Because I got tired of the twitter inquiries and whatnot, I decided
to post my spiel about the GWConnect program here. So here goes:
I was immediately displeased with both the program’s
controls and it’s audio quality (or lack thereof). I was further irritated by
the rude, intrusive ads that constantly interrupted my conversations. These
feelings were shared with the developer to no avail. You can, apparently,
remove the irritating ads by purchasing the program from GW Micro. Now, my
question there is:
Why in the 9 hells would I pay one company to use another
company’s service that is offered free of charge?
Answer:
I wouldn’t and I won’t. Period.
When GW Connect 2.0 was released, I decided, against my
better judgment, to give it another shot. Man, was that a mistake!
Not only is it a heap of ad-ridden crapware, but if
anything, the audio quality was worse than before.
I really wanted to keep this short and sweet, so in closing
I’ll just say that it seems foolish to me to pay for a program that does the
same thing as Skype for Windows when it isn’t any more accessible or useful.
But then again, this is what I should expect from a company that charges $900
for a screen reader
that is so inferior to the free screen reader NVDA (Non-Visual Desktop Access) that
it isn’t even funny.
Well, as we say over at Geeks On A Leash, I look forward to
your hate mail. :p
If you're anything like me and you enjoy working with GW products the above post will deeply offend you. I just read the post again and I feel like crying.
ReplyDeleteGW Micro understands the needs of the blindness community and cares about its customers. They realize that blind people need Skype and twitter. I think the next thing they should make is a twitter client. Unlike lots of freebees and home-brewed "Programs" it will offer greater stability and support.
Now to address several other points. Lets start with NVDA. It is free and by default cannot be as good. Commercial screen readers cost money but that's because we're the minority. The software is designed specifically for us with our needs in mind.
Now onto Mr. @rwnutjob's claims about audio quality and commercials. First of all if you use a GW Skype client to call another user of GW Skype client the audio quality is great. I never talk to anyone but other GW users so it is not a problem. Listen to the commercials that you find so terribly annoying and buy Window Eyes. Commercials will go away. Problem solved. Just learn how to manage your software properly.
To further counter your points I use GW Micro products to:
1. Browse the web and do research.
2. Converse with my colleagues and clients via email.
3. Work with (yes you guessed it!): GWConnect. And connecting with other blind individuals who know what's better for them!
4. Twitter. Although it is not a GW product that I tweet with so its not as good.
5. Managing contact lists.
6. Checking time and pressing "play" in VLC player for my corporate needs.
How is this not a productive environment? I rest my case. I only wanted to add that GWMicro thought of everything. They have it all figured out for you so there's no need for you to make suggestions. Because you're not as smart as they are. If you were smart you would help them endorse their products. Your "opinions" and "blog posts" would actually be worth something then. Because even if you like NVDA you are wrong. You just don't realize it yet that's all. You don't know what you need. GWMicro does. You must listen to them. Because they know what's good for you.
PS
I just read your post 5 more times and now I'm crying for the 6th time. I will continue crying to protest your post and I strongly encourage all GW customers to do the same! Stay up all night and cry! Let the world hear you and let the blind militants like @rwnutjob learn their lesson! Lets drown them in our hot tiers!
i use gw connect alll de time and i work with other langwages. pressing alt tab makes mee feil soo produktive! i cant wait4gw twitter i'll totally use window-ize for it! rock on gw mikro! oh, and vlc is the bestst playr ever! tw should makea gw Play or somethin tho, i bt it would be better
ReplyDelete