comes to our
community's needs.
1. Most important, it really is light weight and thin. I can even
pick it up by the top of the screen without fear that the weight of
the bottom will break the hinge.
2. Solid design, you honestly cant get it to bend even in the
slightest.
3. It fits into a standard 8 12 x 11 envelope. Not kidding.
4. Keyboard is the same as the MacBook line, so it is very easy to
type on.
5. The touchpad offers us nothing new that would be of use. If you
could make gestures to indicate voice speed and pitch that would
rock, but no dice.
6. The speaker is not recommended for any environment. It is very
difficult to hear in any environment. Even the noise from the street
outside was enough to make the speaker intolerable. It also
functions in mono and is on the right side of the unit.
7. The headphone jack and USB aer contained on a little plate that
drops down on the side of the MacBook Air. Very nice, and the sound
is good through the headphone jack.
8. MagSafe jack and plug have been modified in a very nice way.
Slimmer, and still just as effective. However, you cannot use the
MagSafe power adaptor from an older MacBook or MacBook Pro model.
This new device uses a 35 watt AC adaptor. It also is slim, and is
easily ported in a pocket.
9. Vent is along the back underneath the laptop. The entire surface
of the bottom is curved so that fingers can fit underneath to grab
at it. The unit doesn't get hot even with heavy processor use. I ran
3 copies of Chess at highest computational power. That usually gets
the fans running at full speed. After 20 minutes, barely a change
noticed in heat being generated by the Mac.
10. Edges come to a 0.16 inch meeting point. Aside from the small
lip provided for the opening of the screen, when closed the surface
almost seems seamless. A fingernail has trouble breaching the gap
between screen and bottom surface. This is great, and adds to the
sleek thin design.
I must say, this machine is a tactile joy. Due to the sub notebook
category, I would now start comparing it with other note taking
devices available in the assistive tech world. This may be the
machine we all have waited for, and it didn't come from an adaptive
tech source.
The way I see it, most students who have basic computer needs will
be a perfect fit. Most students attending college who are visually
impaired usually get a bit of help acquiring adaptive technology. In
the U.S. we have differing situations depending on the state you
live in. In my case, I'm in Illinois. We have an organization
Department of Rehabilitation Services (DORS) which is a sub
organization of the Department of Human Services. They assist many
blind and other disabled Illinois residents with acquiring the job
skills to compete in today's work environment. I was a client of the
program, and it does work if you know how to advocate for yourself.
I believe they will find the MacBook Air to be worth the cost. When
you consider the cost of something like a braille note taker, this
blows the pants off of all of them. Even without the braille
display. The idea of a braille note taking device traditionally has
been portability and functionality. The devices up til now have
offered many of the capabilities of PDAs, but don't go much beyond
that. The Mac as a note taker would open that up quite a bit. No
longer limited by functionality based on firmware updates or Windows
Mobile only apps, you can use anything you wish to run on your
standard Mac.
I believe that the facts exist to make a good case for the purchase
of such a device for education. In your private sector jobs though,
you may have more difficulty. Employers won't see this thing as a
portable note taker, because they won't be able to get out from
under the idea that it is a Mac. Even though it is lighter than the
Freedom Scientific line of note takers, it is still a Mac. Even
though the OS on the note takers is limited by design, and the Air
has a full OS, it is a Mac. Getting the private sector past these
"Mac" issues is the key to getting one in your hands for work.
Back to comparing note taking devices. This device will host many
USB devices, including an Apple branded USB SuperDrive. This means
full CD and DVD burning at your fingertips. WHen you don't need an
optical drive, leave it at home or in a backpack. Heck, it is also
so thin you could leave it in your pocket if you're wearing cargo
pants. Also,this device can use the optical drive of another PC or
Mac through a local network connection either by WiFi or USB
Ethernet adaptor. This capability even goes as far as booting the
Mac off of a properly shared optical drive in another computer.
I don't know about all of you, but I just feel that if I was faced
with the need for a note taker for classes and meetings, I would
prefer one of these over other adaptive tech solutions by far. The
limitless uses of the full Mac OS X Leopard combined with weight of
less than 3 pounds and a form factor thin enough to slide easily
into an envelope really hits the spot.
Ryan
