Last year a computer programmer from northern California told me he knows several folks at Apple. According to him, one of the programmers has a family member who is blind or visually impaired. That is probably a more likely motivation for the beginnings of accessibility than one of Steve's personal visions. If Jobs didn't like it, I'm sure he could have ended it.
I liked the story about the first iMac with the button for a CD tray instead of the slot Steve expected. The product launch was almost cancelled. Kristyn On Oct 30, 2011, at 9:29 PM, Brian Miller wrote: > Hi all, > I actually don't think Jobs was as market driven in the classic sense -- I > think he had a much more idiosyncratic commitment to his own vision, > believing that the rest of the world would find it interesting if he did > too. I think he was about quality interfacing with the product, and that > the kinds of products he created were meant to be, and are, paradigm > changers -- Del computer, I think is a classic market driven model... > Maximize market share by competitive pricing and driving down costs > relentlessly. Gateway too was like that. Apple is not that way in my > opinion... Macs and OS are still, what, at best 10% of the market, compared > to PCs and Microsoft platforms. Nevertheless, Jobs, through Apple, changed > everything around this. > > This is why I think the Voice Over is much less a market decision than a > product of the overall Jobs vision. His adoptive father taught him to make > the fence look nice, even on the side that no one would see. That's not > market economics, that aesthetics, and a different approach entirely to the > classic model. > > Just my thoughts... Who knows? > > It will be interesting to finally get the full story about Apple and > accessibility. Let's remember that Apple promised much, and delivered > little, until suddenly it delivered everything. > > Brian M > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Karen Lewellen > Sent: Sunday, October 30, 2011 8:03 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: steve Jobs in 1994. > > Hi, > Just a couple of comments, I have not read the bio yet. Still the book is > not a history of apple computers. Instead its a bio from a father to his > children so they understand him and why he made the time choices he did. > As for Jobs involvement inaccessibility, bare in mind that there have been > exactly two and only two screen readers for the mac, outspoken and > voiceover. for years outspoken did the job, and Jobs was intense about the > proprietary nature of Apple. That is why they were so expensive, and that > was /is why they are built largely like tanks. Nothing went into a mac that > he did not want there, end of story. No matter his motives, he saw a market > and built for that market. the market has been here for years, but no one > saw it that way. > just my two cents, > Karen > > On Sun, 30 Oct 2011, Ben Mustill-Rose wrote: > >> Hi, >> >> Thats true, but he would have done the exact same for any other >> feature of iOs - that won't have been exclusive to accessibility. I'm >> not saying that he didn't care about it all, but people talking about >> him as if he was some sort of missionary is a bit over the top imo; he >> won't have made voiceover out of the good of his heart, he will have >> done it because there was a market that the iPhone hadn't entered. >> I do agree that they've done an amazing job with vo and I find it >> quite ironic that arguably the best phone for a blind person to >> purchase is one with a touch screen. >> >> On 30/10/2011, Joanne Chua <[email protected]> wrote: >>> Hi, >>> >>> Another arguement i have from some other sources are that, >>> considering how "hand on" person he is, won't be surprise if he has a >>> major impack on their accessibility. >>> >>> Regardless, does it matter? After all, come to the products, and the >>> products are useful, accessible, and become an essential in our life. >>> >>> Considering how much Apple take on their Grapic approach, and how >>> much it can be also accessible, that prove something isn't it? After >>> all, who would have thought, graphics and accessibility can go >>> together hand in hand. 5 years ago, if you are blind, and tell >>> someone that you want a totally touch phone they think you insane too. >>> >>> I wonder what sort of biography will people like founders of Freedom >>> Scientific, Humanware, GWMicro, and so on gotta write? "Provide less >>> than satisfy accessible product, and sucking every bit of your money >>> out of your bank"? >>> >>> On 30/10/2011, Ben Mustill-Rose <[email protected]> wrote: >>>> Hi, >>>> >>>> There wasn't any mention of accessibility in the biography at all, >>>> but then again, hardly any of the individual features of osx or iOs >>>> were mentioned iether. >>>> The opinion that I have is that whilst he probably had little to no >>>> involvement in accessibility, its because of him that it works so >>>> well >>>> - he probably saw a few bits here and there and gave them his >>>> blessing or dismissed them. >>>> >>>> On 30/10/2011, Ricardo Walker <[email protected]> wrote: >>>>> Hi, >>>>> >>>>> I didn't read the book yet but, How much did Jobs really have to do >>>>> with making Apple products accessible? I mean, was he like >>>>> overseeing the maturation process of voiceover like IOS or OSX? >>>>> >>>>> Ricardo Walker >>>>> [email protected] >>>>> Twitter & Skype: rwalker296 >>>>> www.mobileaccess.org >>>>> >>>>> On Oct 29, 2011, at 5:25 PM, Anne Robertson wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> I've just read the biography, too. I'm amazed he lived as long as >>>>>> he did. >>>>>> >>>>>> I also think the author was a bit harsh, pointing out that Steve >>>>>> Jobs wasn't into philanthropy - for me, he went one better, he >>>>>> aimed to make Apple products accessible to everyone. That attitude >>>>>> is much less patronising! >>>>>> >>>>>> Cheers, >>>>>> >>>>>> Anne >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> On 29 Oct 2011, at 22:32, Ben Mustill-Rose wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>>> I've finished his biography; it wasn't light reading but it was >>>>>>> very interesting and I'm glad I read it. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> On 29/10/2011, Nektarios Mallas <[email protected]> wrote: >>>>>>>> That was great reading! Thanks for posting. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Nektarios. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> -- >>>>>>>> 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. >>>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> -- >>>>>> 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. >>>>> >>>>> >>>> >>>> -- >>>> 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. >>> >>> >> >> -- >> 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. > > -- > 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. > Kristyn Leigh Sent from my mini Mac [email protected] -- 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.
