Cheree Heppe here: Small numbers notwithstanding, if a company needed a good taxx break and a subsidy, they could produce the display and gain a lot of good from various quarters.
The argument for Braille as a reading mode for a select few has the same ring as that argument lots of U.S. cities use for public transport. You know, few ride public transport, so because few ride, let's cut it back even more. Totally backward reasoning. Regards, Cheree Heppe ----- Original Message ----- From: "Sarah Alawami" <marri...@gmail.com> To: <macvisionaries@googlegroups.com> Sent: Monday, March 07, 2011 12:35 Subject: Re: macbook air vs ipad 2 Actually try maybe a few hundred per cell but you do make a good oint. If only we had all blind and vi people reading braille then we would have a higher demand for braille desplays lol! On Mar 7, 2011, at 12:13 PM, 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" <che...@dogsc4me.com> 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" <scott.grana...@gmail.com> >>> To: <macvisionaries@googlegroups.com> >>> 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" <david.tanner...@gmail.com> >>>>>> 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" >>>>>>> <rwalker...@gmail.com> >>>>>>> To: <macvisionaries@googlegroups.com> >>>>>>> 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 >>>>>>> rwalker...@gmail.com >>>>>>> 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. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> -- >>>>>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>>>>> Groups "MacVisionaries" group. >>>>>>>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >>>>>>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>>>>>>> macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>>>>>> 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 macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >>>>>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>>>>>> macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>>>>> 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 macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >>>>>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>>>>>> macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>>>>> 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 macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >>>>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>>>>> macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>>>> 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 macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >>>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>>>> macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>>> 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 macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>>> macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>> 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 macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>> macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>> 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 macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>> macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>> 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 macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> 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 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