On 26 September 2011 15:58, Vickram Crishna <[email protected]> wrote:
> I agree that it is a tragedy that the electronic hardware industry has done > so little to put DAISY capability into home entertainment machines. But it > should be a relatively easy job for a well-heeled audio entertainment > company, especially one owned by a European government (hint! hint!) to pay > for a hardworking Indian developer to develop a cross-platform app for > smartphones. You seem to be a good candidate for someone to test such an > app, by a curious stroke of good fortune. > Hint taken. But I'd rather work with UNESCO or one of the other UN agencies to develop a cross-platform app for smartphones; it's more their kind of thing. Let's discuss this off-line. > >> Which reminds me, why do audio books cost so much, when they are so much >> cheaper to replicate than paper books? >> > > They cost more because they usually involve the work of paid artistes to do > the reading. > I don't buy that. It costs a lot more to get an author to write a book than it costs to pay a voice artiste to read one. Yet print books are sold for as little as Rs.199, while audio books -- which cost very little to replicate -- are priced very high. It could be because of economies of scale, though. All the more reason it should be crowd-sourced and treated as a social enterprise, I agree. Considering that audio books are mostly used by visually handicapped people > -- not the wealthiest demographic -- this is more than unfair. > otoh, they are also used by elderly people, some of whom are not without > the odd penny or two left over, even as their lights grow dim. > Very true. I would also add 'print challenged' people (usually a fancy way of saying illiterate, in which case poverty is probably a given, and those with learning difficulties like dyslexia. The latter must be a small number, but among non-literates, we could count a surprising number of well-off people who speak one or more Indian languages fluently but cannot read or write them. A whole bunch of NRI kids would probably enjoy listening to Raag Darbari (the book). I wonder if the hardworking prison authorities mentioned in the article have > ever heard of SD cards? Last I heard, it is quite difficult to make a deadly > shiv from one. MicroSDs, even more difficult. I am not sure if this has much to do with their inability to keep up with technology. I thought of pen-drives myself, but I think the insistence on cassettes -- beyond the shiv factor -- has something to do with copyright and DRM issues. As the prison story suggests, publishers would prefer to sell audio tapes which, unlike digital files, are rather difficult to copy and pirate (unless, of course, you are one of India's more famous music companies). Sajan > >> Sajan >> >> On 26 September 2011 12:46, Krishnakant Mane <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> ** >>> Dear Sajan, >>> If not daisy we can at least have mp3 files made available which can be >>> as good as cassette tapes. >>> They are not just portable but ultra portable. >>> An mp3 player like the transend Tsonic are very very cheep, at times >>> cheeper than tape players. >>> Most blind people carry mobile phones where they can again play mp3. >>> Infact most mobiles now even play ogg. >>> Secondly it is also very difficult to learn from a tape because reading a >>> certain passage again and again needs precise rewinding and forwarding. >>> With the tapes it is not just inaccurate but also spoils the quality of >>> the tape and is tedious as well. >>> Happy hacking. >>> Krishnakant. >>> >>> >>> On 26/09/11 12:11, sajan venniyoor wrote: >>> >>> On 26 September 2011 11:55, Vickram Crishna <[email protected]> >>> <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> >>> If audio cassettes were distributed, has there been any attempt to source >>> DAISY compatible digifiles, or to create relevant source material using >>> DAISY? Are the Trustees of Bangalore University aware that the GoI has >>> signed a global commitment to ensuring digital access for persons with >>> disabilities >>> >>> >>> There are actually some very sound (pun not intended) reasons for using >>> audio cassettes and not digifiles. For instance, you can switch your tape >>> between a cassette player at school or work, on the move and at home without >>> losing your place in the text. I am sure DAISY compatible digifiles can be >>> bookmarked, but I think it needs some fairly specialized hardware and/or >>> software. Cassette players are still very cheap and plentiful. >>> >>> Sajan >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> (by 2012, as I understand it, so as good as already in the dustbin), and >>> that this is not Somebody Else's Problem, it is a problem for all of us to >>> work to solve together? Simply showing up at IGF will not sort out issues >>> such as this (OT - and maybe nothing else either). >>> >>> Just fyi, contributors to WIkipedia have developed apps for visually >>> impaired persons to access (read and edit, and this is not trivial) in >>> Malayalam. Work is on to extend this to other languages - in fact, it may >>> already have been done for some other languages. Of course, browser access >>> is not the same as screen reading, and I am reasonably well aware of the >>> differences, but it is a big deal. >>> >>> On Mon, Sep 26, 2011 at 9:54 AM, Krittika <[email protected]> >>> <[email protected]>wrote: >>> >>> >>> ** >>> http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/article2483818.ece >>> >>> Bangalore University reached out to 150 visually impaired students from 25 >>> of its affiliated colleges on Saturday by way of distributing free Braille >>> textbooks and audio cassettes to them. The beneficiaries appreciated the >>> move because all these years they had to depend on volunteers who would read >>> out the textbooks for them. Some of them would travel long distances to take >>> the help of non-governmental organisations which would format the reading >>> material using Braille for them. >>> >>> Besides distributing Braille textbooks, Vice-Chancellor N. Prabhu Dev >>> announced steps they would initiate to encourage more number of visually >>> impaired students to pursue their studies in the university. >>> >>> *The university will start a computer training and resource centre in >>> December. Under the project, computer training will be imparted free of cost >>> to the visually impaired students. JAWS Screen Reading software will be used >>> for the purpose. Once trained, students will be able to work on the Internet >>> and also use MS Office. * >>> >>> The other initiatives include establishing a help desk for the visually >>> impaired besides starting an electronic reading centre equipped with >>> text-reading machines, screen magnification software and video magnifying >>> units, and a Braille book production centre. . >>> >>> “In the next phase, we will have a career counselling and job placement >>> unit as well as distance education centre for the visually impaired,” >>> according to Bangalore University Vice-Chancellor N. Prabhu Dev. >>> >>> Mr. Prabhu Dev said that the soft copy of the Braille books were made >>> (mostly) by the Canara Bank Relief and Welfare Society (each page of the >>> master copy costs Rs. 25), while the hard copies were processed by the All >>> India Confederation of the Blind, New Delhi. >>> >>> Each textbook has been printed in two or three volumes. Bangalore >>> University funded the entire project. Students like Shilpa. S was both >>> delighted and relieved. Ms. Shilpa, a second-year B.Com student who scored >>> 74 per cent in her second semester, said Braille meant independence. “In my >>> first semester, I was in tears as I got my study material a week before my >>> exams. Thanks to my lecturer (Prasanna Udipikar, who is also the convenor of >>> Bangalore University's Braille Resource Centre), who recorded the material, >>> I managed to pass. ” >>> >>> Susheel Kumar, who is pursuing MA in Sociology, reiterated Ms. Shilpa's >>> views. “Life is much easier for us now as we will find the Braille books in >>> our library,” he said. >>> >>> -- >>> >>> -- >>> >>> *Krittika Vishwanath* >>> Research Associate >>> IT for Change >>> In special consultative status with the United Nations >>> ECOSOCwww.ITforChange.net >>> Skype id: krittika85 >>> Tel:+91-80-2665 4134, 2653 6890. Fax:+91-80-4146 1055 >>> Mobile: +91 9535321980 >>> >>> Read our Teacher's Communities of Learning project's blogs, lesson >>> plans and discussions here: http://bangalore.karnatakaeducation.org.in/ >>> >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> network mailing list >>> [email protected]http://lists.fosscom.in/listinfo.cgi/network-fosscom.in >>> >>> -- >>> Vickram >>> Fool On The Hill <http://communicall.wordpress.com> >>> <http://communicall.wordpress.com> >>> >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> network mailing >>> [email protected]http://lists.fosscom.in/listinfo.cgi/network-fosscom.in >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> network mailing >>> [email protected]http://lists.fosscom.in/listinfo.cgi/network-fosscom.in >>> >>> >>> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> network mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://lists.fosscom.in/listinfo.cgi/network-fosscom.in >> >> > > > -- > Vickram > Fool On The Hill <http://communicall.wordpress.com> > > > _______________________________________________ > network mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.fosscom.in/listinfo.cgi/network-fosscom.in > >
_______________________________________________ network mailing list [email protected] http://lists.fosscom.in/listinfo.cgi/network-fosscom.in
