Don, I was in the second class at TSI just behind you. Harry ----- Original Message ----- From: "don bishop" <w6smb@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: "optacon list" <optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Wednesday, May 17, 2006 12:21 PM Subject: remembering my first experiences with the Optacon > Just changed the subject from "some comments about the optacon" or at least pretty much that subject line. > > Anyway, I remember the first time I actually used my first optacon. > > I was in a training class given by TSI in Palo Alto. It was held at a motel where we students stayed for a week or two weeks depending on people's > schedules. > > TSI also had a suite there where the training was conducted. > > They brought us into a training room with a long table. In front of each of us was this big > wooden box and a brand new Optacon sitting inside. I think it still had the plastic around the case. In those days the OPtacon came in a large wooden > carrying case with thick foam padding. (soft packs were not even heard of yet.) > > It was like being at the door of a new world and even just seeing the unit without using it was liberating. I can still remember the new smell of the unit with > the leather protective case. > > And then the fun began. So did the work. <smile> > > The excitment of actually reading print material, even if it was just a training document, was something I'll never forget. > > Since that day in 1972 I've read virtually every kind of printed material at one time or another. > > I still am a bit in awe when I look at an old book published in the early 1900s or before and realize that many many blind people lived in "homes for the blind", > or other institutional or protective settings, and that reading such a book independently wasn't even considered possible. > > It does put the progress in the world in some sort of perspective. I think this is largely why I've always felt that the discontinuance of Optacon production > was truly a step backward from independence for blind people. > > Don > > > > > > To unsubscribe at any time, just send a message to: > > optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" (without the quotes) in the message subject. > > Tell your friends about the list. They can subscribe by sending a message to: > > optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "subscribe" (without the quotes) in the message subject. > > To unsubscribe at any time, just send a message to: optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" (without the quotes) in the message subject. Tell your friends about the list. They can subscribe by sending a message to: optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "subscribe" (without the quotes) in the message subject.