RE: EITAAC - Families Subcommittee

[David Bolnick <davebo@MICROSOFT.com>]

A couple of issues that relate back to my original list and to the EITAAC.

We all struggle with these issues - they are growing pains and the computer
is still an infant. When adding assistive technology, you complicate the
picture several fold. In fact, with each peripheral you add you complicate
the picture and risk failure. That is why good solution providers are like
gold (they should know the issues and the work-arounds). This may be a good
reason to rethink Unisys's appointment to the EITAAC since they are a major
solution provider for the Government. 

This is also the reason why I placed e-business communications in a class of
its own since incompatibilities in this realm can be very problematic of an
agency. 

As to the analogy of the flawlessness of  the airplane, it's best you hold
onto these beliefs - especially if you fly a good deal. But do remember,
airplanes have been around for a long time, have component redundancies in
the event of a component failure, and cost 10 of millions of dollars. The
cost-effective PC is relatively new, is evolving at an astonishing rate, and
has few redundant components. This is not what you want to hear - I am sure
- but it is truthful. The good side is, that over the last 5 years there has
been a significant increase in PC stability. 

David A. Bolnick
Accessibility Program Manager: Multimedia, Telecommunications
Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA  98052
Tel: 425-936-8342    Page: 888-899-0841    Fax: 425-936-7329
E-mail:  <mailto:davebo@microsoft.com> davebo@microsoft.com     Web:
<http://microsoft.com/enable> http://microsoft.com/enable


		-----Original Message-----
		From:	Bill Paul [mailto:BillPaul@compuserve.com]
		Sent:	Monday, October 19, 1998 12:16 PM
		To:	Multiple recipients of list
		Subject:	RE: EITAAC - Families Subcommittee

		Dave
		I'm not sure I sent this reply correctly so here goes again.
		The reasonsyou gave  for the inability of my system working
without undue
		effort from experts are probably correct.  But the real
world is that the
		disabled in the work force often don't have the expertise
available.  To be
		competitve and effective in government and industry requires
that their
		assistive system works.  If there is a Friday night report
to get out, it's
		not acceptable to wait for a few days to get the specialized
help needed.

		When we all fly in an airplane, we don't have to know who
made the engines,
		computers, flight controls or navigation systems, it's
integrated and
		tested before we fly.  The DOD relies on systems integrators
for all their
		systems.

		We need to be sure that what the government buys must work
reliably as the
		system is used by the disabled.

		Thanks for your comments
		Bill Paul