(This is a good images that pertains to this topic of chaining everybody to the lowest common denominator.) I have been thinking about buying the Kindle reading device by Amazon for some time now. The only thing that is holding me back is the fact that there are some issues that need to be worked out with this technology. Well it looks like some universities have decided to test the Kindle. This is paving the way for the future as electronic readers are the future of reading and will largely replace printed media and could help reduce the cost of college textbooks.
These Universities can not pave the way to the future because the technology can not currently be used by the blind,
Three universities testing Amazon's Kindle in the classroom have agreed to shelve the electronic book readers until they are fully functional for blind students, under a deal struck Wednesday with the Justice Department.[...]Two organizations representing the blind had sued after universities announced a pilot program to use the Kindle in classrooms.Talk about chaining everybody to the lowest common denominator and using the banner of non discrimanition to hold the advancement of everybody back--in other words, a throwback to the primitive. This is preventing the advancement of everybody to include the blind. This is the age we live in. To read more about this topic one should read the article 'Multicultural Nihilism' by Peter Schwartz that is in the book "Return of the Primitive: The Anti-Industrial Revolution" by Ayn Rand.
Officials say the version of the Kindle being used in the pilot program has a text-to-speech function, but the device's menu does not, so it is impossible for blind students to navigate through different electronic books or within an electronic book.
The agreement takes effect as soon as the spring semester ends -- giving the schools time to finish the pilot project with the Kindles, but preventing them from continuing or expanding their use until the blind and visually impaired can use them as easily as students who can see.
The agreement covers other similar electronic book readers, including those made by Sony and bookseller Barnes & Noble.
'Advancing technology is systematically changing the way universities approach education, but we must be sure that emerging technologies offer individuals with disabilities the same opportunities as other students,' Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez said in a statement. "These agreements underscore the importance of full and equal educational opportunities for everyone.'
I was thinking about this and I am trying to understand this. I don't know if the textbooks that the universities offered were also available in hard copy? Was the curriculum only available in the e-reader format so that if one were blind they would not be able to get an education? I don't know if every textbook made is available in formats that are available for the blind? At least one university was private, Reed college in Portland, OR. Did this pilot program prevented the blind from being able to get an education more so than the current program? I don't know how blind people are accommodated?
ReplyDeleteI guess it boils down to the fact if this program is preventing the blind from getting an education anymore so than the traditional books or if this is simply preventing a new technology from being tested and leading to the advancement of everybody else, to include the blind, for the simple reason that the blind can not participate? It appears that the majority must stagnate or go out of their way to accommodate a small minority. Advancement usually must occur in a small group before it reaches the majority. These e-readers are still in their early stages. The only way they will become more accessible to more people to include the blind is for the technology to become used by more people. There has to be more to this story.I must be missing something here.
"but preventing them from continuing or expanding their use until the blind and visually impaired can use them as easily as students who can see." What about HD TV? What about a new electronic projector? What about a touch screen marker board?
Its like saying, "Until everyone is blind or there is no blind people."
ReplyDeleteYou can't screw with the professors' racket. Unless you're name is Melkor. Yeah, if they actually cared about their customers (students) they'd be looking for ways to decrease cost. But, what they're doing is looking for their extra income from the books.
ReplyDeleteAnd so, regular textbooks can be used by the blind? Uhm. And the blind are what percent of the total student population? Typical liberal thought. Screw the vast majority of people to provide a benefit to a small minority, and oh yeah, set up a government buraucracy to monitor it.
How 'bout get the Kindle version out there, and when they do get a Kindle that speaks or something, get that to the blind.