I remember having no access to computers at all. My first acquaintance with a computer was using word star as there was no jaws etc. When I first started working, I had to use word perfect 5.1 before I got to use jaws 2.2 or whatever it was. I grew up at school with no computers, just a perkins braille machine and an electric typewriter.
Just for the record, I think I'm very lucky to have access to any kind of access technology as there are many people in the developing world who have no such thing. I am entitled to my opinions although they come over strong but I don't mean them too hence they can be interpreted the wrong way. I apologise if people have thought I have been unfair. Regards, Kawal. On Oct 25, 2012, at 3:55 PM, Ron Pelletier <[email protected]> wrote: > Kawal, > > It is not fare to make such statements based only on your experience. Were > you using all the available tools? Do you remember that, before JAWS and > such, there was no access to Skype at all. Do you remember that only a few > years ago there was no real access to Apple at all. Before this last sprint > of a few years ago, the only time I had some access to Apple was back in > the 80's using my Apple 2E and Street Electronics Echo synthesizer. After > that, Apple was off the map as far as accessibility for many years during > which we would have been up the creek without a paddle in a wire canoe had > it not been for guys like Ted Henter , Dean Blazi and all the others who > founded the companies who served us so well and continue to do so. Of > course, the prices were high because the production was very limited and > engineering time was expensive for such a limited market. During all these > years, did you see any of the big boys like Microsoft or Apple come to our > rescue? . > > I have been using Skype for many years and have not had any problems as long > as I kept up with the scripts from Doug Lee. His scripts were always so > easy to install and always kept up with the ever changing versions of Skype. > Just because a lot of developers today are more sensitive to the needs of > the blind, you have to remember the days when software companies could care > less about us and Skype was one of the worse ones. > > Just because Apple in the past few years has been coming out with fantastic > products is not a good reason to bash in any way the efforts made by others. > Maybe you can't remember that far back but, Had it not been for companies > like Freedom and GW Micro, thousands of blind and visually impaired people > would have had no jobs. And, while we are talking about GW Micro, do you > remember the series of "Talk" programs written by Doug Gioffrey in the early > 80's? I set up and maintained my piano tuning business using his series of > program written especially for us when there was no access at all to "off > the shelf software". > > I would urge you and many other users to be kind to the people who got us to > where we are and not make blanket statements without any foundation at all. > > Regards, > > Ron > &Danvers > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf > Of Kawal Gucukoglu > Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2012 8:56 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: Mac verses Ipad > > Well Seigard, > > We have to differ. Skype has come a long way on the Mac as there is a key > to hang up calls. You can also answer calls these days with ease and more. > > I remember using jaws with Skype, and would experience the following on a > daily basis. When trying to use Skype with jaws, my windows would > frequently crash, lose speech, so had to reboot by forcing the system to > shut down. At times, jaws would be sluggish. > > May be these days jaws is stable but I'd not touch it with Skype and for > that matter, Itunes was another thing I'd never touch again with jaws. > However, Skype is great on the I phone. > > Kawal. > > On Oct 25, 2012, at 12:58 PM, Sieghard Weitzel <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Hi Kawal, >> >> That is another blanket statement which is neither true nor has it >> ever been so. I have been using Skype for Windows since 2005 along >> with the Jaws scripts Doug Lee so generously makes available at no cost. >> >> I remember especially in those early years when a friend who had a Mac >> was always jealous because the Skype for Mac product was usually a >> couple of versions behind in terms of features although I assume that >> is maybe no longer the case. However, even last year a friend in >> Germany told me it was difficult to answer and hang up Skype calls on >> his Mac because there was no way to configure any shortcut keys for >> this. I found him a script for this or whatever those things are >> called on a Mac. He also told me you can't just dial a phone number on >> a website simply by pressing enter on it as you can in Windows browsers > like IE or Firefox. >> >> Keep in mind that Skype has been a Microsoft product for the last year >> or so and while they of course want as many people as possible to use >> Skype, there will be a lot more integration down the road with their >> products and services such as Office/Outlook, Hotmail/Outlook.com and > Office 365. >> >> >> Regards, >> Sieghard >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On >> Behalf Of Kawal Gucukoglu >> Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2012 3:03 AM >> To: [email protected] >> Subject: Re: Mac verses Ipad >> >> Skype on windows is crap, well it was when I last used it. Skype on >> the Mac is great. No scrips from jaws which used to crash every time. >> >> Kawal. >> >> On Oct 24, 2012, at 8:48 PM, Sieghard Weitzel <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> Hi David, >>> >>> You can find a thousand people who have a thousand good and bad >>> stories to tell about Windows, PC's and Macs. Yes, I have met plenty >>> of people who bought a Mac and hated it. You can also buy any laptop >>> and sometimes end up getting a lemon just like with any product. Just >>> as you have your story with your Sony and your MackBook Pro, I am >>> super impressed with my Acer TimeLineX Windows 7 laptop which I >>> bought for $700 and I spend an extra just under >>> $200 back last January to replace the 640 Gig hard drive with a 120 >>> Gig Intel SSD. This is a 15.4 inch laptop, it's not as slim and light >>> as a 15 inch MacBook Pro, but I also get close to 8 hours of battery >>> life and it has a beautiful keyboard with numeric pad. Due to the SSD >>> it boots Windows 7 in about 25 seconds, that's until Jaws is speaking >>> in the log-on screen. I have no problems having iTunes open, my Sonos >>> Controller, Outlook, several IE Windows, Skype in the background as >>> well as 2 or 3 other of my business related applications like my >>> point of >> sale, accounting software and Excel. >>> >>> Yes, I do pay $100 a y ear to be up-to-date with Jaws, but let's face >>> it, I used Windows XP for 8 years and never paid a penny to get any >>> updates, service 2 or service pack 3. More good news is that >>> Microsoft seems to be adopting a completely new pricing structure for >>> Windows 8 which I understand will cost something like $50, maybe a >>> bit more for the Pro version. In any case, I will definitely put >>> Windows 8 on one of my PC's to check it out, but as many businesses I >>> have no reason to upgrade my Windows 7 business desktops probably for >>> at least another 3 to 5 years, in fact, many larger companies still >>> happily run Windows XP which recently celebrated its 10 year >>> anniversary. Tell me if you can buy a new Mac now and install their >>> OS from >>> 10 years ago, it's my understanding that there is no way it will work >>> and of course there is no reason to do so if you are buying a new Mac. >>> But then again you won't find many large corporations and by that I >>> mean really big where fifty thousand computers are deployed which all >>> need to run some sort of legacy software and have to be backwards >> compatible. >>> >>> Don't get me wrong, I don't argue this way because I want to say >>> Windows and PC's are better than OSX and Macs, but the fact is that >>> if you compare Windows 7 and OSX both running on good hardware, both >>> are excellent solutions and everybody has to decide what is best for >>> him/her in their situation. Ron made a very good point and that is >>> that if you are working for an employer whose IT infrastructure is >>> all based on Windows and PC then that is what your reality is. >>> Whether you prefer to stick with that on a personal level or use a >>> Mac for personal use and deal with 2 very different systems that is >>> up to >> everybody to decide. >>> >>> >>> Regards, >>> Sieghard >>> >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the "VIPhone" >> Google Group. >>> To search the VIPhone public archive, visit >> http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/. >>> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> [email protected]. >>> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/viphone?hl=en. >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the "VIPhone" >> Google Group. >> To search the VIPhone public archive, visit >> http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/. >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> [email protected]. >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/viphone?hl=en. >> >> >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the "VIPhone" > Google Group. >> To search the VIPhone public archive, visit > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/. >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. >> For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/viphone?hl=en. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the "VIPhone" Google > Group. > To search the VIPhone public archive, visit > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/viphone?hl=en. > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the "VIPhone" Google > Group. > To search the VIPhone public archive, visit > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/viphone?hl=en. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the "VIPhone" Google Group. To search the VIPhone public archive, visit http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/viphone?hl=en.
