Richard, I agree one hundred percent with you on this -- but as you say, this is true, and there should be simple technology available, for people both sighted and blind, from all mainstream carriers. Any benefit from something like Odin Mobile must be balanced against its potential for harm, and I firmly believe these types of "specialized" companies do more harm than good. Christine
On Jun 7, 2013, at 1:15 PM, Richard Ring <richr...@gmail.com> wrote: > I am not, I repeat I am not in favor of a special carrier dedicated to people > who happen to be blind. However, having spent many years dealing with people > from all walks of life with varying degrees of technological savvy, I do wish > a mainstream carrier would bring forth a relatively simple phone that would > allow the user to make calls, maintain a list of contacts, and send and > receive text messages. The Haven from Verizon was such a phone. > I believe that some of us fail to realize that there are many people both > sighted and blind who might benefit from simplicity! > I personally love my iPhone, and all that it allows me to do, but I don't > wish to become so immersed in technology that I fail to realize that complex > smart phones are not for everyone. > When you deal with people who are not on your particular technological level, > the issues become different. > My wish is that for those who are either blind or suffering from severe > vision loss that there be a fairly uncomplicated, mainstream accessible phone. > That makes far more sense to me than having a special carrier. > > > You can have an off day, but you can't have a day off! ---The Art of Fielding > Sent from my Mac Book Pro > richr...@gmail.com > > On Jun 7, 2013, at 11:50 AM, Donna Goodin <doniado...@me.com> wrote: > >> But preference in this case doesn't justify the potential loss for the rest >> of us who don't want to take the easy way out. also, I don't buy the >> preference argument in situations like this. If all my life everyone has >> always waited on me and I've never been expected to learn to do anything for >> myself, of course my preference will be that that would continue. But it >> certainly isn't in my best interest to live my life that way, because at >> some point, someone isn't going to do everything for me and if I haven't >> developed the skills I need, I won't be equipped to stand on my own two feet >> when the time comes. >> Cheers, >> Donna >> On Jun 7, 2013, at 11:40 AM, "Michael Babcock, Marketing and Sales Manager, >> Commtech LLC" <michael.babcoc...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> This is also a preference thing. For example, I was researching other >>> carriers yesterday, and a particular carrier Lightyear wireless kept >>> popping up. I honestly don't even know what they are, it looks like some >>> pyramid scheme program, however, I do know that there are probably some >>> people out there because again it kept coming up. So, it's up to the >>> individual who wants to use it, and I do think it would be a. Interesting >>> program to monitor, and see how well it does. I also do like the fact that >>> it states that 2% of the voice plans will go to organizations that support >>> the blind, so it would be interesting to see which organizations those are, >>> and if those organizations are behind this network! >>> AT&T offers a disability number, I don't have it on hand. I am pretty sure >>> that Verizon does as well, and I know Sprint customer service individuals >>> have documentation about accessibility. So, three of the four major >>> carriers I am pretty sure have access to accessibility information. It is >>> up to the customer service representative whether or not they want to >>> actually research the questions that a blind or visually impaired >>> individual might have. This particular carrier, should consider marketing >>> the fact that they have customer service individuals trained in the >>> knowledge of accessibility options on mobile devices, and that way there >>> not solely advertising to the blind or visually impaired or disabled >>> market. Just my two cents honestly! Sorry if this upsets anyone. >>> Michael >>> >>> Michael Babcock >>> Marketing and Sales Manager >>> Commtech LLC >>> Web: http://commtechusa.net >>> phone: (888) 351-5289 Ext. 704 >>> Fax: (480) 535-7649 >>> >>> On Jun 7, 2013, at 10:27 AM, Christine Grassman <cgrassman1...@gmail.com> >>> wrote: >>> >>>> That's fine -- but we should be able to call such a carrier on any phone >>>> we wish, not proprietary phones for that carrier especially. Also, there >>>> could still be a company, web site, etc., which specializes in this sort >>>> of help, without giving the false impression that a specific carrier must >>>> be set aside for us. In my experience, Apple has always been able to find >>>> someone who knew about VoiceOver enough to help, or the rep researched it >>>> and got back to me. I would be willing to stake money that sighted people >>>> have called Apple or other companies, and have spoken to reps who needed >>>> to do some research on a particular issue. Few reps are familiar with >>>> every possible bug, every technical glitch, tip, shortcut, or >>>> troubleshooting strategy. >>>> Christine >>>> >>>> On Jun 7, 2013, at 12:19 PM, "Michael Babcock, Marketing and Sales >>>> Manager, Commtech LLC" <michael.babcoc...@gmail.com> wrote: >>>> >>>>> I think we all are looking at this the completely wrong way! Look at it >>>>> from this point of view, you're able to dial 611 from your phone, because >>>>> somehow you disabled speech on your iPhone. However, in the current time, >>>>> if we dialed 611 and STA just how we would be able to enable speech on >>>>> our iOS device again, they might ask us what we are talking about, or >>>>> transfer us around to a myriad of different individuals who still don't >>>>> know what we're talking about. However, if a blind person is able to pick >>>>> up his phone, dial 611, and receive assistive technology assistance, this >>>>> might be more beneficial to him. In addition, there are several smaller >>>>> carriers out there, especially running on the T-Mobile network, like this >>>>> one appears to do. Just something to think about, imagine being able to >>>>> call customer service, and getting assistance using jaws to read that >>>>> bill, or voiceover, on your new iPhone especially if you're brand-new >>>>> customer. >>>>> >>>>> Michael Babcock >>>>> Marketing and Sales Manager >>>>> Commtech LLC >>>>> Web: http://commtechusa.net >>>>> phone: (888) 351-5289 Ext. 704 >>>>> Fax: (480) 535-7649 >>>>> >>>>> On Jun 7, 2013, at 9:54 AM, Mike Arrigo <n0...@charter.net> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> We really don't, especially with the out of box accessibility that is >>>>>> provided by IOS and Android. There's simply no need for specialty phones. >>>>>> Original message: >>>>>>> Does anyone know anything about these phones or this project? Seems >>>>>>> pretty pointless if you want more than just a phone, and the full range >>>>>>> of experiences available to the sighted on any mobile carrier. Why on >>>>>>> earth do we need a special phone carrier? Separate and marginalized, >>>>>>> rather than expecting to be included in available services. >>>>>> >>>>>>> Christine >>>>>>> http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/05/odin-mobile-first-mobile-service-provider-for-the-visually-impaired/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget >>>>>> >>>>>>> -- >>>>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>>>> Groups "MacVisionaries" group. >>>>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>>>>> an email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>>>>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >>>>>>> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. >>>>>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >>>>>> >>>>>> -- >>>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>>> Groups "MacVisionaries" group. >>>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>>>> an email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>>>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >>>>>> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. >>>>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>>>> "MacVisionaries" group. >>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >>>>> email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >>>>> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. >>>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >>>>> >>>>> >>>> >>>> -- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>>> "MacVisionaries" group. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >>>> email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >>>> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. >>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >>>> >>>> >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>> "MacVisionaries" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >>> email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >>> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. >>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >>> >>> >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "MacVisionaries" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >> >> > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "MacVisionaries" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. 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