I really like the philosophy stated below, and am trying to implement it
wherever possible. I have concerns about the accuracy of some of the
statements, but I know what he is saying about clinging to legacy
solutions. I work for the Federal government, and we are still using
Windows XP, and only migrated recently from IE 6 to 7.
Andy
-----Original Message-----
From: gps-talkusers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:gps-talkusers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Cheree Heppe
Sent: Tuesday, March 02, 2010 12:01 AM
To: gps-talkusers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [gps-talkusers] what do you think about this
(Begin forwarded message)
Subject: [leadership] Serotek declares war on the traditional
adaptivetechnology industry and their blind ghetto products
This is no warm fuzzy of a read, but something well worth the read and
in my
opinion long over due. Kudos to SeroTek.
Richard
***
Cited from http://blog.serotek.com/
The Serotek Ultimatum
Serotek declares war on the traditional adaptive technology industry
and
their blind ghetto products. With this announcement we are sending out
a
call to arms to every blind person and every advocate for the blind to
rise
up and throw off the tyranny that has shaped our lives for the past
two
decades. It is a tyranny of good intentions - or at least what began
as good
intentions. But as the proverb says, "the road to hell is paved with
good
intentions." And for the past two decades the technologies originally
conceived to give us freedom have been our shackles. They have kept us
tied
down to underperforming, obscenely expensive approaches that only a
small
percentage of blind people can afford or master. They have shackled us
to
government largess and the charity of strangers to pay for what few
among us
could afford on our own. And we have been sheep, lead down the path,
bleating from time to time, but without the vision or the resources to
stand
up and demand our due.
That time is past.
We stand today on the very edge of universal accessibility. Mainstream
products like the iPod, iPhone, and newly announced iPad are fully
accessible out of the box. And they bring with them a wealth of highly
desirable accessibility applications. The cost to blind people is
exactly
the same as the cost to sighted people. It's the same equipment, the
same
software, the same functionality, and fully accessible.
What Apple has done, others are doing as well. The adaptive technology
vendor who creates hardware and software that is intended only for
blind
folks, and then only if they are subsidized by the government, is a
dinosaur. The asteroid has hit the earth, the dust cloud is
ubiquitous, the
dinosaur's days are numbered.
But dinosaurs are huge, and their extinction does not happen
overnight..
Even as they die, they spawn others like them (take the Intel Reader
for
example). Thank you, no. Any blind person can have full accessibility
to any
type of information without the high-cost, blind-ghetto gear. They can
get
it in the same products their sighted friends are buying. But let's
face it;
if we keep buying that crap and keep besieging our visual resource
center to
buy that crap for us, the dinosaurs of the industry are going to keep
making
it. Their profit margins are very good indeed. And many have invested
exactly none of that profit in creating the next generation of access
technology, choosing instead to perpetuate the status quo. For
instance,
refreshable braille technology, arguably the most expensive
blindness-specific(and to many very necessary) product has not changed
significantly in 30 years. Yet, the cost remains out of reach for most
blind
people. Where's the innovation there? Why have companies not invested
in
cheaper, faster, smaller, and more efficient ways to make refreshable
braille? Surely the piezoelectric braille cell is not the only way?
And what
about PC-based OCR software? It's still around a thousand dollars per
license, yet core functionality hasn't changed much; sure, we get all
sorts
of features not at all related to reading, along with incremental
accuracy
improvements, but why are these prices not dropping either, especially
when
you consider that comparable off-the-shelf solutions like Abby
Finereader
can be had for as low as $79? ? And let's not forget the screen reader
itself, the core technology that all of us need to access our
computers in
the first place. Do we see improvements, or just an attempt to mimic
innovation with the addition of features which have nothing to do with
the
actual reading of the screen, while maintaining the same ridiculous
price
point.
This maintaining of the status quo will, inevitably, face an enormous
crash,
worse than the transition from DOS to Windows based accessibility. You
can
expect a technology crash that will put users of the most expensive
accessibility gear out of business.
Why? I won't bore you with all the technical details, but the basic
story is
that some of these products have been kept current with patches and
fixes
and partial rewrites and other tricks we IT types use when we haven't
got
the budget to do it right, but we need to make the product work with
the
latest operating system. That process of patching and fixing creates
an
enormous legacy barrier that makes it impossible to rewrite without
abandoning all who came before. But you can only keep a kluge working
for so
long before it will crumble under its own weight. That, my friends, is
exactly where some of the leading adaptive technology vendors find
themselves today.
There are exceptions. Serotek is an exception because we have
completely
recreated our product base every three years. GW Micro is an exception
because they built their product in a highly modular fashion and can
update
modules without destroying the whole. KNFB is an exception because
they take
advantage of off-the-shelf technologies, which translate ultimately
into
price drops and increased functionality.
But even we who have done it right are on a path to obsolescence. The
fundamental need for accessibility software is rapidly beginning to
vanish.
The universal accessibility principles we see Apple, Microsoft,
Olympus, and
others putting in place are going to eliminate the need for these
specialty
products in a matter of just a very few years.
Stop and think. Why do you need accessibility tools? To read text?
E-book
devices are eliminating that need. None of them are perfect yet, but
we are
really only in the first generation. By Gen2 they will all be fully
accessible. To find your way? GPS on your iPhone or your Android based
phone
will do that for you. To take notes? Easy on any laptop, netbook, or
iPad.
Heck, you can record it live and play it back at your convenience.
Just what
isn't accessible? You can play your music, catch a described video,
scan a
spreadsheet, take in a PowerPoint presentation - all using
conventional,
off-the-shelf systems and/or software that is free of charge.
There are still some legacy situations where you need to create an
accessibility path. Some corporations still have internal applications
that
do not lend themselves to modern devices. There will certainly be
situations
where a specialized product will better solve an accessibility problem
than
a mainstream one, especially in the short term. We don't advocate
throwing
the baby out with the bathwater, but we do advocate that we begin to
hasten
the inevitable change by using accessible mainstream solutions
wherever
possible. Even now, the leading edge companies are reinventing their
internal systems with accessibility as a design criteria, so the
situations
that require specialized products will certainly become fewer as time
goes
on.
If our current Assistive technology guard's reign is coming to an end,
why
the war? Why not just let it die its own, natural, inevitable death?
Because
nothing dies more slowly than an obsolete technology. Punch cards hung
on
for twenty or thirty years after they were completely obsolete. The
same is
true for magnetic tape. Old stuff represents a comparatively large
investment, and people hate to throw away something they paid a lot of
money
for even if it's currently worthless. But that legacy stuff obscures
the
capabilities of the present. It gets used in situations where other
solutions are cheaper and more practical. The legacy stuff clogs the
vocational rehab channel, eating up the lion's share of the resources
but
serving a tiny portion of the need. It gets grandfathered into
contracts. It
gets specified when there is no earthly reason why the application
requires
it. The legacy stuff slows down the dawning of a fully accessible
world.
It hurts you and it hurts me.
To be sure, I make my living creating and selling products that make
our
world accessible. But first and foremost, I am a blind person. I am
one of
you. And every day I face the same accessibility challenges you face.
I have
dedicated my life and my company to making the world more accessible
for all
of us, but I can't do it alone. This is a challenge that every blind
person
needs to take up. We need to shout from the rooftops: "Enough!"
We need to commit ourselves in each and every situation to finding and
using
the most accessible off the shelf tool and/or the least-cost, highest
function accessibility tool available. With our dollars and our
commitment
to making known that our needs and the needs of sighted people are 99%
the
same, we can reshape this marketplace. We can drive the dinosaurs into
the
tar pits and nurture those cute fuzzy little varmints that are
ancestors to
the next generation. We can be part of the solution rather than part
of the
problem.
And all it takes is getting the best possible solution for your
specific
need. Once you have found the solution to fill that need, let the
company
know you appreciate their work towards better accessibility. Let your
friends (sighted and blind) know about these accessibility features;
they
probably don't know that such features exist.
Make your needs known to the vocational rehab people you are working
with,
and don't allow them to make recommendations for a specific technology
for
no other reason than that it's been in the contract for years. Make
sure
your schools and your workplace understand the need to push technology
in to
the accessible space. Show them the low-cost alternatives. In this
economy
some, the intelligent ones, will get it and the tide will begin to
turn.
And then in short order the tsunami of good sense will wash away the
old,
and give us the space to build a more accessible world for all of us.
Let
the demand ring out loud and clear and the market will follow.
If this message rings true to you, don't just shake your fist in
agreement
and leave it at that. let your voice be heard! Arm yourself with the
vision
of a future where there are no social, conceptual, or economic
barriers to
accessibility, and let your words and your actions demonstrate that
you will
not rest until that vision is realized. Take out your wallet and let
your
consumer power shine! You do mater as a market people! You have kept
this
company alive with your money for 8 years this month! I believe that
if we
all get together and do our part, we will finally say "NO more!" same
old
same old! Join the revolution! Together we can change the world!
Posted by Mike Calvo at 2:15 PM 3 comments facebook Add to
del.icio.us
Labels: Accessibility Is A Right, Apple, Blind Ghetto, community,
disruptive
technology, GW Micro, Intel, Mike Calvo, rant, Serotek, System Access,
Unive
(End forwarded message)
To change your email settings (unsubscribe, digest only, or vacation
mode):
http://senderogroup.com/social_media/email.htm
Additionally, to unsubscribe send an email to
gps-talkusers-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with "unsubscribe" in the Subject.
To change your email settings (unsubscribe, digest only, or vacation
mode):
http://senderogroup.com/social_media/email.htm
Additionally, to unsubscribe send an email to
gps-talkusers-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with "unsubscribe" in the Subject.