> Sounds like a piss poor excuse for a half baked product. Since voice stream > scanner came out, and Prizmo does a way better ob, they are looking for ways > to eep customers interested.
> On Apr 4, 2019, at 4:45 PM, Richard Turner <richardturne...@outlook.com> > wrote: > > > > The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have > any." -- Alice Walker > > > Begin forwarded message: > >> From: "Richard Turner" <richardturne...@outlook.com >> <mailto:richardturne...@outlook.com>> >> Date: April 4, 2019 at 2:34:36 PM PDT >> To: "blindpho...@groups.io <mailto:blindpho...@groups.io>" >> <blindpho...@groups.io <mailto:blindpho...@groups.io>> >> Subject: [blindphones] A note from NFB to the KNFB Reader list regarding >> KNFB Reader in response to all the traffic about Voice Dream Scanner and >> other apps >> Reply-To: blindpho...@groups.io <mailto:blindpho...@groups.io> >> >> >> I thought it was only fair to share what the NFB sent out since the topic >> has been covered on several lists. >> Below is a message from Scott White: >> Subject: [Reader-users] A note from the National federation of the Blind >> >> Dear List Members, >> >> This is Scott White, Director of Sponsored Technology Programs for the >> National Federation of the Blind. I want to write to you today to address >> some of the concerns that have been expressed on the list regarding the >> performance of the KNFB Reader product and the responsiveness of the >> customer service. We regret that there is frustration around the product and >> wish to express the fact that we are listening even if you do not feel you >> are getting satisfactory information. We hope this note helps address some >> of the concerns and outlines some of the future steps. >> >> Those of you who attend conventions of the National Federation of the Blind >> are well aware that the technology behind the KNFB Reader and KNFB Reader >> Enterprise products are owned by the KNFB Reader LLC which is a wholly owned >> subsidiary of the National Federation of the Blind. This has been the case >> since 2015. The KNFB Reader LLC has no intention of selling the technology >> to anyone and would never do so without public disclosure to the National >> Federation of the Blind. >> >> The KNFB Reader LLC has a partnership agreement with Sensotec NV to develop, >> promote, and support the KNFB Reader line of products. This agreement has >> been in place since 2015 and has never changed. Since 2015, the KNFB Reader >> LLC has received in-kind support from the National Federation of the Blind. >> Were it not for that support, the product would have disappeared from the >> market two years ago. Despite a number of pressures, the National Federation >> of the Blind has insisted that the price of the KNFB Reader not be raised >> and has urged steep discounts in the product when opportunities arose to do >> so. >> >> As you are well aware, a number of new innovations have happened in the >> marketplace for access to information. This was stimulated by the creation >> of KNFB Reader, going back to the early part of the century when the >> National Federation of the Blind and Ray Kurzweil sought to bring scan and >> read technology to portable devices-first, a dedicated device and later, >> smart phones. The KNFB Reader LLC has attempted to continue development of >> the product even though there have been limited dollars for further >> development. In 2018, the National Federation of the Blind announced that it >> intended to put the core technology of the KNFB Reader into the NFB-NEWSLINE >> mobile application and distribute that free to all blind people. That move >> is a significant investment on behalf of the National Federation of the >> Blind since it will continue to require development and licensing of >> technologies to maintain the technical components inside the NFB-NEWSLINE >> mobile user interface. This also means that the core technology would be >> freely available to every blind person in the United States. >> >> While the intent has been to continue to maintain a paid version of KNFB >> Reader, the aggressive development of other products in the marketplace and >> declining sales of the KNFB Reader product have made it difficult to >> accelerate progress timelines with our development partner. We recognize >> that performance improvements are not where our customers would like them to >> be. We are re-evaluating our strategy and assessing what we can do to make >> those needed improvements. >> >> For anyone that needs KNFB Reader or KNFB Reader Enterprise tech support, >> they should send their concern to >> supp...@knfbreader.com >> <mailto:supp...@knfbreader.com><mailto:supp...@knfbreader.com >> <mailto:supp...@knfbreader.com>>. When you send your >> concern to that address, it is automatically entered into our ticket >> tracking system for resolution. We are examining our procedures to determine >> where support items are getting dropped. You can be assured that common >> feature requests or improvement suggestions are well documented in our >> system. >> >> The National Federation of the Blind is proud that we have been the >> innovators of reading technology for the blind from the start with the >> original Kurzweil Reading Machine in the 1970s to the mobile platforms in >> recent years. Our goal has not been to be a technology company. Our goal has >> been to stimulate the marketplace to develop solutions where inadequate >> innovations exist. We believe that this has been the case with the >> significant investments the National Federation of the Blind has made in the >> KNFB Reader line of products. If there continue to be gaps in the market, it >> is our job as an organization to determine how to lead innovation in those >> places and then let the market take it to a mature level of development. A >> more recent example of this was the National Federation of the Blind's role >> in the Transforming Braille Group which was established to stimulate low >> cost Braille display technologies. Now a number of products are emerging on >> the market that have the promise of revolutionizing the way refreshable >> Braille is delivered. We continue to need the help of members of the >> Federation to determine where those gaps are and how we will provide >> leadership in those spaces. >> >> Thank you to each of you for continuing to be passionate about creating >> equal access to information and to raising expectations for the technologies >> we use. >> >> Scott White >> Director of Sponsored Technology Programs >> 200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, MD 21230 >> (410) 659-9314, extension 2231 | email: swh...@nfb.org >> <mailto:swh...@nfb.org> >> >> > > > -- > The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. > > If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if > you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or > moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. > > Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: > mk...@ucla.edu. Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at > caraqu...@caraquinn.com > > The archives for this list can be searched at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/ > <http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/> > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "VIPhone" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com > <mailto:viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com>. > To post to this group, send email to viphone@googlegroups.com > <mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com>. > Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/viphone > <https://groups.google.com/group/viphone>. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout > <https://groups.google.com/d/optout>. -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: mk...@ucla.edu. Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at caraqu...@caraquinn.com The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to viphone@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/viphone. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
