[gui-talk] Mac desktops and laptops

Sun Oct 4 03:07:15 UTC 2009

Hi Joel,

I've spent some time on the Mac Visionaries list and find the group  
very helpful.  There are a number of individuals who have used the Mac  
for some time and I've found them helpful as I got started.  Yes, I  
have a MacBook Pro laptop machine.  I'm very pleased with it, mainly  
because of the speed in which it performs.  The Mac's operating system  
is very fast and that's the biggest advantage I see thus far.  The  
major difference is that the Mac operating system is different than  
Windows and there is a fair amount of new learning that must occur.  I  
find myself reading and re-reading the VoiceOver documentation and  
spending time practicing and learning each day.  For me, it's well  
worth the effort.  E-mail has been the quickest app for me to become  
comfortable with, the internet is proving my biggest challenge.  OI've  
identified the program I will use for Word Processing, iWork which  
includes:  Pages, MS Word equivalent, Numbers, equivalent to Excel,  
and KeyNote, equivalent to PowerPoint.  MS Office for the Mac is not  
compatible with VoiceOver.  There's a lot I can talk about, but it  
will get too lengthy if I do.  I am writing this on my Mac.  For me  
personally, it's definitely worth the purchase, and the user list gave  
me the necessary perspective I needed to undertake this.  In  
otherwords, I had a good idea of what to expect and the time I need to  
put in to get comfortable with the Mac, and I'm definitely making good  
progress.  I also signed up for Mac classes at the Apple store.  For  
$99, I get 52 hours of training over the next year, not a bad deal.   
We'll see how that goes starting tomorrow.

Les
Oct 3, 2009, at 8:41 PM, Joel Deutsch wrote:

> But no normal, easy-to-use, conversational mailing list, like this  
> one and
> the JFW list?
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Wayne Merritt" <wcmerritt at gmail.com>
> To: "NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List" <gui-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2009 4:27 PM
> Subject: Re: [gui-talk] Mac desktops and laptops
>
>
> There are several sites for blind Mac users, one of which is called
> Mac Visionaries. Not sure of the address, but probably something like:
> www.macvisionaries.com
>
> Good luck,
> Wayne
>
> On 10/3/09, Joel Deutsch <jdeutsch at dslextreme.com> wrote:
>> Warning, long post. Perfectly readable, though, unless you're in an  
>> awful
>> hurry. Just took me a while to get to my main informational  
>> question. I'm
>> just feeling conversational today. So consider yourselves warned.  
>> Thanks.
>>
>> Special request to Andy Barraco: Even if you are not in a reading  
>> mood,
>> please down arrow undtil you hear something about Mac mailing lists,
>> please?
>> Thanks.
>>
>> As the holidays approach, I'm still thinking of getting myself a  
>> laptop to
>> complement or even to replace my destop Dell PC. The choice of  
>> which has
>> to
>> do with factors, at least for me, like whether or not it's got a  
>> normal or
>> close-to-normal size keyboard I write a *lot*)  , a competent up-to- 
>> date
>> microprocessor, sufficient RAM (2 megs would suit me fine with a PC- 
>> type
>> product; I don't know how you evaluate this need with a Mac  
>> product), and
>> a
>> serviceably-sized hard drive. My computer use is limited mostly to  
>> the
>> basics like word processing, Web surfing and email, so the nowadays
>> paltry-sounding 160 gigs or just a bit more would probably be  
>> enough. yes,
>> I
>> do keep some music files on my computer, and they take up space.  
>> But so
>> let's say 250 Gigs would be good enough, then. If I didn't raise  
>> the ante
>> on
>> hard drive space a little, Al Briffith would give me a hard time, I  
>> think.
>>
>> Okay. So I can stay alert for possible Windows laptops that might  
>> suit my
>> purpose, enough of a workhouse to sit on my desk a lot of the time,  
>> but
>> portable enough to put on my lap if I must travel or find myself
>> bedridden,
>> Heaven forbid. Just being facetious, I'm afraid. I do have some  
>> health
>> issues that have found me painfully separated from my computer.
>>
>> Which means I'm a little skeptical of a Windows biggie like one of  
>> the
>> well
>> reviewed Toshiba studio models that weighs in around ten pounds and  
>> is a
>> bit
>> large.
>>
>> Enough babbling about Windows machines, though. I've looked up Mac  
>> laptops
>> and have the idea that there's a nice range of sizes and  
>> capabilities to
>> choose from, and although I'm a longtime Jaws user and still have  
>> credits
>> left on my SMA, that alone wouldn't keep me loyal to PC's if I really
>> believed I could learn to use Mac with voice over and get  underway  
>> pretty
>> quickly, which Andy Barraco seems to believe is the way it could go.
>>
>> So what I want to know (finally, he says! Whew!) is And or anyone  
>> else who
>> knows, are there tech support mailing lists dedicated to blind people
>> using
>> Mac with Voice Over, the way there is a JFW list or two? That would  
>> be
>> ever
>> so encouraging. I mean, Andy, you have said there's a blind Mac  
>> guru here
>> in
>> Los Angeles, but I never needed to call on anyone over the years of  
>> using
>> Jaws. I just had to learn from the basic training tapes (long time  
>> ago,
>> this
>> was) and then, besides being willing to go into the Help now and  
>> then,
>> could
>> always turn to the JFW list or even this list.
>>
>> But I never hear anything about such online casual and personal  
>> resources
>> for blind Mac users. Please set me straight.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Joel
>>
>>
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>
>
> -- 
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> http://wayneism.blogspot.com
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> www.wayneism.com
> www.whitecaneday.org
>
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