Hello Arnold,
Like so many others, I have been following this thread. Why?
Because, you remind me a great deal of myself, at the outset of my Mac
journey. This is to say, even after owning an iPhone for some time, I
found that learning how to use a Mac, via VoiceOver, extremely
frustrating, at first--especially given my then expertise with Jaws for
Windows.
There are many reasons why people explore new paths. For some, they
merely wish to broaden their horizons, for others, it is to prove to
themselves that they can do it. Still others explore new paths out of
frustration with the status quo. My point is that, why, one does
something can, in many instances directly affect the outcome of the
exploration, itself.
In my case, I was fervently motivated to learn how to use a Mac
because I was completely disgusted with Microsoft after discovering
that they deliberately removed the self-voicing installation feature
that shipped with the first beta release of Windows 7. I had a copy
of that particular beta which, via Narrator, offered a flawlessly
comprehensive installation experience for a totally blind user. It
never crossed my mind that they would pull that feature in subsequent
beta releases which, as it turned out, they did.
I can still remember the rage I felt when one of the Microsoft talking
heads, up in Redland, told me, via telephone, that they pulled the
feature as a result of security concerns. Even as I write this,
reliving the experience in my mind, my blood begins to proverbially boil.
But I digress.
My point is that after that phone call, I went directly to my local
Mac store and purchased my first MacBook Pro. As you can imagine, my
primary motivation for learning the Mac was because I was sick and
tired of Microsoft restricting installation access to its blind and
low vision users--especially given that they had proven that it could
be done and that it could be done well.
Having said all of this, let me add that, despite the opinions of
many, the Macintosh is not for everyone or not better in all situations.
Windows is a fine operating system and Jaws, Window Eyes, Zoomtext,
etc are all marvelous accessibility tools.
Generally speaking, I think it's best to learn how to use both Windows
and Mac OS. Financial limitations notwithstanding, there is no need
to choose one over the other.
I want to applaud your effort in exploring the Macintosh. Do not be
disappointed in yourself; you will learn what you need to know when
you need to know it. That's just the way the universe works, in my
opinion.
Mark
-----Original Message-----
From: macvisionaries@googlegroups.com
[mailto:macvisionaries@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Arnold Schmidt
Sent: Thursday, July 07, 2016 10:06 AM
To: macvisionaries@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: My Time Ran Out, I Took It Back
I have been thinking about this for several days. As one coming from
Windows, having used windows since I got my windows 98 computer in
2000, learning to use the mac is like learning a whole new language.
I know what I want to do, but how to do it is almost totally
different. Hey, control c copies something and control v pastes it,
they have that in common. But I have come up with the best reason yet
for me to get some used equipment and learn to do it. Even if I come
to the conclusion that there really isn't a whole lot I can do, in all
caps, BETTER on the mac than in windows, I learned to do it, and will
be able to speak? mac as well as windows. That is a pretty good
reason to do it. I admit, I probably wouldn't bother if I didn't have
my iPhone, which apparently works a little better in Mac iTunes, than
in windows iTunes. We'll see, eventually. Now, if I just didn't have to
work 40 hours a week, becoming proficient in mac would happen sooner.
This was one of my vacation weeks.
Arnold Schmidt
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kimber Gardner" <kimbersinbox1...@gmail.com>
To: <macvisionaries@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, July 07, 2016 7:21 AM
Subject: Re: My Time Ran Out, I Took It Back
I'm not Arnold so can't presume to answer for him, but I found myself
in a similar situation several years ago when I bought a MacAir.
Despite multiple attempts to learn the new operating system, I found
myself frustrated at nearly every turn. Now I've been an IT
professional for thirty years, working all that time in the windows
environment, still I found the learning curve extremely daunting.
I've read this thread with great interest and I think the many
comments about total immersion while learning may have been the root
of my own failure with the Mac. Because I became frustrated in my
attempts to accomplish the simplest of tasks (like reading and
answering email), I frequently switched back to windows to do what I
needed to do. Consequently I lost whatever ground I had gained in the
Mac universe.
This is my rather long way of saying that while installing bootcamp on
a Mac may seem like no big deal to you (or anyone who is comfortable
with the Mac), for me that task seems like a mountain the size of
Everest. I suspect Arnold may feel the same.
Unlike Arnold I kept my Mac and still return to it from time to time.
I've been a devoted Apple user on the mobile platform for several
years and there is something that brings me back to the Mac again and
again. It may be just that I don't like to admit failure in the face
of any technology. I don't really know. About the only method I
haven't tried is one on one training. That may be my next (and
possibly final) step.
Kimber
On 7/7/16, Simon Fogarty <si...@blinky-net.com> wrote:
Hi arnld,
Just wondering why you didn’t keep it and put windows on it in bootcamp?
That would give you vboth platforms and you can keep learnig on the
apple os.
From: macvisionaries@googlegroups.com
[mailto:macvisionaries@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Joseph Hudson
Sent: Thursday, 7 July 2016 8:37 AM
To: macvisionaries@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: My Time Ran Out, I Took It Back
Arnold, if you ever get another one I would like to offer you some
free one-on-one support with assisting you with your Mac in your
tough struggles.
My information that I would like you to have been say is below in my
signature. I had my Mac from most two years and I don't regret getting
it.
I
will say this, I can probably work a few more websites now that I
couldn't work with Jaws with my Mac or my iPho and this message is
not just for Arnold this is for anybody who has trouble with the Mac
still free to use interviews my information in my signature as well
as you wish.
Joseph Hudson
Email
jhud7...@gmail.com<mailto:jhud7...@gmail.com>
I device support
Telephone
2543007667
Skype
joseph.hudson89 facebook
https://www.facebook.com/joseph.hudson.9404
Twitter
https://twitter.com/josephhudson89
FaceTime/iMessage
jhud7...@yahoo.com<mailto:jhud7...@yahoo.com>
On Jul 6, 2016, at 3:50 AM, Arnold Schmidt
<arno...@mindspring.com<mailto:arno...@mindspring.com>> wrote:
I wand to thank everyone for the help I have received over the past
two weeks, concerning my Mac Mini. However, I ended up taking it
back after all yesterday, which was my last day to return it.
To attempt to make a long message not quite so long, I guess I just
wasn't getting it as much as I think I should have been. Every time
I would turn it on, it seemed that I still was having to look up how
to do things that
I
thought I had already learned, and it definitely was getting more
frustrating than fun, being that I could very easily do those things
in Windows, or on my iPhone. And in the end, what was going to be
the real benefit to me? ITunes allegedly easier to use, and being
able to install the OS myself.
Being that yesterday was going to be my last day, I started out
intending
to
put in a lot of extra time with it, before the time for my
paratransit trip to return it arrived, which I still thought I was
going to cancel. So, I decided to log into my bank web site, which I
had not attempted yet. I successfully passed the first step in the
two-step verification, but then, no matter what I tried, I couldn't
get it to read the security question it wanted answered. No problem
in Windows, or my iPhone, no go on this Mac mini. I could tell the
location for the answer field, I could find what should have been the
question field, it just wouldn't read anything. I typed in the
answer to one of my security questions, which, of course, was the
wrong answer for the question it was asking. I am sure the inability
to
get it to read the security question was mine, not the Mac Mini's .
So, I closed Safari, then decided to turn on keyboard help, just to
try differing combinations of keys I had never tried before to see
what it would say.
I
was trying the function keys, and hit a key at the very right end of
them, and it just shut off. Nothing I did would get VoiceOver
talking again.
I
tried the three-finger triple tap on the track pad,then the
three-finger double tap which is what it is on my iPhone, turned the
track pad commander off and on, turned the whole computer off and
back on, nothing. And this was my last day.
I wish I had had 30 days. If I had had, I still don't think it would
have gone back. But I didn't want to be one of those people who
never quite got it, but it was too late to take it back, and I had
over 900 dollars invested in the thing. Even though it would have
put me lower in my checking account than I wanted to be, I should
have kept the Windows 10 Lenovo I bought from Costco, and the Mac
Mini, too, knowing one of them was going back. I bought the Lenovo
first, after having talked myself out of buying a Mac, again.
Sometime before Microsoft stops supporting Vista next spring, there
will be another good deal come through Costco.
I always had wanted to try a Mac, I am glad I did. But it ended up
being
so
much tedium and frustration to me, as compared to what I already
know, with not all that much seeming benefit in the end. I fully
expected not to know what I was doing for a while, but I thought it
would have begun to get easier by yesterday, which, I guess, it
wasn't, even with the two books I have.
Arnold Schmidt
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