Re: the Papenmeir device that was supposed to be coming out

[Brent Harding <bharding@doorpi.net>]

Well, suppose the interface they give you, they have to program some and
put things together. I think a lot of it is companies know that
organizations exist with money to help get us the technology, sometimes. 
Oh yes, linux is the only OS we can install ourself without CD keys.
At 05:34 PM 11/13/01 -0500, you wrote:
>I don't buy it. Once upon a time Kurzweil scanning systems cost $10,000 
>U.S. My employer, American Foundation for the Blind, worked with Kurzweil 
>to develop a loan program whereby blind people could buy this wonderful 
>technology. Fortunately, before we issued very many $10K loans, Arkenstone 
>came along at about $5,000. Immediately, Kurzweil figured out how to sell 
>its systems at the lower price. Of course, this was many years ago, but I 
>don't believe things have changed that muhc.
>
>For years, Blazie was the only game in town. So, they sold and sold, and 
>neglected to innovate. Thus, today's Blazie based devices are still little 
>more than mid-1980's technologies. Yet there prices have not dropped. 
>Regretably, the newer crop of devices seem to prefer holding the line on 
>price. I don't accept that. It's a travesty, in my view, as proven by the 
>Blazie folks who managed to get a couple of company Lear jets before 
>selling to Freedom Scientific for $15 Million.
>
>I've heard this all before, but what's so darned proprietary in these 
>products? The processors? Heck no. The memory? No, again. Perhaps the 
>ethernet and modem and parallel ports? No, again. Maybe the software? Not 
>speakup, which is free, or brltty, which is free, nor the os, which is 
>free, nor, likely, most of software inside the unit. 
>
>So, I'm left with the box itself and its keys, and the marketing. But, the 
>parts involved cost less, and the price hasn't come down. That's wrong, 
>just plain wrong.
> On Tue, 13 Nov 2001, A. R. Vener wrote:
>
>> 
>> Janina,
>> 
>> He gave you one. Assistive technology aims for a low quantity 
>> market.  If there were milions of blind people pounding on the
>> doors to buy this product, competition would pick up, prices would drop
>> and market forces would determine the cost.  This doesn't happen
>> with assistive technology. The market is small, the prices must
>> be set to allow the small customer base (which is businesses and
>> rehab programs, NOT the end user) to cover research and development
>> costs, marketing costs, business overhead and a profit.  
>> 
>> Yes, that ugly old P word. Much as some people gnash their teeth and
>> raise their voices in fury, nonetheless profit is the only real market
>> motivator that allows assistive hardware technology to be developed.
>> 
>> There's a lot that goes into any commercial product. The fact that they
>> use Linux probably helps keep the price down, but there are still
>> software development costs, hardware development costs, packaging costs,
>> marketing costs, administrative costs.   
>> 
>> This isn't Woz and Jobs in their garage selling a hand made 
>> gizmo that they packed into an aluminum hobby box they got from
>> radio shack. It is a commercial product that required physical design,
electrical
>> design, UL Lab testing, FCC Class B RF emission certification, marketing
>> support, administration support, engineering supprot and so forth and
>> so on.  All of it pricey. All of it having to be recovered from sales. 
>> 
>> And not very many sales at that.  
>> 
>> Computer prices have done down because they sell in the
>> tens of millions, even hundreds of millions these days. 
>> 
>> This product is not going to sell a million.
>> 
>> 
>> Rudy
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On Tue, Nov 13, 2001 at 04:23:48PM -0500, Janina Sajka wrote:
>> > Tommy, wait a minute here, computers cost less today across the board.
If 
>> > we believe what you say, that we get what we pay for, then they should
be 
>> > poorer computers, not more powerful ones. This just isn't the case.
>> > 
>> > So, why are computer prices coming down everywhere except assistive 
>> > technology, where they're going up? I understand about refreshable
braille 
>> > displays. I don't understand at all about the rest of it. The 
>> > Papenmeier/Alva web page points out that much linux software is free or 
>> > low cost. So, are you guys packaging free software and charging more for 
>> > it? Please, this price needs an honest explanation.
>> > 
>> 
>> 
>> 
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>
>-- 
>	
>				Janina Sajka, Director
>				Technology Research and Development
>				Governmental Relations Group
>				American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)
>
>Email: janina@afb.net		Phone: (202) 408-8175
>
>Chair, Accessibility SIG
>Open Electronic Book Forum (OEBF)
>http://www.openebook.org
>
>Will electronic books surpass print books? Read our white paper,
>Surpassing Gutenberg, at http://www.afb.org/ebook.asp
>
>Download a free sample Digital Talking Book edition of Martin Luther
>King Jr's inspiring "I Have A Dream" speech at
>http://www.afb.org/mlkweb.asp
>
>Learn how to make accessible software at
>http://www.afb.org/accessapp.asp
>
>
>
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