Interesting, now since you knew it was off topic before posting it the rest of the sentence writes itself.
David Ferrin A complex system that does not work is invariably found to have evolved from a simpler system that worked perfectly. -----Original Message----- From: JAWS-Users-List [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Mike Boyd Sent: Tuesday, January 27, 2015 3:14 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [JAWS-Users] Off topic subject, Comcast X1 Service It has been a while since I posted that Comcast had unveiled their X1 program, which is a voice guided service that gives you a program guide, the set up instructions for an included DVR, and some other useful features for the blind community. I never received the service, because in its initially released version, it was completely cost prohibitive to me, and I can imagine that it would have been to most blind people. Then last week, I saw the article posted in theTop Tech Tidbits for Thursday newsletter from Flying Blind on this subject. Flying Blind is just making the announcement that the service exists. Well, I read the article, and it made me a little hot under my collar, so I wrote another email to the Comcast Accessibility group, and stated my mind to them about my thought of their X1 program, telling them what they were full of, and that they knew that the service was cost prohibitive to 95% of the blind community. Yesterday, I recieved a reply from Comcast thanking me for my email, and my candor. The representative from Comcast said that they took my email to heart, and that they truly did have the benefit of blind people in mind when developing the X1 program, and that my email had been forwarded in full to Mr. Tom Wlodkowski, Vice President of Comcast Accessibility. Well, today, I received a call from Mr. Wlodkowski, and we talked for quite awhile. I told him that I am involved with several groups of blind people through mailing lists, and that I am the Vice President of my local chapter of a nonprofit organization whose purpose is to raise blindness awareness to the general public, and to assist blind people who cannot otherwise afford it, obtain the training that they should have to be able to live life as a blind person to the fullest. Mr. Wlodkowski stated that the first rendition of the X1 program was pushed out to get the platform out into the public eye, and that further versions of the program were going to be released in the very near future, thereby allowing people of all income levels to choose which X1 features they wanted to subscribe to. Many of you may know, Mr.Wlodkowski is a totally blind man, and he has achieved his position at Comcast as such. After our conversation, I have a better view of Comcast and their commitment to the blind community, they are to be sharing some of the technologies that they developed for the X1 program with the other leading cable providers so that they as well can provide such a service to their customers. So, keep an ear out, for your cable provider may be announcing something similar in the near future. I am still waiting to see what the new pricing structure will be like to make my decision to get the service or not. This is off topic for this list I know, but I felt that it was something that everyone would appreciate knowing. Mike [email protected] For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: http://www.jaws-users.com/help/
