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Amazon forced to silence the Kindle.
Text-to-speech gives people like the elderly and special needs children and adults' opportunities to follow along in an eBook by having the ability to both read and listen. This is a HUGE educational step for reading literacy. And, it will be very disappointing for educators, parents, and special needs people if this feature is omitted.
My sister who has myasthenia gravis, which is a muscular disorder, benefits from applications that transfer text-to-speech and speech-to-text. On good days, she prefers to read books but on days she is weak she has the opportunity to listen. So is it true to say "Authors and Publishers want to deny special needs people the right to "listen" to eBooks thus denying special needs people the right to education, to learning, to books?"
There are many text-to-speech applications on the market. I can download eBooks today and read and listen with software applications like "Read and Write Gold". Windows Vista has an accessibility applet called "Narrator", a text-to-speech program that reads aloud on-screen text.
Why are authors and publishers targeting Amazon? Oh that's right, authors and publisher can demand Amazon remove helpful features in a product that is already over-priced because they're Amazon's vendors; without their products Amazon would have to step down from the book selling industry, which made them who they are. So the authors and publishers want to punish Amazon for taking bread and butter off their plates.
My only recommendation to Amazon for the Kindle is reduce your price. You are priced right up there with the iPhone\iTouch — which offers many more creature features than the Kindle. Bring your product down to $99.00 and I will buy one, and I bet your sales would take off (especially in today's economy–you have priced your product out of the market.)
Thank you Amazon for your products and services.
Shame on you authors and publishers for limiting accessibility features for special needs people. Customers have already invested in your book, "Why deny your customers alternative accessibilities?" Greed kills–learn a lesson from the peanut people.
