there is a newer one, that uses a flexible plastic that can be shaped by electronic voltage sent to a cross point on the sheet, hope that one survives.
if I can be of any assistance in cutting the cost for someone, just let me know and we will see what we can work out.
elf Moderator, Blind Access Help Owner: Alacorn Computer Enterprises Specialists in customized computers and peripherals - own the might and majesty of a Alacorn! www.alacorncomputer.com proprietor, The Grab Bag, for blind computer users and programmers http://grabbag.alacorncomputer.com----- Original Message ----- From: "Alex Midence" <alex.midence@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Friday, October 15, 2010 3:03 AM Subject: Re: The Cost Of Braille Displays
They have a captive market and buyers who have tax dollars to spend. The device is specialized and requires a specialized crew to troubleshoot. Add all taht together, especially the bit about the tax dollars, and you have a recipe for outrageous, unreasonable markups. Personally, I think it's disgusting to do this to a market of people who are often unemployed and have limited funds. I once read that the blind community suffers from an unemployment rate of about 75%. That's insane! Insane! Anyway, I know enough other blind people in my city who don't have jobs to give some credence to the figure. I once came across an article about a refreshable braille system that relied on tiny bits of compressed air and not necessarily pins to produce the dots. It was supposed to be much much cheaper and much more flexible since there was talk about putting it in such places as ATM machines and the like and creating multiple devices with the technology. It was years and years ago and I dearly wish I remembered the name of the technology but, I don't think it got enough funding or generated enough interest to take off. More's the pity. Someone in the medical field, of all places, was behind it. Alex M On 10/15/10, Jacob Kruger <Jacob.Kruger@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:Target market size...as in they know they won't be selling too many of them this side in the first place, so they ship less, so it costs more per unit,etc. Etc.My initial jaws licence I bought through a friend of mine in the USA, usinghis name and address, since it cost me around two thirds of what it wouldhave cost me this side, and he just brought the package over to me when he came to visit his family, and while the local distributors know I handled it this way, they have never really complained, and quite happily then sold memy SMA a little while ago, using my same licence number, but they have, I suppose, taken over the distributor status of my specific licence number/package now...Same way, and not related to programming at all, but I think that while wepay a subsidised price for a cane, they get supplied free to members of groups like the AFB etc. - I might be confused, but anyway... OTOH, at least we can buy different colours of canes...LOL! This also relates to when I bought my KSonar, the nearest distributor to Africa, from Malaysia, wanted literally double what I paid for it, when Ibought it directly from the manufacturing company in NZ - they understood, agreed with me, and they even modified the power plug for the recharge unitfor me before shipping it, but anyway...like said, that doesn't relate to programming, whereas the Braille display can/does.(the other joke is that in Malaysia, VI guys aren't allowed to make use of credit cards either, so they would have wanted me to go into a bank to do aforeign exchange funds transfer as well - wonder how their one VI deputy government minister at the time felt about that one...?) Stay well Jacob Kruger jacob.kruger@xxxxxxxxxxxx -----Original Message----- From: programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Kerneels Roos Sent: 15 October 2010 10:22 AM To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: The Cost Of Braille Displays Hi Everyone, I couldn't help but notice a post in which a claim was made that FS can manufacture and ship a 40 cell Braille display for around $400. In South Africa where I live, a new Focus 40 Blue is about the most affordable 40 cell display one can find and it sells for around R 27,000which is about $ 3,857 given a exchange rate of R to $ of 7 to 1. What is going on here? But let's double the initial cost to $ 800 just in case, and somewhere, somehow you still have: $ 3,857 - $ 800 = $ 3,057 which is 79.25 % of the final cost. What is going on here? The average price however for a 40 cell display is nothing less than R 31,000 which is $ 4,428 and the FS Focus 40 Blue is just a really good value item one (in our market of course) i if you can call it such... What is going on here? The system is broken and the system is not benefitting the majority, therefore the system must change. The system can only change if the end users exert pressure. Notice "the system". It's no individual's company as such. What can we do?? -- Kerneels Roos Cell: +27 (0)82 309 1998 Skype: cornelis.roos "Common Sense" is not "Common Practice" . "The Strawberry Jam Law: The wider you spread it, the thinner it gets..." -- from the Java Specialist Newsletter, from a book on consulting. __________ View the list's information and change your settings at //www.freelists.org/list/programmingblind __________ View the list's information and change your settings at //www.freelists.org/list/programmingblind__________ View the list's information and change your settings at //www.freelists.org/list/programmingblind
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