ah, now we're getting somewhere. this is the kind of thing i was
looking for.
> Well, I don't know how many friends I will make with this reply, but I would
> suggest you tell your friend to go back to DOS and WP5.1 if that is what he
> worked best with.
i've made that suggestion, and i'll definately keep it in mind as an
option. one problem is other people: they have difficulty exchanging
files with him if he's working on wp5.1 .. this will remain a problem
with emacs, but i'm hoping that other factors (including the
possibility of his becoming truly computer-literate) will make up for
this.
i guess i should give him a name by now: he's jacques.
> suggest switching to Linux
it would be a double-boot setup. he's got 3 gigs HD of which he uses
maybe a third. during a period of adjustment (and for conversions
etc) he'd have both (or all 3 .. ) options available.
> Ultimately, what I am getting at is if your friend is not into computers,
yes, but what i can't discount is his becoming very much into
computers when he finds how much he can do with them. i know he
spends a great deal of time and energy getting hold of texts, having
them copied, scanned, printed out in braille (on a noisy slow
expensive printer on special bulky paper), read or recorded, and
waiting for deliveries from distant tape libraries. if he had a solid
web-installation, he could use project gutenberg and all the other
etext archives. that would completely change his situation with
regards to text.
> However, I would also recommend you seek the opinions of the folks on the
> linux-access list, as I could be wrong. And, I have misplaced their
> information, but I found them on the same compilation of mailing lists as
> this one.
err, which was that? i'll look on liszt later ..
> On the practical side, last I heard, Emacspeak only worked with Dectalk
> hardware, though it could have changed since I last looked.
yes -- i rather gathered this from the articles i read too. i was
kinda hoping that this hitch would just go away. does DECtalk mean
you have to be running a Dec machine? i'll have to find out more
about compatibility with his speech hardware.
Thanks for the input,
--jean
