Good Bytes Cafe gives internet, computer access to the disabled
By Darren Murph 
posted Dec 17th 2006 11:47AM
posted Dec 17th 2006 11:47AM
In an attempt to bring the computing universe we privileged folk know and love so well to those with limited mobility, Goodwill Industries has opened a free internet café in San Antonio, Texas where wheelchairs are more than welcome. The firm, most commonly associated with its numerous thrift stores and handicapped job placement services, hopes that the normal looking café will take off and encourage disabled / elderly individuals to come and learn about computing skills that can assist them in their daily lives and with locating a job. Good Bytes Cafe, as it's so aptly-named, features the same standard layout of any coffee house, but features a bevy of highly sophisticated PCs for users with limited reach and movement capabilities. Thanks to a $125,000 grant from the local AT&T branch, users have access to software that "magnifies and reads aloud to help those who are visually impaired," joystick mice that are easier to control, an optical-based mouse that controls the cursor with your eyes, and even a minuscule face-mounted controller that directs the cursor by simply moving one's head or nose. Folks attending the grand opening were more than pleased, and one deaf individual went so far as to deem the hangout "absolutely awesome." Rebecca Helterbrand, marketing vice president for Goodwill Industries of San Antonio, is proud of the opening, but hopes that they'll be far "from the last."
that's wonderful for people that are disabled. At least somebody is doing it.
Hear, hear! That's great!! Let's hope more organizations take the hint and step on board!
sadly they are pcs
Yes, most computers that belong to people are personal computers. After all, they are computers and they are for people.
(Darnit Apple, why did you cause this?!)
Actually, I'm going to commence a mini-rant.
Apple is the company that /popularized/ the term Personal Computer in the 1980s. This makes sense; they've always been into making computers for "the average person" that are personalized to suit their wishes.
Now, in 2006, they are actually biting themselves in the ass by using PC as a term for "A computer running Windows".
...WTF?!
For one thing, a Mac is a personal computer, is it not? The branding has never really changed, so if someone with memory (or an encyclopedia article) looks at their recent advertising, they'll be really confused. Essentially, Apple is saying their own new product is better than their own generic term for their own products.
Not only have they done that, but they've gone and slaughtered the actual understanding of the term PC. It was bad before, but it's worse now.
When people see PC, they think Windows. This is not true; a PC is a standardized bunch of hardware (yes, Apple makes them too. They call them Macs, but they are still PCs) on to which you can eventually dump an OS such as: Mac OS, FreeBSD, Windows, SUSE Linux, Ubuntu Linux...
Generally such a misunderstanding is just passed off as "meh, people are a bit daft. Whatever, it's not hurting anything" and this is sort of true, except that this misunderstanding which precious Apple tirelessly provokes is actually incinerating peoples' would-be understanding that there is more than just Windows and Mac OS; that their hardware can run whatever the hell they feel like running.
Oops, that was off topic!
Doesn't "software that 'magnifies and reads aloud to help those who are visually impaired,'" come bundled free with Windows and many other OSs? Cool though id like to try some of that eye and nose tracking software myself. Have fun disabled:)
Doesn't "software that 'magnifies and reads aloud to help those who are visually impaired,'" come bundled free with Windows and many other OSs? Cool though id like to try some of that eye and nose tracking software myself. Have fun disabled:)
Actually, IBM [not Apple] coined the term "Personal Computer" or PC, and the first 16-bit IBM computer was the IBM PC [the next, with a hard drive, was the IBM PC XT]. A "PC" was an IBM-compatible [i.e., DOS] computer--no Apples need apply. Apples were just that--"Apples" until the Lisa and Macintosh came out; those were [surprise] "Lisa" and "Mac".
You are right in your thrust, these are all "personal computers" [in lower case], but Microsoft has captured the term "PC" for it's own systems. If you want to argue, XP machines aren't PCs--they don't run DOS [acronym for "Dirty Operating System"--the original was QDOS, for "Quick and Dirty Operating System", because it was written one weekend to run the "new" 16-bit chips. Microsoft bought it, dropped the Q, and later added the MS].
End of history lesson
Most operating systems come with some basic accessibility options, but they are extremely limited and are not enough for people with significant disabilities. For most people with disabilities, a separate software package is needed.
-Beth Case
Disability411 podcast
http://disability411.jinkle.com
Come to think of it, I'd better write something on topic. It is /very/ cool of them to do this sort of service!
I'd love to know how you can control a mouse cursor with your nose, though...
I think this stinks. Expecting people who are "mobility challenged" and least able to to go somewhere to actually go to a place to use a computer is ludicrous and antiquated. To boast about it is condescending...especially when the writer has no idea that it's actually people that use computers, not wheelchairs...."where wheelchairs are more than welcome."...please! Look up "tokenism" people.
While on the surface these kinds of things might seem good, thinking deeply about it, I wonder how you'd feel if you had to go down to the news stand everytime you wanted to read Engadget.
personaly I would feel great about it if I had the opportunity to get out of my home and socialize with others!. Even as a single able bodied indivudual, I enjoy getting out of the house to be around other people when I feel the need. No one ever said that this was the only possibility, just ANOTHER possibility for people to consider. Too bad that you feel the need to determine for others what "tokenism" is. Why not let patrons determine if this is something that they want and might enjoy. Consumerism is king, even for the physically challenged!
WHAT?! I voted for Bush because he PROMISED to prevent exactly this waste of taxpayer dollars -- EVEN IF IT WAS PRIVATELY FUNDED. damn.
Anyone else think the lady standing up looks like shes being held up by a piece of string?