The actions of FS both on the litigation front and towards their competitors in general could be open to interpretation. FS would say that their lawsuits are to protect their brand and patents, and that forcing Braille display manufacturers to get their 64-bit drivers signed is just to make our computing environment safer. others would say that they are out to harass or possibly crush their competition through expensive lawsuits and to put other Braille display manufacturers at a competitive disadvantage since FS doesn't need to pay anyone to get the Braille drivers signed for their Focus Braille displays. People will have to decide for themselves which of these interpretations is correct.
As for the Foundation for Blind Children, it's quite easy to find information about them with Google. They say they've been around since 1952 as an Arizona charity, so they must be doing something right. Their biggest mistake was probably becoming an FS dealer. Having talked with other former FS dealers about their experiences, I'm very glad that the nonprofit that I once worked for didn't go that route. We wanted to make assistive technology product recommendations without any bias.
Gary King w4wkz@xxxxxxxxxxxxx----- Original Message ----- From: "Adrian Spratt" <Adrian@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Sunday, August 08, 2010 3:06 PM Subject: RE: [Follow] Freedom Scientific introduces bugs intentionally!
I feel this and two related threads could use a larger-world context. WE all rely on brand names for assurances about the taste and quality we associate with things we buy. Whether it's a frozen vegetable or a shirt, an ice cream or an MP3 player, a brand name with a track record makes it likely that ourmoney will be well spent.I haven't followed FS's litigation history closely, but my sense is that theobjective of its lawsuits is to maintain the integrity of its name by ensuring that no one either misuses it or claims patent rights that belong to it. Lawsuits over brand names can be abused. I think of McDonald's suing a restaurant in Scotland for using the family McDonald's name. There's also the problem that big brand names make it difficult for new brands to establish themselves. Still, there's nothing inherently evil in a company's desire to uphold its brand name.I've noticed that a number of comments in this thread disparage FS's lawsuit against some place for children that no one seems to know anything about. I have no information whatsoever about this lawsuit or the outfit FS sued. Butthe mere fact that the outfit says it exists for children doesn't make it inviolable or perfect. Charles Dickens and Zola wrote about some nastychildren's organizations in their day, and they haven't all gone away. Here in New York, there's been a long ad campaign during prime time and baseball games for a charity that encourages people to turn in their cars for paymentin order, supposedly, to help kids. I've wondered how a charitable organization engaged in raising funds can pay commercial advertising rates to solicit contributions.I tried to understand the issues raised by Arabic and Farsi speakers in thisthread, but they're hard to unravel, between international sanctions andpossible distributor deficiencies. I, too, would like to know why FS changeda code that affects how those languages are handled by JAWS. I can tell, however, that no one here really knows the complete picture. We all have reservations about how FS writes software, how it listens ordoesn't listen to consumer concerns, how expensive its products are, and soon. But my experience with competitors hasn't been any better, and in someways worse. In fact, I've found FS people such as Eric, Brian and John to bereceptive and often up-front. So I personally resist a knee-jerk reaction to some of these reports.Speaking for myself, I'd be sorry if JAWS faded into the sunset. It is very much a part of my life. Like the people in my life, I argue with JAWS and FSall the time, but they have benefited me beyond compare. -----Original Message----- From: jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Gary King Sent: Sunday, August 08, 2010 1:49 PM To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: [Follow] Freedom Scientific introduces bugs intentionally! While lawsuits may be routine for the business world these days, this was not so for the access technology industry until Freedom Scientific camealong. Manufacturers of access technology were a lot more civil in the daysof Henter-Joyce, Blazie Engineering and Arkenstone, the companies that merged to form Freedom Scientific. While I'm sure the owners profited handsomely from the sale of their companies, I know of at least one that said he made a mistake. I will say that I agree with Dean Blazie. Gary King w4wkz@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ----- Original Message ----- From: "Farfar Carlson" <dgcarlson@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: <jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Sunday, August 08, 2010 11:26 AM Subject: Re: [Follow] Freedom Scientific introduces bugs intentionally! I think Dorothy first brought it up. Perhaps she has some details. Personally I don't really care, since lawsuits are becoming de regeur for any business concern. Dave ----- Original Message ----- From: "Yadiel" <yadosotomayor@xxxxxxxxxxx> To: <jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Sunday, August 08, 2010 09:16 Subject: Re: [Follow] Freedom Scientific introduces bugs intentionally! Hello everybody:I have heard a lot of mention about the FS law suits... Would anyone care toexplain what they are and what are the reasons for them? Yadiel -------------------------------------------------- From: "Cy Selfridge" <cyselfridge@xxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Sunday, August 08, 2010 9:24 AM To: <jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Subject: RE: [Follow] Freedom Scientific introduces bugs intentionally! Farfar, wash out your mouth. (LOLLOLLOL) Stuck with ME, God forbid. (LOL) Cy, The Anasazi -----Original Message----- From: jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Farfar Carlson Sent: Saturday, August 07, 2010 10:56 PM To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: [Follow] Freedom Scientific introduces bugs intentionally! Well, not to digress even more off topic, but I have to suggest thatMicrosoft's launch of Windows 7 was driven less by user complaints of Vistathan by the competition being offered by Apple. If Microsoft had a non-competitive market, we'd still be stuck with Windows ME. Dave ----- Original Message ----- From: "Armond" <armond1980@xxxxxxxxx> To: <jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Saturday, August 07, 2010 21:26 Subject: [Follow] Freedom Scientific introduces bugs intentionally! Well, guys, whether or not JAWS has been or is tremendously helpful to thevisually impaired is simply beyond the point. No one can or should deny the fact that JAWS has been helping thousands of users in a variety of context. However, that doesn't mean the follies of its developers should be ignored.That would be like, say, having ignored Windows Vista's multitudinous problems and headaches simply because Microsoft has been developing different permutations of Windows for so long. On the other hand, what wenow call a positive experience, or simply a better experience, with Windows 7 is the direct consequence of user complaints and taking into account thoseglitches. Now who can deny the usefulness of Windows? On a similar topic, isn't iPhone a revolutionary product with its full-fledged screen reader,helping many visually impaired people all over the world with its cornucopia of apps and functions? But this doesn't prevent users from complaining about rather serious antenna issues with the 4th generation of iPhones. Likewise,when we simply state that Freedom Scientific is moving in the wrong direction with its approach toward beta testing and bug handling--and I don't want to mention the issue of the frequency of major upgrades whichunnecessarily kill SMA licenses, it doesn't mean that we excoriate the wholehistory of JAWS from the HJ days forward. Rather, it's just meant to keep both the user community and, hopefully, the developers aware of the issues which have beleagured JAWS. As for this particular bug, why should people buy extra language packs when Unicode support in combination with a TTS engine can do the job? And this has been the case for some years and is still the case with other screen readers which support Unicode. And, lastbut not least, this has nothing to do with international sanctions against aparticular country; rather, it's a totally technical issue as, say, Arab countries aren't under any particular sanctions whatsoever. Imagine havingto purchase JAWS language packs from certain dealers in order to be able toread and write in Russian, Greek, and Polish. -- JFW related links: JFW homepage: http://www.freedomscientific.com/Scripting mailing list: http://lists.the-jdh.com/listinfo.cgi/scriptography-the-jdh.comJFW List instructions: To post a message to the list, send it to jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxxTo unsubscribe from this mailing list, send a message to jfw-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line.Archives located at: //www.freelists.org/archives/jfwAlternative archives located at: http://n2.nabble.com/JAWS-for-Windows-f2145279.htmlIf you have any concerns about the list, post received from the list, or the way the list is being run, do not post them to the list. Rather contact the list owner at jfw-admins@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
-- JFW related links: JFW homepage: http://www.freedomscientific.com/ Scripting mailing list: http://lists.the-jdh.com/listinfo.cgi/scriptography-the-jdh.com JFW List instructions: To post a message to the list, send it to jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send a message to jfw-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line. Archives located at: //www.freelists.org/archives/jfw Alternative archives located at: http://n2.nabble.com/JAWS-for-Windows-f2145279.html If you have any concerns about the list, post received from the list, or the way the list is being run, do not post them to the list. Rather contact the list owner at jfw-admins@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
