[bksvol-discuss] Re: Google Desktop Broke my Bookshare Books
- From: "Allison Hilliker" <bookshare_girl@xxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2008 15:17:56 -0700
I don't happen to have RTM parents. Mostly because they aren't the type to
read manuals themselves. I probably do it more than they do. An
interesting story is when my mom was trying to set up her Gmail account on
Outlook Express. I tried talking her through it, but it wasn't working. So
I went to Gmail's website, found the OE instructions and printed them out
for her. I told her to follow them and ask me questions as they come up.
She quickly grew frustrated and gave up. So then I tried my dad, and asked
him to set up OE for my mom and I gave him the same printed sheet of
directions. He couldn't do it either! And personally I think they were
some of the most straight-forward directions I've seen. I asked him some
basics about his perception of the instructions, and it was clear that he
had no grasp of what he was about to do. That situation finally ended by me
installing JAWS on my mom's computer and setting up her OE for her myself.
So, basically, my point is, to some extent, we're products of our
environment. Monica's dad encouraged her to read the manual, and she does
that still today. My parents aren't manual people, and as a result,
neither am I. Although I've learned to be to some extent. Perhaps Monica's
dad's way is better, but mine is just how it is.
Monica mentioned that part of her dad's reason behind making her learn the
computer herself is so that she can use a computer as well as sighted
people. I've never had any doubts about that. I always figure I'm about as
good of computer user as I would be sighted. I too hesitate to ask computer
questions of sighted people. That's not however because I feel inferior to
them, it's simply because our techniques for performing similar tasks are
just very different.
Interesting topic.
Best,
Allison
----- Original Message -----
From: "Monica Willyard" <rhyami@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, January 22, 2008 9:40 PM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Google Desktop Broke my Bookshare Books
Hi, Cindy. You know, in one way, I agree with you. In another, I
understand what my dad is doing. He's requiring me to be as independent
as possible, to only rely on a sighted person if it's absolutely
necessary. He has done that since I was eight years old and got my first
computer. They didn't have a functioning screenreader at that point, and
he still made me learn to type and write programming on it. Now over 25
years later, I'm able to handle things well on most computers, even if I
lose speech for awhile. So for me, with my personality and my situation,
I think my dad actually did me a favor. He helps me without complaint if
it's something I really can't do. When he tells me to "RTM," I take it
as a reminder of his love for me and his faith that I can work it out if
I put my mind to it. If I've read the help files and am still stuck, I
do get the help I need.
Monica Willyard
Grandma Cindy wrote:
Thank goodness my husband is not like your dad. He's
willing to help when I run into a problem even when
it's one I've been told before how to deal with and
have forgotten because I didn't write it down. smile
G.Cindy
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