Scott, To add to your point, consider that our dollar has been
devaluated to the point that, when goods and services are imported to
the US, our foreign competitors can flood our shores with things that
are sometimes cheaper than what American companies can make them.
Therefore, I would venture to say, there are more factors to consider
than supply and demand. Richie Gardenhire, Anchorage, Alaska.
On Mar 7, 2011, at 11:13 AM, Scott Howell wrote:
In reading this thread, I feel compelled to present a different
argument to the high cost of Braille displays and thus will play
devil's advocate here. It is possible that the high cost of Braille
displays may be related to the fact that:
1. There is a small market, which means the cost will be naturally
higher in order to offset the fact that fewer units would be purchased.
2. The cost of the components are produced at a much lower rate than
the parts for other technology. FOr example, the cost of a display to
be used in a monitor may be produced by the millions where the cells
of a Braille display may be produced by the tens of thousands. This
would mean that perhaps a lcd screen might cost $20 and the cells for
a Braille display may be $20 per cell.
3. The cost of research and development is more do to the uniqueness
of the product and specialized skill set.
4. Less competition in the market. COnsider that although several
vendors sell Braille displays, only a few manufacturers actually
produce them. In fact Baum makes displays they sell with their own
name, but they also produce displays for APH, Human Ware, and perhaps
others.
There has been examples of how developers of adaptive technologies
have produced products for less than hundreds and sold them for
thousands. However, my argument stated above would justify this to
some extent. COnsider that any company produces a product for X
dollars and sells it for Y dollars. The X cost has to take into
consideration research and development, marketing, distribution, and
other overhead. Does this justify the cost of what most Braille
displays? I could not answer that question because I have no idea what
it really costs to produce such a device. I suppose you could make the
argument that the research and development has probably been paid for
several times over, but consider that innovation of new features and
technology has not stopped either. I imagine if Braille displays were
sold by the hundreds of thousands or millions the cost would be
considerably less. So, I have not seen any evidence presented that
supports the argument that "intrenched" providers artificially inflate
prices to control the market at the expense of consumers. If there is
some evidence to support this then great, but consider what you are
saying would mean there is a conspiracy among the manufacturers and
vendors. Does make for a fascinating discussion.
On Mar 7, 2011, at 2:40 PM, Sarah Alawami wrote:
Yeppers. That's why.
On 07/03/2011, at 11:05, "Cheree Heppe" <[email protected]> wrote:
Cheree Heppe here:
Is that why we don't have universal, affordable, Braille displays?
Because intrenched providers are holding new development and
innivation back to benefit current high priced offerings?
Regards,
Cheree Heppe
----- Original Message -----
From: "Scott Granados" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, March 07, 2011 10:32
Subject: Re: macbook air vs ipad 2
Apple isn't going to car if some nat of a company like fS brings
legal action.
Apple can simply use stalling tactics and let them run out of money
spinning their wheels.
On Mar 6, 2011, at 7:02 AM, Jane wrote:
We're assuming they will do Braille. That'd be neat, *if* they can
pull it off and *if* Braille display makers don't push them out of
the market by constantly suing.
Jane
On Mar 5, 2011, at 11:07 PM, Sarah Alawami wrote:
Yeah don't forget it's thinner. When haptics comes out think of
the screen room you wil have for braille right there.
On Mar 5, 2011, at 7:22 PM, Cheree wrote:
Cheree Heppe here:
I like the IPad, actually.
I went for the I-devicees first because they open a very
intuitive, easy entre into the Apple environment. No commands
and keystroke chording and what seemed to me a quick start
interface.
In a bit, I'm ggoing to get an Air or Mac, but would have done
so with much more trepidation if not having tried the I-devices
first.
As to the base measurements of a PacMate being smaller than an
IPad, true, but that's only a single dimension.
Regards,
Cheree Heppe
Sent from my iPhone
On 05/03/2011, at 19:07, "David Tanner"
<[email protected]> wrote:
Well, let's see, the iPad is clunkier to carry around than an
iPhone or iTouch. The iPad is almost as expensive as buying
the basic MacBook Pro 13 with two gigabytes of memory, and the
processor in the new iPad is only a 1.0 gigahert duel core
processor. The MacBook Pro 13 has a lot faster processor than
that and so does the Ayer if you want to pay the higher price
for solid state memory instead of a hard drive.
The iPad makes me think of all the blind folks that have
complained about the size of the PacMate QT. In fact, I don't
think that the PacMate QT would be as large in flat area as the
iPad.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Ricardo Walker" <[email protected]
>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, March 04, 2011 6:46 PM
Subject: Re: macbook air vs ipad 2
Me personally,
If I need to get work done, I would go with a Macbook air. Its
a full fledged computer, and besides the added size, you will
find yourself bumping up against less barriers when trying to
get things done. Especially if you have an iPhone or iPod
touch already. What are you really missing in not getting an
iPad?
JMO
Ricardo Walker
[email protected]
Twitter, Skype, and AIM: rwalker296
On Mar 4, 2011, at 8:48 AM, Denise Avant wrote:
hello all,
i am contemplating getting another apple device. i need
something that is light to take when i travel. i was thinking
of the ipad 2 because you can get pages to write with. the
only problem here is that there is no port for external media
like a usb drive, is there?
my other alternative is that i can get the macbook air. but
its a little bigger. i really don't need a screen. but i would
have a port for external media. of course i would miss all of
those apps you can have on the ipad.
that can be negated by the fact that i have an iphone.
well, i would be interested in hearing from those with the
air. i know the ipad 2 is not out yet, but i'm sure there are
some first generation ipad users here.
thanks.
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