Hi Charles, Oh, I won't deny the fact that most blind people are unemployed and are dependant on disability income like SSI and SSDI, nor can I ignore the fact that the cost of living in the U.S. is pretty high right now. That said, though, there are certainly ways to perform upgrades and get new hardware if a person makes it a priority. A lot of it just comes down to managing their money better.
I am certainly not saying that a blind user has to walk into Best Buy, Walmart, or another store and just throw down $450 for a new laptop just like that. It obviously takes some planning, and a blind person could, if they wanted to, budget the cost of a new computer into their monthly budget. They could create a savings account where they put $25 here and there into it until they have the money needed for that new computer. Maybe the will have to make a few small conscious decisions like not buying a pizza on Friday night, maybe forego that new jacket they want, not eat out as much, but instead could choose to save that money for a new computer or newer software. In my experience people, and I am talking in general here, aren't good at budgeting their money. They often make gratuities choices like stopping to eat at a fast food restaurant because they don't feel like cooking a meal at home, they find something that the store they like and buy it without caring if that money might be spent elsewhere, or are just bad at wasting money on non-essential stuff. Either way, when people are on a fixed income like SSI they really need to budget everything, even something as gratuitous as eating at McDonald's, to make the most of their money. So making a choice to buy a new computer or a Windows upgrade could be factored into how the money is to be spent if they make it a priority. To give you an example before I got married and my soon to be ex performed a lot of reckless spending I had a savings account I would pay money into each month just like paying a bill. Sometimes I would pay more sometimes less but after about a year I had $1,000 or so built up in that account I could use for anything I wanted. I could go into Walmart and throw down $450 for a new computer, and still have plenty of money in savings left over. Since I paid money into that account just like a bill anything I borrowed for a Windows upgrade, a new computer, etc would soon get paid back into that account for the next time I wanted or needed to make an expensive purchase. All it took was working that into my monthly budget, and we weren't talking about big sums of money to do it. These days Windows upgrades are becoming quite inexpensive. When I upgraded my Toshiba from Windows 7 to Windows 8 I think I paid like $45 for the upgrade. The Windows 8.1 upgrade was free for Windows 8 users so all in all I got two Windows upgrades for less than $50. Granted I had a new enough computer to take advantage of those savings, but the fact remains even someone on SSI should be able to come up with that amount of money for a Windows upgrade. So I think your argument that blind people don't have the money won't wash. Yes, they are poor, yes they are on fixed incomes, and yes things may get tight now and then I think they probably could save a little money each month if they wanted to, but I don't think they see a need or have any particular desire to do it. That's why I say it is more a matter of won't than can't. They have not made a conscious decision to put some money back for new hardware and software, and then use their lack of money as an excuse not to upgrade. Cheers! On 12/19/13, Charles Rivard <[email protected]> wrote: > Money, money, money. Who's got the money? The majority of the visually > impaired or blind population are unemployed, in a lot of cases, not through > > any fault of their own. Upgrade with what? Or, even if you are working, if > > you use products from Freedom Scientific because you think they are the > best, most flexible, and most reliable, you've got those darned service > maintenance agreements to deal with, and the hardware and software aren't > cheap, either. They cost more than the computers they are used on. > > --- > Be positive! When it comes to being defeated, if you think you're finished, > > you! really! are! finished! --- Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to [email protected]. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to [email protected].
