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Originally Posted by HarryT
Are they also going to boycott paper books until blind people can use those, too?
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OMG...that is a classic HarryT comment....and one I agree with 10000%, yet at the same time it has me laughing my arse off because it's so dead-pan & funny.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
I don't know about books, but all medicines in the UK now seem to have their name (at least I assume it's the name!) on them in braille, on the same box as the name is printed visually.
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I am actually not certain how Rx's are handled for the blind here in the US. Were I to guess I imagine each pharmacy has a special printer for vision impaired patients. I see no reason every Rx needs to use those labels, which would explain why I've never noticed them.
As to the topic, something which I never considered in the TTS ability is how useful it could be for a dyslexic person. I left my PharmD degree program and went into Comp-Sci as well as math at the same time instead because, while I was able to spend hours on end working problems, I found reading textbooks very difficult to retain focus and I could never get myself to read, say and microbiology book as if it were a novel. I took to OChem and Bio-Chem well and found them easy subjects. Of late I have come to suspect that was because they are very math like as well as very like designing and writing program code, in the way you learn/study then apply that to solve a problem...but I KNOW I would have finish my PharmD degree had I been able to have the TTS to aid in reading and helping me stay focused. Interesting perspective some 30yrs after the fact. I pretty much never read more that a couple chapters on any topic at a sitting while earning my math degrees because the way to understand is to solve the problem not memorize and read. I learned most everything via lectures and trying understand the theory by problem solving. So not a lot of just reading really.
I say all that because, perhaps, Amazon is actually in favor of such a legal battle...why? Because of how the publishing industry clamped down on TTS almost instantly so Amazon's hands are tied here. Plus in case it has escaped the notice of many folks, anytime a person has a disability, everything geared toward helping them get things done costs 5x-10x what "regular" products might cost, everyone has their hands in BOTH your pockets not just one. So, again, the publishing industry is angry because TTS lets a few people work around the far more expensive targeted solutions as they exist today.
Letting devices all use TTS can actually net probably MORE profit to publishers because they could tag an extra $whateveramount to each device and book sold to spread the liability. I mean if only a dime were added to ALL books sold, not merely text books, to fund letting TTS run free, that should cover audiobook sales they might lose (btw, I doubt TTS will be anything more than a tiny blip on that radar...) as well as INCREASE profits across the board.
The reason I don't see TTS denting audiobook sales is today, audiobooks are amazingly executed as a rule. I buy a lot of books from Audible, and CD/DVD's as well because these things are true performances in many cases. As good as TTS might become it will, in our lifetimes, replace what a quality human(s) reading a book can add.
I like this suit because it might be the wedge in the door to sort of force the hand of publishers. And I imagine in secret, along with Amazon, publishers love the possibilities it might add to their bottom line every quarter. It's right up there with "...it's to save the children..." as a way to increase prices across the board in order to "help" those who have difficulty reading. Want to read TTS on your reader, fine....we want $whatever more per copy sold.
Sorry if this meandered in a different direction, but it was what came to mind when I read the article as well as the balance of comments.