[Reader-users] Reader

[Dean Martineau]

I will use the excuse that it's early in the morning, hence I wrote 
my entire last message in the subject field.  Let's try this again 
from the beginning:

The ideal way to buy technology, especially a device that costs 
$3,500, is to really try it, work past the honeymoon phase, and see 
if the device really addresses the need.  Unfortunately, such testing 
is difficult to impossible to do with the Reader unless somebody in 
the area is willing to spend some time showing the unit, or a dealer 
will do so.  For a person with low vision, I have to wonder if a 
cctv, or a unit such as the MyReader from Humanware wouldn't be 
better, perhaps for less money.  I know little about low vision and 
less about those devices, but believe the best solution involves 
investigating these options.  If the mother does not need 
portability, it is probably possible to get a package at least as 
effective as the Reader for at least a thousand dollars less.  For 
instance, a good refurbished laptop, Kurzweil 1000 and an OpticBook 
3600 scanner could be assembled for around $2,000.  I don't 
necessarily recommend that package, but as a reading system, it would 
be very effective.  This assumes that OCR, rather than a cctv, is 
best for the person, and that the person is willing and able to 
process information auditorially rather than visually.    Again, I 
don't claim a lot of knowledge here; much more ignorance.  But in 
this field there is a strong tendency to grasp at straws, to hope 
that a solution will work, when it may or may not work, depending on 
visual acuity, flexibility, motivation and learning style among other 
factors.    Dean