[mac4theblind] Re: Strange and startling dream

  • From: Todor Fassl <fassl.tod@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: mac4theblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Mon, 23 Mar 2015 17:40:56 -0500

John, it is completely unfair of you to accuse me of being a troll when you flatly refuse to provide any substantiation what so ever for your opinions. You seem to have plenty of time to state your opinions yet somehow, no time to back them up.


I've already provided a link to a wikipedia page that appears to completely contradict what you have said. According to that page, estimates of Windows sales are 55% of the market. Yes, this is way down from the 90% that it once was but hardly less than Macs.

On 03/23/2015 04:37 PM, John Panarese wrote:
     Understand that I receive over five-hundred emails a day, and I don't have 
a lot of time to entertain and respond in depth to every one. Also, whether you 
know it or not,  you have started to give me the impression that you are 
trolling here. I don't waste my time with people who make me believe they are 
simply looking to be argumentative.  You seem to throw out statements that ring 
of reactionary intent, regardless of whether its your intention or not. As I 
said, you can do Google searches as I have done and read about everything I've 
said here.

      There are many technology sources and blogs that discuss the decline of 
Windows and the PC and Apple's continued progressive rise in market share in 
both the consumer and enterprise markets.  PCs are not outselling Macs.  You 
repeat that point, but it has not been true for five years and some eighteen or 
20 sales quarters.  PC sales have been steadily declining, especially over the 
last two years, while the Mac has increased each of those years by double of 
that of the declining rate of the PC. So, that leads me to believe, again, you 
are just looking for a debate and that, again, smells of trolling.

  I just read something recently that addresses Scott's points about IT people 
and the Mac quite extensively and why Windows IT people have had to diversify 
their knowledge and learn the Mac. Unfortunately, I don't have time to dig up 
facts and figures, and this topic, as interesting as it always is, may not be 
appreciated by everyone.  I have been tempted to shut it down, but no one has 
asked me to do so either off list or on list yet. As soon as someone takes 
issue with it, I'm going to have to ask it to stop. Also, Scott has addressed 
your screen reader questions and comments with his own personal experience, and 
he is someone who has been in this field longer than me, if I'm not mistaken.

Take Care

John D. Panarese
Director
Mac for the Blind
Tel, (631) 724-4479
Email, john@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Website, http://www.macfortheblind.com

APPLE CERTIFIED SUPPORT PROFESSIONAL FOR MAC OSX 10.7 LION and 10.8 Mountain 
Lion

AUTHORIZED APPLE STORE BUSINESS AFFILIATE

MAC and iOS VOICEOVER TRAINING AND SUPPORT




On Mar 23, 2015, at 5:16 PM, Todor Fassl <fassl.tod@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

John, when you write stuff like this, it brings your objectivity into question. 
You've asked me to trust your experience on many of your points. How can I do 
that when you give every indication of being an Apple zealot?

The fact is that sales of Windows machines still far exceeds that of Macs. If 
the best operating system is, as you yourself said, the one with the most 
users, that would be Windows. If the best desktop screen reader is the one with 
the most users, that would be jaws. But better isn't determined by popularity.

To some degree, the trend has been away from Windows to Macs. To some degree, 
the trend has also been away from desktops to mobile devices. But mostly, the 
trend has been toward adding mobile devices to the mix. Mostly, people still 
have a desktop at their job. It's just that now, they probably also have at 
least one mobile device -- a tablet or smart phone.



The reality is you still have a group of Windows users who still are stuck in the 1990's mindset 
and try to compare JAWS or any other screen reader from that perspective. I've used them all, and I 
don't find any advantage in that operating system to the Mac and VoiceOver. Windows itself is 
inefficient, which is why Microsoft has lost a vast majority of the status and prestige that it 
once held. The classic, "everyone is using Windows" excuse just doesn't float any more. 
Business, governmental agencies, consumers ... Windows is not the juggernaut it used to be. If you 
are living in a cave and don't read the marketing data or the various technical outlets that 
discuss market trends, then maybe you'll throw the old, "95 percent of computers are running 
Windows" outdated line. Take Care John D. Panarese Director Mac for the Blind Tel, (631) 
724-4479 Email, john@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Website, http://www.macfortheblind.com APPLE CERTIFIED 
SUPPORT PROFESSIONAL FOR MAC OSX 10.7 LION and 10.8 Mountain Lion AUTHORIZED APPLE STORE BUSINESS 
AFFILIATE MAC and iOS VOICEOVER TRAINING AND SUPPORT
On Mar 23, 2015, at 3:02 PM, Scott Granados <scott@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

John, I’m with you.

Jaws is very inefficient with memory use, unstable (crashes a lot) extremely 
expensive and over priced and doesn’t provide anywhere the accessibility 
required for a job like VoiceOver does. The fact is that VoiceOver gives you 
access to the entire machine life cycle from initial operating system install, 
configuration, and then operation and finally decommissioning.  Jaws can’t make 
that claim and really no other bolt on screen reader can.  You will find this 
important if you have a job in IT and are expected to support users.  You can’t 
install windows for a user with out sited help with some exceptions and hacks 
but in general this is not a trivial process.
        The other great thing is I can walk up to any Mac, any iPhone, Apple TV 
and so forth and enable voice over with out sited help.  This makes any machine 
accessible to me not just my machine.  I don’t need help installing the screen 
reader and on and on.  The advantages of a real screen reader as a feature far 
out weigh the bold on after thought variety.

This is regardless of specific brand or manufacturer of screen reader.  The 
bolt on install / 3rd party type just don’t hold a candle to any screen reader 
that’s integrated tightly with the machine in question.


On Mar 23, 2015, at 2:25 PM, John Panarese <john@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

  Well, considering my initial comment was meant as a joke and not to start any 
debates, but everyone is entitled to their opinions. IN my opinion, from some 
twenty years of computer experience, JAWS is clunky and too expensive and NVDA 
has its own limitations compared to the paid screen readers.  VoiceOver is free 
and is developed by Apple indent a bolt on screen reader.  It all comes down to 
opinions, which is why this list is for technical support and such, and not an 
inditement of any screen reader or OS.


Take Care

John D. Panarese
Director
Mac for the Blind
Tel, (631) 724-4479
Email, john@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Website, http://www.macfortheblind.com

APPLE CERTIFIED SUPPORT PROFESSIONAL FOR MAC OSX 10.7 LION and 10.8 Mountain 
Lion

AUTHORIZED APPLE STORE BUSINESS AFFILIATE

MAC and iOS VOICEOVER TRAINING AND SUPPORT




On Mar 23, 2015, at 2:12 PM, Todor Fassl <fassl.tod@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Well, do we want to get into a debate over screen readers on this list? I am 
not as fluent with either nvda or voiceover as I could be but they seem pretty 
even to me.

Actually, if I were to rate screen readers, I'd probably pretty much rate them 
all as a tie. Jaws is the best but it is also the most expensive. Voiceover is 
the second best and second most expensive. It's not free after all. You have to 
buy Apple hardware and operating system. Nvda  may not be as good as jaws and 
voiceover but it is totally free. I have never used Window-eyes. I use orca a 
lot but if there was one screen reader I'd put in last place,it might be orca.



I suppose these comments will be controversial on this list. Please feel free 
to correct my misconceptions. But please try to be polite.



On 03/23/2015 09:42 AM, Scott Granados wrote:
And all are bolt on after thoughts.  NVDA, JFW, WE, what ever they are all 
after thoughts compared to Voice Over which is integrated like any other 
feature in the OS.

On Mar 23, 2015, at 10:26 AM, Todor Fassl <fassl.tod@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

There is a free screen reader for Windows though. It's called nvda.


On 03/23/2015 08:57 AM, Scott Granados wrote:
Actually, the Mac is not more expensive when you add in the cost of the screen 
reader.  Remember you need to add a grand or so if you’re installing JFW on 
that new machine so add that to the cost.  Voice Over is included for free so 
that cost is already covered.


On Mar 23, 2015, at 9:20 AM, Lena Contreras <contreras_lena@xxxxxx> wrote:

Yes. My Mac is approaching five years old. When I had my other windows laptops, when they 
were around four years old they would start acting strangely. They would crash for no 
reason the speech would stop working and I would have to reboot or other strange things 
would happen. So far, my Mac is running fine. I know Friends that have eight or 
nine-year-old Max that are running well but won't support the latest OSX. When somebody's 
getting a new computer, I recommend a Macintosh. But some of my friends are Fred to make 
the switch because of having to relearn things. Also the Mac is more expensive and they 
want to spend less on the computer. And some of my computer geek friends don't like the 
"control "that Apple has.
Lena

Sent from my iPad

On Mar 23, 2015, at 5:31 AM, Scott Granados <scott@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

+1 Microsoft has scarred me too.  It’s hard to get over that level of bad 
design and lack of security.

On Mar 22, 2015, at 11:47 AM, John Panarese <john@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Unfortunately, I keep having this nightmare that I still have to use Windows to 
train a few clients, but it's actually reality and not some bad dream. I guess, 
in your case, the psychological scars remain ...


Take Care

John D. Panarese
Director
Mac for the Blind
Tel, (631) 724-4479
Email, john@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Website, http://www.macfortheblind.com

APPLE CERTIFIED SUPPORT PROFESSIONAL FOR MAC OSX 10.7 LION and 10.8 Mountain 
Lion

AUTHORIZED APPLE STORE BUSINESS AFFILIATE

MAC and iOS VOICEOVER TRAINING AND SUPPORT




On Mar 22, 2015, at 10:30 AM, Lena Contreras <contreras_lena@xxxxxx> wrote:

I was listening to a couple podcasts yesterday about the new Apple MacBook and 
Apple Watch. Last night I had a strange dream. I dreamt that I was typing away 
on a laptop who's screen would not stay open and I had to lay it down flat on 
the table like an iPad. It didn't bother me though because I was listening to 
the voice and did not need to see the screen and an angle.
I remember I was typing and all of a sudden realize that there was no voice 
feedback. When I checked to see if the computer was running it had crashed. I 
somehow knew that it was a Windows machine and wondered why I did not hear the 
sound I had originally used to tell me when the computer was crashing. I 
remember feeling frustrated and thinking that I should get a Mac. I just 
thought it was very weird to have this dream when my MacBook Pro is running 
well and I have not touched a Windows computer in about five years. Funny how 
the brain works.
Lena

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