[vi-kindle] Re: Kindle Keyboard May Be Discontinued

  • From: jessica brown <justforlistmessages531@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: vi-kindle@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Tue, 21 May 2013 07:13:46 -0700

Ok. I guess I could do that for you if you like. And if I offended you by asking that question about the way you wrote your email, I am sorry. I did not mean any offence. I was just curious that's all.


----- Original Message -----
From: David Goldfield <disciple1211@xxxxxxxxxxx
To: vi-kindle@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date sent: Tue, 21 May 2013 10:06:18 -0400
Subject: [vi-kindle] Re: Kindle Keyboard May Be Discontinued

Oh, Jessica. ... It's amazing how I could go out of my way to proofread a message before I send it and yet I could miss such a glaring error. I guess I need yet more caffeine in my system. Can I hire you as my proofreader? <smile> Yes, I meant to say that the NFB will light a fire
under amazon.
The Kindle Fire uses a touchscreen and allows you to not only read Kindle books but it can also go online, as it's an actual tablet. It has a Web browser, can download and run apps and runs a modified version of
Android.

On 5/21/2013 9:53 AM, jessica brown wrote:
What is the kindle fire? Does it have a touch screen like iOS devices? Also, what is an FCC filing? And when you said, However, I think we'll
see more
accessibility in the KF within the next year, especially with Amazon lighting a fire under Amazon's butts, did you mean, However, I think
we'll see more
accessibility in the KF within the next year, especially with the NFB
lighting a fire under Amazon's butts?

----- Original Message -----
From: David Goldfield <disciple1211@xxxxxxxxxxx
To: vi-kindle@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date sent: Tue, 21 May 2013 09:47:19 -0400
Subject: [vi-kindle] Re: Kindle Keyboard May Be Discontinued

Russ, here is my prediction regarding your question, for whatever it's
worth.
Nate over at the Digital Reader wondered if we'd be seeing a KK
replacement but he couldn't find any FCC filings on such a device. While this doesn't mean that there won't be any or that there aren't any right now, my guess is that we won't see a replacement with a keyboard. I'll be doing the happy dance if I'm wrong, but I just don't think it will
happen.  Instead, I think we'll see the Kindle Fire become more
accessible. Knowing Amazon, it won't happen quickly. However, I think that it will happen. I'm not a member of either the NFB or the ACB, but the NFB has done a fabulous job in keeping Amazon honest and in putting pressure on them to ensure accessibility for students in the schools and for patrons in libraries. While I part company with them on the public library issue, I'm with them when it comes to e-reader accessibility in the schools and they've made their views and concerns known to Amazon about this. Also, let's not forget that Amazon lost a massive contract last year with the State Department and this was likely due to lack of accessibility in the Kindle Touch. If my memory is correct, this was a
16.5 million dollar order which Amazon lost.
I believe that accessibility was one of the reasons for why the KK was kept around for as long as it was, and this view was noted on one of the
mainstream blogs that I read, which I think was Engadget.
In light of all of this, it's interesting to see what Amazon has been doing in the past few months. On May 1 we saw an IOS update which offered considerably good Voiceover support, which probably surprised more than a few blind people. Also, Amazon claims that the larger KF has accessibility, although I've not confirmed this. I'll also bet this accessibility is limited to menus and books and not apps or the Kindle store, but again I can't confirm this. They've also promised that accessibility will be added in the smaller KF units and I believe this is likely true. Amazon will likely do this. If they don't do it right the first time, they'll have the NFB after them and, eventually, they'll
give in and do it right, giving us accessible, modern Kindles.
The lower-end readers probably can't be accessible, due to the fact that
there's no actual speaker in the products and no audio support,
something which has annoyed even sighted users. Since Amazon owns Audible, you'd think they'd have added audio support in the Paperweight for that reason alone but I don't think the PW or the basic Kindle has
any sort of audio support.  However, I think we'll see more
accessibility in the KF within the next year, especially with Amazon
lighting a fire under Amazon's butts, pun somewhat intended.
David
On 5/21/2013 9:03 AM, Russ Kiehne wrote:
It will be interesting to see if they replace it with some thing else?
Or will they make the Kindle fire fully accessible?
I just upgraded my ipod touch to the 5th generation. I can use that to read Kindle books when my Kindle Keyboard stopps working. I will use my Ipod to read some Kindle books that don't have text-to-speech
enabled.

-----Original Message----- From: Tiny Puppy
Sent: Monday, May 20, 2013 9:38 AM
To: vi-kindle@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [vi-kindle] Re: Kindle Keyboard May Be Discontinued

I agree. So much for their half hearted attempt at accessibility.
Butch

----- Original Message ----- From: "Russ Kiehne" <russ94577@xxxxxxxxx
To: <vi-kindle@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Monday, May 20, 2013 8:40 AM
Subject: [vi-kindle] Re: Kindle Keyboard May Be Discontinued


Well, I'll continue to use my Kindle Keyboard untill it stopps working.

-----Original Message----- From: David Goldfield
Sent: Monday, May 20, 2013 8:03 AM
To: vi-kindle@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [vi-kindle] Kindle Keyboard May Be Discontinued

Amazon has not officially confirmed this, but the Digital Reader reports that our beloved KK has likely been pulled from Amazon's stock; see


http://www.the-digital-reader.com/2013/05/17/did-amazon-kill-off-
the-kindle-keyboard/#more-51470


I went to Amazon's site and see that the KK is only available via third-party sellers, the cheapest one currently going for around $99. Am I surprised? Not really. I am assuming that the main reason for why Amazon kept the KK around was due to its accessibility. However, we now have a fairly accessible IOS app and, supposedly, the larger Fires have some accessibility, which Amazon claims will make its way into the
smaller models.  We'll see.













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