[bksvol-discuss] Re: Publishers and Bookshare As a Library
- From: "Lynn I" <lynnskyi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 12 Dec 2009 14:59:36 -0600
You've hit the nail on the head, Judy.
I think back to the time when VCRs first came out. I wanted to record the
Young and the Wrestles--my favorite soap at the time. It was quite a
process--making sure to program the VCR in the proper way. I learned though.
A few years later, one manufacturer came out with a VCR that had talking
menus. The only problem was cost (around $900.00), not really affordable.
The point I'm trying to make here is that often manufactures forget that
people who are blind enjoy TV, movies, computer technology, caller ID
phones, and a whole host of other products. They tend to leave us out of the
loop, however. Maybe that isn't all bad--many of us have learned to be quite
resourceful with Braille labelers and using our brains to remember
step-by-step programming procedures. How many more products would be sold if
manufactures realized that people who are blind and/or visually impaired
spend money too? *smile*
Blessings.
Lynnsky
-----Original Message-----
From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Judy s.
Sent: Saturday, December 12, 2009 2:39 PM
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Publishers and Bookshare As a Library
Interesting points from everyone! smile.
I view the disabling of TTS as about as silly as the digital rights
management.
What happened when the digital rights management was removed from
mp3 music downloads? Sales zoomed up! It didn't change the behaviors of
people who were going to steal mp3s. They didn't steal any more mp3s than
they were already stealing -- they just continued stealing the ones they
wanted. However, it did change the market in that a large market segment
(myself included) who refused to buy something that had draconian and
intrusive "rights" protection on it stepped in and now bought the product
that was being offered when the digital rights management was removed and
the product was offered at a reasonable price.
I don't know a single sighted person, other than myself, who will willingly
listen to listen to a book that they can read by listening to it in a
synthetic voice. Me? I can't afford expensive audible downloads, and the
NLS's offerings are very limited in my tastes, so listening to books via
bookshare downloads using either DAISY or Text Aloud has become an acquired
taste, one I've become used to and actually very much enjoy.
If sighted readers were the least bit interested in hearing books read with
a synthetic voice, I suspect the market would be flooded with that sort of
book. Why? It is much cheaper for a book publisher to produce that en
masse than it is to hire a professional reader and studio to produce the
master for each and every book that becomes an audible book.
I really doubt that sales of human-read audible books would waver one whit
if ebooks had TTS enabled. It would expand the market of ebooks available to
the sighted/disabled reader, but that's about it.
Just my opinion. Grin.
Judy s.
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