[vicsireland] Re: Intel Makes an E-reader for the Visually Impaired
- From: "Darragh" <lists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <vicsireland@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:36:24 -0000
This is an interesting arguement against the highly priced intel reader:
http://blog.serotek.com/2009/11/what-i-think-about-intel-reader.html
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
What I think About the Intel Reader
Yesterday marked the release of a product which, according to Intel, would
revolutionize the way the blind and others with reading disabilities accessed
printed materials. During those few fleeting moments between hearing of the
announcement and reading the actual press release, I had high hopes that a
mainstream company would demonstrate its dedication to accessibility and
innovation at an affordable price. And with backing from companies and
organizations such as Humanware, Lighthouse International and the Council for
Exceptional Children, I felt certain that the device I was going to read about
would be very impressive indeed.
The Intel Reader, a device about the size of a paperback and weighing
approximately 1 pound, is equipped with a camera and text-to-speech allowing
print documents such as newspapers, menus, and signs to be converted in to a
readable form by the blind and others with print disabilities. With the
addition of a capturing station, sold separately, the device can be used to
scan and convert more lengthy materials such as textbooks and novels. It can
also read existing etexts in Daisy format as well as play standard MP3 and Wav
files. This feature set reads quite a bit like other mainstream and
custom-built solutions on the market. In fact, the only jaw-dropping aspect of
this product is its price. The device itself can be had for a mere $1499, and
you'll pay an extra $399 for the privilege of using the capturing station.
After the initial shock, I and many others in the blind community began looking
more closely at the information available about the device, just to ensure that
we hadn't overlooked anything truly awe-inspiring. After all, for its price,
there had to be something which set the device apart from existing solutions
such as the KNFB Reader for performing OCR on documents on the go, the
forthcoming free e-reader from Kurzweil to read existing Daisy documents,
off-the-shelf solutions like a PC, scanner, and ABBYY FineReader for more
involved projects like scanning textbooks, or even the $259 Amazon Kindle,
which isn't currently accessible but could be made so with a little effort and
encouragement from the community.
As we learned more about the Intel Reader, there was plenty to make this device
unique. First, while most portable scanning solutions like the KNFB reader for
mobile phones or a scanner/Netbook combo are equipped with wi-fi access, the
Intel Reader can't make that claim. In this article from VentureBeat it is
stated that wi-fi is absent from the product because web-connected devices
aren't allowed in some classrooms. Far be it from us to suggest including wi-fi
and leaving it up to school IT professionals to handle whether or not to grant
wi-fi access, as they must do for all other wi-fi-equipped mainstream devices.
In addition to having no wi-fi capabilities, the device is also unable to
handle HTML content natively. Rather, a user must first convert the HtML
document to plain text before it can be read. This doesn't bode well for a
device whose major goal is purportedly to take the hassle out of reading for
the blind and print-disabled.
Given that this device appears to boast no significant features setting it
apart in a positive way from existing solutions, we must ask why the device was
created in the first place. Ben Foss, the Intel representative spear-heading
the project, has a lot to say on this. Foss states in a press conference: "A
metaphor for this are the ramps that make buildings wheelchair accessible. This
reader is like a ramp." Unfortunately, this particular metaphor is far from
apt. While wheelchair ramps are an example of smart universal design principles
in action because they're just as useful to a walking mother with a stroller as
they are to a person in a wheelchair, the Intel reader has been manufactured
and marketed exclusively for the blind and print-disabled without a thought for
universal design. Foss goes on to acknowledge that the price is not cheap, but
guess what, folks? It's ok. You see, the device contains several custom
components. Never mind that the essential components are a 5-megapixel camera,
flash memory, and Intel's own low-cost Atom processor which can all be had for
under $250 as parts. Are you questioning the price yet? No, don't do that.
Intel can explain. Braille reading devices can cost upwards of $10000, so $1500
is really easy to swallow in comparison to that, isn't it? Never mind that
comparing Braille displays and text-to-speech readers makes little sense.
In essence, Intel is unapologetically asking us to accept this device's hefty
price tag for no other reason than that it was designed specifically for the
blind. Are we going to accept being blatantly charged a premium because of our
blindness, especially by a company who claims to have a philanthropic bent?
Remember Intel's Classmate PC, whose aim was to provide a low-cost and rugged
netbook to students, especially those in developing countries? How can we take
initiatives like that seriously when with this device Intel clearly shows it
isn't interested in providing low-cost solutions to the blind students in its
own back yard?
Still, Intel didn't create this device in a vacuum. "Intel has done its
homework on the device,", says Dorrie Rush, who serves as the marketing
director for Lighthouse International. This signifies that Intel received input
from blind and print-disabled individuals as it designed the product. So why is
it that no one from these groups questioned Intel's decision to reinvent the
wheel, and in a completely lackluster way at that. Why did no one from these
groups encourage Intel to combine existing components to create an innovative
and affordable product that could be beneficial to all?
No matter how stunning a product Intel created, it still needed the backing of
influential groups within the blind community in order to be taken seriously.
For Humanware, who is among the companies distributing the product, partnering
with one of the most lucrative and well-known mainstream companies was a huge
accomplishment. Did Humanware leverage this relationship to educate Intel so
that at least one mainstream company would design its products with
accessibility in mind from the ground up? No! It did not! Humanware thanked
Intel for producing yet another overpriced, sub par blind ghetto product, and
jumped on the chance to convince millions of blind and print-disabled people
that they need look no further than this bulky and expensive device to further
their independence. When a mainstream company like Intel employs such tactics
it is shameful. But from Humanware, a company who should by all rights have the
interests of blind consumers at heart, these actions are nothing less than
despicable.
Because of Intel's status and high visibility, its new product rated mentions
in mainstream publications as well as those which are more blindness-oriented.
In this somewhat flippant article from Engadget, the authors posit that a
device like the Intel reader could be created for under $500, and I suspect
they're right. But the interesting reading isn't so much the article itself,
but the comments. One post says in part: "Sure, you could build something that
did something similar for less money, but would you then be able to give it to
a nearly blind person to use all day, everyday? Completely implausible for
$500." This same poster goes on to say: "besides, the target audience for this
device is disabled -- it should be paid for by 3rd parties because it meets the
requirements to be classed as an aide for the disabled."
And there you have it -- everything that we despise about this product's
existence all wrapped up in a smug, condescending little package and tied with
a bow. Essentially, this poster believes that nothing which wasn't created
specifically for the blind could possibly work well in a day-to-day situation.
Not only that, but there are apparently an abundance of tax dollars to go
around for purchasing overpriced devices. And luckily, the blind person need
not ever make a decision as a consumer since there's a benevolent 3rd-party
agency to take care of such things, rendering the process of making choices for
oneself unnecessary.
So, are we, as a community, going to let this stand? Are we going to throw our
support behind Intel, who spent countless hours and research funds to offer us
a third-rate product which is priced out of our reach? Are we going to put our
hard-earned money in the pockets of Humanware, who squandered their one chance
to truly shape the direction of accessibility in mainstream technology in favor
of making a quick profit? Do we want to continue accepting the pronouncement
that blind ghetto products are not only necessary, but worthy of our
everlasting gratitude? Or are we going to tear down those ghetto walls and
demand our rightful place as the smart and savvy consumers that we are!
And before you say that you're only one consumer, that your voice will never be
heard, I will tell you that you're wrong. You can make a choice to be educated
about what you buy before you make a decision. And once you embrace the power
to choose, you'll want to share that power., and you won't want to stop with
just one person. You'll tell every blind person you know to stop and think
before choosing a product which has no claim to fame other than being designed
for the blind. You'll tell the blindness agencies and school systems who
already struggle with tight budgets to stop and investigate before accepting
the party line and purchasing something which does half as much at twice the
price. And to those companies who are banking on your willingness to accept
anything less than the best just because it's been given the stamp of
accessibility, the sound of your wallet slamming shut an the realization that
you are actually "a consumer" with a functional brain and an opinion will
convey your point quite eloquently indeed!
Posted by Mike Calvo at 6:59 PM
Darragh
Websites: www.digitaldarragh.com www.lalrecordings.com
-----Original Message-----
From: vicsireland-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:vicsireland-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Flor Lynch
Sent: 10 November 2009 16:01
To: vicsireland@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [vicsireland] Intel Makes an E-reader for the Visually Impaired
Close
Intel Makes an E-reader for the Visually Impaired Intel has created a mobile
device called Intel Reader. It scans print and then reads it out loud.
Robert McMillan, IDG News Service
Monday, November 09, 2009 09:20 PM PST
On Tuesday, Intel will start selling a nifty new e-reader that can snap
pictures of books and newspapers and then read them back to people who
have a hard time reading the printed page.
Called the Intel Reader, the US$1,499 device assists people who are
blind, dyslexic or have weak vision, said Ben Foss, the director of
access technology with Intel's Digital Health Group, who came up with
the idea for the reader. "It's designed to give them independence and
access to reading."
Intel estimates that there are as many as 55 million people in the U.S.
who could use its device. Foss says that the Reader will give many of
them a new freedom to read books, magazines and newspapers that would
otherwise be inaccessible. Users simply hold the Reader a few feet above
the paper they want to read; it snaps a photo, and within seconds
converts the page to text, which it can then display in a large font or
read out loud.
"We're excited by this and we think it will really make a difference for
millions of people with disabilities," said James Wendorf, executive
director of the National Center for Learning Disabilities, speaking at a
Monday press conference where the device was unveiled.
Sold by resellers such as CTL, Howard Technology Solutions and
HumanWare, the paperback-sized device combines a 5-megapixel camera with
a Linux-powered, optical character-recognition system and software that
converts text into the spoken word. With 2GB of storage, it can store
about 600 snapshots of scanned pages -- at two pages per snapshot that
would represent a 1,200-page paperback novel.
The device can play back scanned items, but it also supports MP3s, WAV
files, text files and the DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System)
format, used to publish books for people with reading problems. The
battery can power about four hours of playback between charges.
The reader has a special user interface designed for people who have a
hard time reading, and it can play back audio at varying speeds. Foss
likes to hear playback at the almost comically high-pitched speed of 200
words per minutes, which he likens to speed-reading.
Intel also makes a briefcase-sized docking station that can hold and
power the reader while it's being used to scan a large number of pages.
The company will introduce a U.K. version of the Reader in a few days
and plans to roll it out in other countries as well, Foss said.
The device represents a sleeker alternative to more cumbersome reading
aides such as text magnifiers, which cost around $3,000 each, and
Braille readers, which can cost between $7,000 and $10,000, Foss said.
With Amazon's Kindle, the e-reader market has taken off in recent years,
but until now, nobody has built one for people with diminished eyesight
that can scan and replay anything on paper, said Dorrie Rush, director
of marketing with Lighthouse International, a nonprofit group that helps
people suffering from vision loss.
Rush, who has lost vision because of an eye disorder called Stargardt's
disease, can barely read the headlines from the New York Times while
holding the paper about 4 inches from her face. She has tried out
Intel's device and she loves it. "Intel has really done their homework
and created something that does good and looks good."
Intel's Foss has a personal connection to the project. Diagnosed with
dyslexia in elementary school, he spent hours during his college years
faxing papers to his mother, who would then read them back to him over
the phone.
Now he hopes that the device he helped create will help other students
in his shoes. "Ultimately we're trying to give people access to hope and
to self-respect."
1998-2009, PC World Communications, Inc.
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