Hi Shaun, Well, it is true that in a lot of places in the world some people take technology for granted, and new computers, cell phones, and other things are now regarded as throwaway technology. I think one reason for that is because the cost has drastically dropped over the last ten to twenty years. It has made it inexpensive to own and thus easy to throwaway and replace as desired for some people.
For example, when I was in college I purchased my first laptop for note taking etc. It cost me $1,800 USD brand new from Best Buy. Nowadays I can walk into any Walmart and pick up a brand new laptop for like $325 if I just want a cheap and affordable laptop. Basically, in the span of about fifteen years the cost has dropped to the point I could buy about five new laptops for the price of one I could have purchased in the late 90's. So much so that it costs as much to replace the hardware in them as it is to by new outright in a lot of cases. That said, it is mainly people with lots of money to spend who are doing that. Blind computer users generally are on fixed incomes so can't just run out and buy a new laptop anytime a new model comes onto the market. It is hard enough to get them to upgrade their software like buying a new Windows version let alone the entire computer system. As someone who has fallen on hard times I understand where they are coming from. If we consider the average blind American on SSI makes about$720 per month it is pretty hard to justify spending $325 on a new laptop every so often just to get a software and hardware upgrade when there are more important things like rent, electric, food, and other things that need to be paid. Let me say that $720 doesn't go far these days, and so it is no wonder blind users are less likely than the mainstream public to join the ranks of those who throw away old technology after it is a few months old. With all that in mind as an audio game developer I need to consider that, and do more to be backward compatible than someone like Microsoft just because I can't depend on my customers to upgrade as often as the general public. So while you have a point that we are living in a throwaway society, too much tech as become throwaway tech, it must be remembered it is only certain segments of the population who do that sort of thing. Cheers! On 10/21/14, shaun everiss <[email protected]> wrote: > you are so right tom, sadly these days most get the graphical world > and thats all they know. > its one of my laments on computer stuff. > In the day my day if something went wrong you actually tried to > replace it or fix it. > now, if something goes wrong a recovery disk, a reformat will fix it > but your average yung person wouldn't know what dos was anymore. > and if something breaks or even if it doesn't they are ready to > replace it to quickly. > An example, my cousin brought a brand new phone last year. > It was barely a few months old, it still worked fine but he sold it > because it was not the latest and got another one, at full price. > When I have a computer and not to many years ago, you only replaced > it if the gbattery exploded, the drivves failed or the case melted. > You ran all your boxes into the ground. > People sadly do not think like that anymore. --- 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].
