Ok guys:
I don't think the mac is anywhere in evidence here.  Please shut this down 
immediately, if not sooner.  It's a fine discussion, but irrelevant for most.
Thank you.

Carolyn H
On Mar 7, 2011, at 2:02 PM, Scott Granados wrote:

> I don't think the dollar is at work here.
> 
> China hangs their currency against ours so that's not a factor and the Euro 
> is falling against the dollar. 
> 
> 
> On Mar 7, 2011, at 12:34 PM, Richie Gardenhire wrote:
> 
>> 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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>>> 
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