[macvoiceover] Re: macs vs pcs

Hi,
Also, coming from the world of extreme geekdom, research and trying to use a crystal ball to design future user interfaces, Apple on computers, entertainment products (iPod, Apple TV) and telecommunications (iPhone), is the only company I know of that is actively applying universal design principals to an entire product line. If you start with VoiceOver on a Mac and later get an iPhone or iPod, you will find the interface designed for people with vision impairment to be fairly consistent with the differences being apropos to the device being used.
With its iPhone 3G s and Macintosh Snow Leopard releases, Apple has raised the bar in UI for our population by adding a second dimension which makes navigating much more efficient when you get used to it.
Apple hardware are also things of beauty. They are much more well constructed and use much better components than all but Sony and Toshiba whose very expensive (much more than most Macs) hardware is similar but you still need to spend an extra grand for JAWS.
At my presentation at ACB Mid-Atlantic convention this past Saturday, I included the funny (to a geek at least) line, "I paid the same for VoiceOver as I would have for JAWS and, for an extra hundred bucks, Apple through in a MacBook Pro!" In reality, VO is at least as good as either JAWS or Window-Eyes in most areas and it's rapidly improving. JAWS remains the leader among obscure, niche and proprietary corporate applications. JAWS also does the best with really rich Web 2.0 applications like googledocs so, if these are important to you, you will probably be better off waiting to jump on the Apple bandwagon; if, however, you are like the 95% of the population that uses relatively standard programs, the Mac is more reliable (I once kept a MacBook 13 turned on without a reboot for over 45 days - most Windows screen readers would be happy with a day or two at the most).
I hope this little rant holds some value for its readers, I've still had less than a few sips of coffee and I've a cold and have a bit of Alka Seltzer Plus head too. 

Happy Hacking,
cdh


On Nov 6, 2009, at 12:18 AM, Ignasi Cambra wrote:
And this is priceless. Even if you don't get a mac, learn how to use VO. There are public mac workstations in many many libraries and other places. It really was a new experience to me the firs time that I stopped by one of those, turned VO on and checked my email just like anyone else. 
On Nov 5, 2009, at 9:34 PM, carlene knight wrote:
You also have speech on virtually any mac, no thumb drives or dongles are needed. On Nov 4, 2009, at 4:19 PM, Marty Rimpau wrote:
Hi Dennis, you have no ad ware, or spywareto worry about on the mac, and though macs are largely restricted to apple hardware, they are built better, and also, no viruses to worry about either, just some of the reasons for a mac over a pc. 

On Nov 4, 2009, at 11:37 AM, dennis wrote:
could someone who switched to a mac from a pc tell me what is better about a mac? what am i lookin at price wise? your thoughts ar appreciated. 

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