Hi Richard, But what you're proposing is very different from the special phone, special carrier thing. *Everybody, sighted or blind, should have the right to choose the type of phone they want, and of course there are blind individuals who would not choose a smart phone, just as there are sighted individuals who would make that same choice. Having the option of a plain, simple phone on a regular carrier such as VZ, ATT, etc. is a very different thing from having a blind-only phone on a blind-only carrier. Cheers, Donna On Jun 7, 2013, at 12:15 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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