Hello Paul, I would just like to add that for people who use several languages, the Mac comes with voices and Braille for quite a number of different languages.
Cheers, Anne On 1 Sep 2011, at 12:56, Paul Erkens wrote: > Dear list, > > I have a question for us mac users. If anyone thinks it is off topic, if you > have an idea where to better ask this, please let me know. > > Shortly, I will attend a discussion with one of our national funds that help > blind people buy a computer. If a blind person living in the Netherlands, > really cannot afford a computer themselves, and they can't get any financial > support from any other organisations, there is a fund that they can call > upon, however. It is with these people that I'm going to talk soon. > > Currently, if a blind person gets a computer from this pc fund, then what you > get is a Dell configuration with windows and a screen reader. If you want > anything else, because you think an Apple computer could give you more > possibilities, then you can indeed get financial support if they are going to > honor the request for help of course, but then you will get half of the > money. This puts windows in favor of a mac, because getting haf of the money > means that you still cannot get hold of the other half to make it happen, and > because you do need a computer, it's going to be windows. > > This reasoning was understandable, until some 3 years ago. Since then, Apple > has given us many new, innovative and exciting possibilities with a mac. What > I want to achieve is a change in the way they look at this. No matter if you > need a pc or a mac, I would like the fund look at it as being 2 equal > solutions, one suited better for a person than the other. Not: windows always. > > What I need from you, is some help in putting together a factual enumeration > of reasons for a mac. Reasons that people can check upon, and that hold true. > I have a number of questions. > > 1. Which part of the blind community is best helped with a mac? > My current answer: those who are willing and capable of self study. As with > sighted folks, of course this does not include every one. There are courses > being developed, but if you have no users, there is no urgent need for > courses to get to know the mac. And if there are no courses, there's no urge > to buy a mac. So for the moment, the user will have to be willing to self > study. > Please add to this if appropriate. > > 2. When is a mac preferable? > My current answer: if the user is willing to solve his own problems,. > The mac avoids repair cost. if the user is willing to get himself out of > trouble when something goes really haywire, then a mac will let you do this, > and keep him her independant of sighted help. If you have a current backup, > you can restore your system without help, and even install an os the same > independant way. This avoids sending out staff to the user to go fix their > system problems. Besides, if the hard drive fails, you can still work off of > an external usb drive > until the hardware is fixed. Please add to this, or contradict it. > > 3. From a user's perspective, Are there any areas where a mac is really > better for an independant blind user? > My current answer: I would say not really. You can get all things done on > both systems, but the mac will give you a smoother experience. Speaking for > myself, if something doesn't work, it is usually me, who doesn't know how to > do it, or something is just plainly inaccessible. You almost never wonder why > the system acts strangely this time, and tomorrow it might act differently. I > need reasons in daily experiences. > > 4. From the buyer's perspective, in this case the fund paying for the mac for > a blind person, is a mac cheaper than a pc? > My current answer: In the long term yes. Initially, a mac is more expensive. > However, you get the screen reader with it, which outweighs the problem of > cost for a mac. Further more, if the mac gets updated, usually the screen > reader is updated with no further cost. This avoids having to lag behind, > where the os is more modern than your screen reader, and you will probably > have to spend another sum to update that. Please add to this if appropriate. > > 5. Unknown makes unwanted. Why do funds, insurance companies etc, stick with > windows, when there could be a better alternative for a particular user and > with respect to price? > > These are my questions for now. I'm not an expert. Just an average user, > wanting others to benefit from macs as well as windows pc's, whatever is best > for them. The fund is open to input, and I'd rather not let this opportunity > pass, now that they are listening. I don't want to favor the mac either. I > just want it to become an equal alternative, not suited for everyone, but > complementing the array of choices. > > Paul. > > -- > 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.
