Re: [AI] interesting presentation on braille
Very rightly said. How can I know what Worth Trust is doing for cheaper Braille displays? - Original Message - From: Ketan Kothari muktake...@gmail.com To: manis...@gmail.com; accessindia@accessindia.org.in Sent: Tuesday, December 27, 2011 7:57 PM Subject: Re: [AI] interesting presentation on braille What an excellent and succinct presentation! I had an opportunity to listen to Kevin Carey in Ghana and he was as forthright as he is here. On the main topic, most of what Kevin says is true. I can vouch that it is more important that a child learns the language and reading skill rather than whether he learns contractions or not. Recently, in response to a litigation, Mumbai Municipal Corporation announced some jobs and the interviews and written tests were held at Mumbai. What I learnt was that the performance of candidates was appalling. They were not able to type correctly and spellings etc. were very bad to say the least. Most of them were not familiar with semantics etc. The reading habit amongst our boys and girls (even audio and E-books) is diminishing. This is a cause of concern. Braille needs to be promoted using Braille displays but situation in India is slightly different than in UK or other developped countries. Here, we do not have access to as many technological options as they do. We are still dependent on hard copies and marketting of Braille is not done properly by any organization. In fact, even those of us who learn Braille in schools tend to forget it as there is very little to read. Cheaper Braille displays is a very important option that needs to be promoted fast. Worth Trust is already experimenting on one such display and that should be out soon. Another point that needs to be kept in mind is that even when sighted people read computer they read and we listen. Our knowledge of spelling is extremely poor as is also evident from some of the mails that the list receives. Of course, we ignore these errors in favour of encouraging people to write rather than write correctly but we must remember that these same youngsters will then aspire for competitive jobs. I know that I have been tangential but this subject is a cause of great concern. May write something more in near future. - Original Message - From: Manish Agrawal manis...@gmail.com To: accessindia@accessindia.org.in Sent: Tuesday, December 27, 2011 5:03 PM Subject: [AI] interesting presentation on braille I came across this very interesting presentation on braille by Kevin Carey from RNIB. Apologies if this has been posted earlier. Having been a newbie very occasional braille reader for about 4 years now, I couldn't agree more with everything here, most of all the need for cheaper braille displays. start of document Can Braille Survive? by Kevin Carey Chair Royal National Institute of Blind People Presentation at World Congress Braille21 University of Leipzig Germany 27th - 30th September 2011 Abstract: If braille is to survive into the 21st Century, primarily as a down stream reading medium from the digitally distributed environment (currently the internet and the emerging cloud), it will have to re-invent itself as a mass medium, simpler, cheaper and easier to render. 1. Introduction We could hardly be in a better place than Leipzig, home of J.S. Bach, to begin a discussion of braille in the digital age because the first major commercial casualty of the internet was the 'big six' classical music recording companies; within a decade the profit on music sales radically shifted from the recording companies, who made their profits from distribution, to Apple's iTunes. The music industry, instead of understanding the new market of the early '90s, adopted a defensive strategy, was temporarily out-flanked by peer-to-peer sites like Napster, and then just capitulated to Apple which offered a mid-way point between their old hegemony and implosion from piracy. And as I speak now, this very moment, the profit margin on books is moving rapidly from contracting publishers, the print equivalent of recording companies, to Amazon, Kindle and Apple. Despite the valuable role of publishers in sorting out the aspirant wheat from the chaff, the distributors have had a strangle hold on publishing since the birth of book store chains and supermarkets; but today, more than ever, the digital distributors are going for high volume, low margin. Now whether you approve of this or not, the whole point of digital creation and consumption is that it radically cuts production and distribution costs. In other words, in the analogue age the producers of recording masters and print plates were rewarded for their investment with a big slice of the sales profit margin but as production costs have fallen the profit has been transferred from the producer to the distributor. In parallel with this, power has shifted from the publisher to the self publisher. Nowadays
Re: [AI] interesting presentation on braille
They are experimenting and I will keep the list informed as soon as I come to know. - Original Message - From: Amrit Pal Singh amritpa...@gmail.com To: accessindia@accessindia.org.in Sent: Friday, December 30, 2011 10:32 PM Subject: Re: [AI] interesting presentation on braille Very rightly said. How can I know what Worth Trust is doing for cheaper Braille displays? - Original Message - From: Ketan Kothari muktake...@gmail.com To: manis...@gmail.com; accessindia@accessindia.org.in Sent: Tuesday, December 27, 2011 7:57 PM Subject: Re: [AI] interesting presentation on braille What an excellent and succinct presentation! I had an opportunity to listen to Kevin Carey in Ghana and he was as forthright as he is here. On the main topic, most of what Kevin says is true. I can vouch that it is more important that a child learns the language and reading skill rather than whether he learns contractions or not. Recently, in response to a litigation, Mumbai Municipal Corporation announced some jobs and the interviews and written tests were held at Mumbai. What I learnt was that the performance of candidates was appalling. They were not able to type correctly and spellings etc. were very bad to say the least. Most of them were not familiar with semantics etc. The reading habit amongst our boys and girls (even audio and E-books) is diminishing. This is a cause of concern. Braille needs to be promoted using Braille displays but situation in India is slightly different than in UK or other developped countries. Here, we do not have access to as many technological options as they do. We are still dependent on hard copies and marketting of Braille is not done properly by any organization. In fact, even those of us who learn Braille in schools tend to forget it as there is very little to read. Cheaper Braille displays is a very important option that needs to be promoted fast. Worth Trust is already experimenting on one such display and that should be out soon. Another point that needs to be kept in mind is that even when sighted people read computer they read and we listen. Our knowledge of spelling is extremely poor as is also evident from some of the mails that the list receives. Of course, we ignore these errors in favour of encouraging people to write rather than write correctly but we must remember that these same youngsters will then aspire for competitive jobs. I know that I have been tangential but this subject is a cause of great concern. May write something more in near future. - Original Message - From: Manish Agrawal manis...@gmail.com To: accessindia@accessindia.org.in Sent: Tuesday, December 27, 2011 5:03 PM Subject: [AI] interesting presentation on braille I came across this very interesting presentation on braille by Kevin Carey from RNIB. Apologies if this has been posted earlier. Having been a newbie very occasional braille reader for about 4 years now, I couldn't agree more with everything here, most of all the need for cheaper braille displays. start of document Can Braille Survive? by Kevin Carey Chair Royal National Institute of Blind People Presentation at World Congress Braille21 University of Leipzig Germany 27th - 30th September 2011 Abstract: If braille is to survive into the 21st Century, primarily as a down stream reading medium from the digitally distributed environment (currently the internet and the emerging cloud), it will have to re-invent itself as a mass medium, simpler, cheaper and easier to render. 1. Introduction We could hardly be in a better place than Leipzig, home of J.S. Bach, to begin a discussion of braille in the digital age because the first major commercial casualty of the internet was the 'big six' classical music recording companies; within a decade the profit on music sales radically shifted from the recording companies, who made their profits from distribution, to Apple's iTunes. The music industry, instead of understanding the new market of the early '90s, adopted a defensive strategy, was temporarily out-flanked by peer-to-peer sites like Napster, and then just capitulated to Apple which offered a mid-way point between their old hegemony and implosion from piracy. And as I speak now, this very moment, the profit margin on books is moving rapidly from contracting publishers, the print equivalent of recording companies, to Amazon, Kindle and Apple. Despite the valuable role of publishers in sorting out the aspirant wheat from the chaff, the distributors have had a strangle hold on publishing since the birth of book store chains and supermarkets; but today, more than ever, the digital distributors are going for high volume, low margin. Now whether you approve of this or not, the whole point of digital creation and consumption is that it radically cuts production and distribution costs. In other words, in the analogue age the producers of recording masters
[AI] interesting presentation on braille
I came across this very interesting presentation on braille by Kevin Carey from RNIB. Apologies if this has been posted earlier. Having been a newbie very occasional braille reader for about 4 years now, I couldn't agree more with everything here, most of all the need for cheaper braille displays. start of document Can Braille Survive? by Kevin Carey Chair Royal National Institute of Blind People Presentation at World Congress Braille21 University of Leipzig Germany 27th - 30th September 2011 Abstract: If braille is to survive into the 21st Century, primarily as a down stream reading medium from the digitally distributed environment (currently the internet and the emerging cloud), it will have to re-invent itself as a mass medium, simpler, cheaper and easier to render. 1. Introduction We could hardly be in a better place than Leipzig, home of J.S. Bach, to begin a discussion of braille in the digital age because the first major commercial casualty of the internet was the 'big six' classical music recording companies; within a decade the profit on music sales radically shifted from the recording companies, who made their profits from distribution, to Apple's iTunes. The music industry, instead of understanding the new market of the early '90s, adopted a defensive strategy, was temporarily out-flanked by peer-to-peer sites like Napster, and then just capitulated to Apple which offered a mid-way point between their old hegemony and implosion from piracy. And as I speak now, this very moment, the profit margin on books is moving rapidly from contracting publishers, the print equivalent of recording companies, to Amazon, Kindle and Apple. Despite the valuable role of publishers in sorting out the aspirant wheat from the chaff, the distributors have had a strangle hold on publishing since the birth of book store chains and supermarkets; but today, more than ever, the digital distributors are going for high volume, low margin. Now whether you approve of this or not, the whole point of digital creation and consumption is that it radically cuts production and distribution costs. In other words, in the analogue age the producers of recording masters and print plates were rewarded for their investment with a big slice of the sales profit margin but as production costs have fallen the profit has been transferred from the producer to the distributor. In parallel with this, power has shifted from the publisher to the self publisher. Nowadays an aspiring author will prepare his eBook, invest in a print-on-demand deal and undertake his own internet marketing whereas in the analogue age, an author needed a publisher and a printer who would accept his or her work and invest in plate making or, in music, master recording. What has all this got to do with the present condition and future of braille? Before I answer these questions I want to insert a personal note. I began learning contracted English braille aged three and have used braille as my literary mainstay all my life, through primary and secondary school, through two universities, in employment, in writing my novels and in reading the works of other people. I have visited more than 30 braille printing presses in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and North and South America; I saw my first refreshable braille display in 1978 and my first computer driven braille embosser in 1979. I set up the first computer driven braille press outside the 'West' in Nairobi's Africa Braille Centre in 1987 and have represented RNIB on the Braille Authority of the United Kingdom. I say all this because when I deliver difficult messages, as I have for years, on the subject of braille, I am accused of not being committed to it, of not knowing what I'm talking about, or of being provocative. In this presentation I want to make some basic proposals which, I believe, are essential if braille is to survive as a vibrant literacy vehicle, under three headings . Production and consumption . Marketing and Promotion . Learning and Teaching. 2. Production and Consumption So what can we learn from the music and publishing industries: . First, that braille production has to be democratised. . Secondly, that the product needs to be cheap and easily consumed; and . Thirdly, the user interface, or consumption device, has to be cheap. . Democratisation. My story begins in Gangtok, the capital of the Indian State of Sikkim, where I saw five blind students hand-copy braille manuscripts using a stylus and frame, duplicating and then adding to the mistakes of their predecessors. It reminded me of the processes and collateral failures of the monastic manuscript copying system and it also asked the question most sharply posed in Umberto Eco's great book The Name of the Rose as to whether the purpose of the library was to protect books for the public or to protect books from the public. Braille has had a monastic tradition in the sense that its producers and
Re: [AI] interesting presentation on braille
What an excellent and succinct presentation! I had an opportunity to listen to Kevin Carey in Ghana and he was as forthright as he is here. On the main topic, most of what Kevin says is true. I can vouch that it is more important that a child learns the language and reading skill rather than whether he learns contractions or not. Recently, in response to a litigation, Mumbai Municipal Corporation announced some jobs and the interviews and written tests were held at Mumbai. What I learnt was that the performance of candidates was appalling. They were not able to type correctly and spellings etc. were very bad to say the least. Most of them were not familiar with semantics etc. The reading habit amongst our boys and girls (even audio and E-books) is diminishing. This is a cause of concern. Braille needs to be promoted using Braille displays but situation in India is slightly different than in UK or other developped countries. Here, we do not have access to as many technological options as they do. We are still dependent on hard copies and marketting of Braille is not done properly by any organization. In fact, even those of us who learn Braille in schools tend to forget it as there is very little to read. Cheaper Braille displays is a very important option that needs to be promoted fast. Worth Trust is already experimenting on one such display and that should be out soon. Another point that needs to be kept in mind is that even when sighted people read computer they read and we listen. Our knowledge of spelling is extremely poor as is also evident from some of the mails that the list receives. Of course, we ignore these errors in favour of encouraging people to write rather than write correctly but we must remember that these same youngsters will then aspire for competitive jobs. I know that I have been tangential but this subject is a cause of great concern. May write something more in near future. - Original Message - From: Manish Agrawal manis...@gmail.com To: accessindia@accessindia.org.in Sent: Tuesday, December 27, 2011 5:03 PM Subject: [AI] interesting presentation on braille I came across this very interesting presentation on braille by Kevin Carey from RNIB. Apologies if this has been posted earlier. Having been a newbie very occasional braille reader for about 4 years now, I couldn't agree more with everything here, most of all the need for cheaper braille displays. start of document Can Braille Survive? by Kevin Carey Chair Royal National Institute of Blind People Presentation at World Congress Braille21 University of Leipzig Germany 27th - 30th September 2011 Abstract: If braille is to survive into the 21st Century, primarily as a down stream reading medium from the digitally distributed environment (currently the internet and the emerging cloud), it will have to re-invent itself as a mass medium, simpler, cheaper and easier to render. 1. Introduction We could hardly be in a better place than Leipzig, home of J.S. Bach, to begin a discussion of braille in the digital age because the first major commercial casualty of the internet was the 'big six' classical music recording companies; within a decade the profit on music sales radically shifted from the recording companies, who made their profits from distribution, to Apple's iTunes. The music industry, instead of understanding the new market of the early '90s, adopted a defensive strategy, was temporarily out-flanked by peer-to-peer sites like Napster, and then just capitulated to Apple which offered a mid-way point between their old hegemony and implosion from piracy. And as I speak now, this very moment, the profit margin on books is moving rapidly from contracting publishers, the print equivalent of recording companies, to Amazon, Kindle and Apple. Despite the valuable role of publishers in sorting out the aspirant wheat from the chaff, the distributors have had a strangle hold on publishing since the birth of book store chains and supermarkets; but today, more than ever, the digital distributors are going for high volume, low margin. Now whether you approve of this or not, the whole point of digital creation and consumption is that it radically cuts production and distribution costs. In other words, in the analogue age the producers of recording masters and print plates were rewarded for their investment with a big slice of the sales profit margin but as production costs have fallen the profit has been transferred from the producer to the distributor. In parallel with this, power has shifted from the publisher to the self publisher. Nowadays an aspiring author will prepare his eBook, invest in a print-on-demand deal and undertake his own internet marketing whereas in the analogue age, an author needed a publisher and a printer who would accept his or her work and invest in plate making or, in music, master recording. What has all this got to do
