[optacon-l] Re: hello from former Optacon teacher Judy Adams
- From: "Steve Britt" <swimmer953@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 7 Jan 2009 18:48:27 -0600
Hi, Judy. Glad to have you with us.
I'm a programmer/analyst for the State of Illinois, and will be retiring
soon.
I had Optacon training in 1977 at Arkansas Enterprises for the Blind, and I
used an Optacon until roughly 2004 when the batteries died on both my R1D
and Optacon II. Both at home and at work, I use a braille display, Jaws and
Openbook.
----- Original Message -----
From: "JBliss Judy" <judy@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, January 05, 2009 2:50 PM
Subject: [optacon-l] hello from former Optacon teacher Judy Adams
Dear friends of the Optacon,
I was an Optacon teacher for many years at Telesensory, and mourned the end
of the product. Even after the introduction of the Optacon II in
partnership with Canon, where we were able to provide PC-based independent
reading practice lessons in several languages, even Japanese, and won
several design awards, the sales never reached a level where the Optacon
could be efficiently manufactured at a modest cost, and the company that
bought Telesensory's technology never continued the product. I agree that
scanners just do not do it!
Were you trained at Telesensory in California? I worked with many students
and it's hard to remember after all these years. We had an Optacon
teacher's reunion last year and it was great to see what people were doing,
although we've lost several teachers over the years.
I'm still in the access technology field. I was the Telesensory training
manager and then in charge of technical support and service center support
for many years - started in 1976 at TSI, but laid off in 2001, before the
bankruptcy and acquisition by InSiPhil. I then worked for Jim Bliss, who
co-founded TSI from 2001 to 2005 at his new company JBliss Imaging, which I
took over from him (he retired with multiple myloma), and re-named it JBliss
Low Vision Systems, since we have a full line of products with speech and
enlargement for scanning (updating his original VIP), e-mail and internet
(PnC E-mail and PnC Net), developed with a NSF grant and evaluated through
the Western Region VA in Palo Alto, CA, and a variety of low vision products
that we represent from other manufacturers. Our newest product is a mini-PC
that the user connects to their TV (or to a monitor, or just speakers, for a
blind user), and it provides scanning, e-mail and internet access with a
dialup, dsl/ca
ble or USB wireless connection.
I just recently joined the listserv, hoping to hear from Optacon users, to
see what everyone is doing these days. Hope to hear from you.
Best regards and Happy New Year!
Judy Adams
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