The reasons that state and Federal agencies are not purchasing as many Macs as they are Windows machines with screen readers are not simple. Nor are they a product of some black helicopter United Nations sponsored left wing conspiracy. I love how individuals bandy about the word socialism, especially if the given government program is not currently benefiting them. State and Federal dollars that are to be spent in the rehab field are usually spent on two general categories of individuals. First, there are students whose ultimate goal is to gain employment. Second, it is spent on individuals whose immediate goal is to gain employment. I'd be curious to know how many individuals who reside in the United States and are on this mailing list are currently employed in a workplace whare they are using a Mac? If you are self employed and using a Mac, then you are to be commended. Most people, including myself, do not possess the intelligence and the fortitude to successfully pursue such a venture. However, the point is this. If some one my state agency serves has a good reason for using a Mac, they will be quite likely to get one. Thus far, we have received only a handful of such requests. No, we're not going to buy someone a Mac so that they can tweet, make friends on FaceBook, or download music from iTunes. If the popularity of the Mac continues to grow, and more work places adopt it, my state agency will most likely purchase more of them. However, we don't buy expensive equipment so that people can be entertained. It is purchased so that individuals can use it to obtain work. And while we're on the subject of socialism, let's get rid of the National Library Service in the United States. After all, since books aren't universally accessible, blind people shouldn't be required to read them, nor should they want to.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Jake" <[email protected]> To: "MacVisionaries" <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, November 28, 2009 10:28 PM Subject: Re: no mac for blind people in Belgium Hi Scott Although I agree with you completely, I'd argue that this situation exists in the US as well. Has anyone successfully gotten the government to buy them a Mac? I've never heard of a case, and the reasons given are similar and some are even open about dealing exclusively with one company or another. Ours, too, is a socialist program gone wrong. I'm actually curious now, has anyone gotten a Mac from any sort of government agency and if so, what country? In either case, though, let one thing be clear. You always have choices, and you've the power to make them. I got my Mac because I purchased it. Yes, I had to save up for a bit to do it, but it was well worth it. You always have that option no matter what your government decides to provide for you. So a ban on blind people getting a Mac does not exist. Maybe if enough exercise their power of choice we might counter the FUD spread by these blind companies. Come to think of it, that's the only way I can think to counter it. The sad thing is that these types of lobbies are all too successful when they crop up, because most people will listen to anything as long as the person speaking it acts like they know what they're talking about. Marketing hype, in other words, and it's a very good way to get at those in governments who know absolutely nothing about blindness or access technology of any kind. That's why we do need to exercise our freedom of choice. No one knows what product is better for a person than the person in that situation. On Nov 28, 6:52 pm, Scott Howell <[email protected]> wrote: > Well there ya go, a socialist program run totally amuck. If your going to > get something for nothing, your going to be strapped with someone's idea > of what you can and can't have. Yep, quite unfair, but obviously some > screen reading developers are afraid of the Mac's ability. Well I'm sure > my comments won't set well with some, but it is what it is and I'm glad I > can make my own choices. > On Nov 28, 2009, at 8:29 PM, anouk radix wrote: > > > > > Hello, I got this message from a friend (Paul Erkens) who will join the > > forum soon (his status is pending now). I am not really up to scratch > > with the general regime in belgium of giving access technology to blind > > people. I am just afraid that this will spread to the Netherlands. > > Here I know htat high school and university students that are blind can > > get a laptop, a screenreader and a braille display from the state. You > > dont have to pay for anything in this scenario. In this case clearly > > getting a mac with infovox voices and a braille display would be the > > cheapest scenario but if the screenreader manufacturers start a lobby > > here as well... > > Once again I am not sure how it all works out in Belgium. > > Greetings, Anouk > > On Nov 29, 2009, at 2:07 AM, Buddy Brannan wrote: > > >> So what's the problem here? Does the government (or insurance) > >> routinely buy computers for blind people, or just the screen reader? If > >> the former, I can see why this is a problem, but if the latter, the > >> good news is that any Mac comes with built-in access anyway, not > >> requiring any extra access add-ons. > >> -- > >> Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA > >> Phone: (814) 860-3194 or 888-75-BUDDY > > >> On Nov 28, 2009, at 7:50 PM, anouk radix wrote: > > >>> Hello, A friend of mine told me this morning htat in Belgium windows > >>> screenreader companies have won a lobby that effectively bans blind > >>> people in belgium from getting a mac from their insurance (or the > >>> government). Because the screenreader people say it is unusable. > >>> I think this is a very sad state of affairs indeed and I hope this > >>> wont happen in other countries as well. > >>> Greetings, Anouk > > >>> -- > > >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > >>> Groups "MacVisionaries" group. > >>> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > >>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > >>> [email protected]. > >>> For more options, visit this group > >>> athttp://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. > > >> -- > > >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > >> Groups "MacVisionaries" group. > >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > >> [email protected]. > >> For more options, visit this group > >> athttp://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. > > > -- > > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > > Groups "MacVisionaries" group. > > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > [email protected]. > > For more options, visit this group > > athttp://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en.
