[A2k] Re: [Upd-discuss] Fwd: Blind Groups Sue ASU flor Kindle Use

[Federico Heinz]

On 01/07/2009, Claude Almansi wrote:
> Sure, the Kindle is also DRMed, but here, the main barrier is the proprietary
> format.

The proprietary format is part of the DRM scheme.

> Why do you mind so much strategically explicitating the various
> aspects of  "access to knowledge" issues?

Because that is our aim. If we only achieve access for the blind, and not for
everyone, we have fallen woefully short of our aim.

> DRM may well be a central node, but non-tech-minded folks are more likely to
> understand - and empathize with - the problems it causes for blind people.

That is what makes it useful as an example. But in order to achieve our goal,
we need even non-tech-minded people to understand the problems DRM causes to
everyone, and not just blind people.

> Your choice of a Calculus 101 book as something blind people are not
> likely to want an audio version of proves that you badly need to sit
> next to a blind person for a couple of hours and let him/her explain
> what s/he can do with an e-text.

You got me wrong. I didn't say that there is no need for a Calculus 101
audiobook, but rather that it is unlikely that publishers will provide one, and
it get unlikelier with less popular subjects.

My point is that the Kindle could, if publishers stopped hiding their heads in
the sand, solve the problem for the blind. All it takes is for publishers to
decide that their opposition to the text-to-speech feature is was a wrong move
when it comes to textbooks, and presto! Kindle automatically makes previously
unaccessible books available for the blind, and *then* we will have a very,
very hard time explaining people why we are opposed to universities deploying a
device that makes books accessible to the blind.

	Fede