[misc.handicap] ARKENSTONE Special Deal

Les.Barr@f41.n147.z1.fidonet.org (Les Barr) (02/12/90)

Index Number: 6680

[Do you think that this article is going to start the whole advertisement
 issue up again?  (Actually the original discussion is still going strong.)
   Bill   ]

I received a call from the ARKENSTONE Headquarters about 10 minutes
ago, to inform me of a new special deal!

We are now offering the Hewlett Packard ScanJet, regular price of
$995.00, at a very special rate of $0.00!  That's right, anyone
purchasing an ARKENSTONE Model E or Model S, can have a Hewlett
Packard ScanJet included at no extra cost.  This is to help those
who do not already have an ARKENSTONE, to get one.  (Real nifty
deal!!!)

This is a very limited time offer, as we only have 100 HP ScanJets
to give away, so if you are considering purchasing an ARKENSTONE,
now is the time to do it before you miss out!!!

We can only sell the ARKENSTONE OCR to those who are blind or
"print handicapped," at the special rate, so if you decide to order
direct from me, I will need these three items from you with your
order:

1. Verification of your "print handicap"
2.  Program agreement - - Affidavit stating you do not already have a scanner, and if you get another scanner within 12 months, you will send the ScanJet back.
3.  Check, money order, etc. for $2,244.00 for ARKENSTONE Model S/AT
$3,244.00 for ARKENSTONE Model E/AT,
$2,999.00 for Model S/MCA (If you own a PS II Micro-Channel)
$3,744.00 for ARKENSTONE Model E/MCA (PS II Micro-channel systems.)

If you are an organization or company, you are allowed a maximum of
three (3) ScanJets.

If you wish to contact me, or send me your order, here is my phone
numbers and mailing address:

Les Barr
2389 Heatherfield Lane
Norman, OK  73071

(405) 364-9442
24 hour data line:  (405) 366-1449

* *Note:  I know of at least one organization who is purchasing 20
ARKENSTONE's, and three individuals,  who will take advantage of
this limited offer.  This offer is currently being made available
to individuals nationally and internationally, as you are reading
this, so time is of the essence!!!  Only 96 Scanners left!

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Curtis.Oglesby@p13.f1.n360.z1.fidonet.org (Curtis Oglesby) (02/13/90)

Index Number: 6743

 LB> I received a call from the ARKENSTONE Headquarters about 10 minutes
 LB> ago, to inform me of a new special deal!

 LB> We are now offering the Hewlett Packard ScanJet, regular price of
 LB> $995.00, at a very special rate of $0.00!  That's right, anyone
 LB> purchasing an ARKENSTONE Model E or Model S, can have a Hewlett
 LB> Packard ScanJet included at no extra cost.  This is to help those
 LB> who do not already have an ARKENSTONE, to get one.  (Real nifty deal!!!)

 LB> This is a very limited time offer, as we only have 100 HP ScanJets
 LB> to give away, so if you are considering purchasing an ARKENSTONE,
 LB> now is the time to do it before you miss out!!!

 LB> * *Note:  I know of at least one organization who is purchasing 20
 LB> ARKENSTONE's, and three individuals,  who will take advantage of
 LB> this limited offer.  This offer is currently being made available to
 LB> individuals nationally and internationally, as you are reading this,
 LB> so time is of the essence!!!  Only 96 Scanners left!

I agree we should allow advertising but this "ad" has the tone of
tv commercials for the local used car dealers or late, late night
tv!  Is it a real honey of a deal, Les?  Does it slice and dice?
Are your operators waiting to take our calls?  Geez, Les.  Give us
a break!

Curt

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Ron.Rothenberg@f460.n101.z1.fidonet.org (Ron Rothenberg) (02/13/90)

Index Number: 6752

 LB> I received a call from the ARKENSTONE Headquarters about 10 
 LB> minutes ago, to inform me of a new special deal! 
 LB> 
 LB> We are now offering the Hewlett Packard ScanJet, regular price 
 LB> of $995.00, at a very special rate of $0.00!  That's right, 
 LB> anyone purchasing an ARKENSTONE Model E or Model S, can have a 
 LB> Hewlett Packard ScanJet included at no extra cost. This is to 
 LB> help those who do not already have an ARKENSTONE, to get one.  
 LB> (Real nifty deal!!!) 
 LB> This is a very limited time offer, as we only have 100 HP 
 LB> ScanJets to give away, so if you are considering purchasing an 
 LB> ARKENSTONE, now is the time to do it before you miss out!!!

Special note to anyone replacing an old scanner:  I am looking to buy a
flatbed full-page scanner - preferably used (unless Les can get me a
good deal on just the scanner.) Would prefer a HP Scanjet or Scanjet+,
but will consider other brands.  OCR software desirable but not
necessary.

Leave message here or call me at 

(617) 489-2320

-rsr-

... Most Improved BBSer (1989) American Sighted BSers' Association. 

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Walter.Siren@f8.n396.z1.fidonet.org (Walter Siren) (02/13/90)

Index Number: 6765

>: I agree we should allow advertising but this "ad" has the tone of tv
>: commercials for the local used car dealers or late, late night tv!  Is 
it a
>: real honey of a deal, Les?  Does it slice and dice?  Are your 
operators
>: waiting to take our calls?  Geez, Les.  Give us a break!
      
That is a matter of oppinion.  Personally I was glad that Les posted this
ad.  I was interested in buying an arkenstone, but I was not in a hurry
to make my purchase, since I was investagating all of my options. 
However, this saving made a difference, and made me get on the ball.  If
he had not posted this ad, I would not have known about this deal.  Is it
advertising, when someone tells you that a company has made a donation
that you can take advantage of.
               Walter

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Les.Barr@p0.f41.n147.z1.fidonet.org (Les Barr) (02/13/90)

Index Number: 6768

Curtis Oglesby writes:
 
 > LB> I received a call from the ARKENSTONE Headquarters about 10
 > minutes  LB> ago, to inform me of a new special deal!
 > 
 >  
 >  LB> We are now offering the Hewlett Packard ScanJet, regular price of
 >  LB> $995.00, at a very special rate of $0.00!  That's right, anyone
 >  LB> purchasing an ARKENSTONE Model E or Model S, can have a Hewlett
 >  LB> Packard ScanJet included at no extra cost.  This is to help those
 > LB> who do not already have an ARKENSTONE, to get one.  (Real nifty
 > deal!!!) 
 >  
 >  LB> This is a very limited time offer, as we only have 100 HP ScanJets
 >  LB> to give away, so if you are considering purchasing an ARKENSTONE,
 >  LB> now is the time to do it before you miss out!!!
 > 
 >  
 >  LB> * *Note:  I know of at least one organization who is purchasing 20
 >  LB> ARKENSTONE's, and three individuals,  who will take advantage of
 > LB> this limited offer.  This offer is currently being made available
 > to  LB> individuals nationally and internationally, as you are reading
 > this,  LB> so time is of the essence!!!  Only 96 Scanners left!
 > 
 >  
 > I agree we should allow advertising but this "ad" has the tone of tv
 > commercials for the local used car dealers or late, late night tv!  Is
 > it a real honey of a deal, Les?  Does it slice and dice?  Are your
 > operators waiting to take our calls?  Geez, Les.  Give us a break!
 > 
 >  
 > Curt
 
 
Thanks Curtis, appreciate the effort you put in your messages!  >GRIN<  
Actually, I have refrained from placing such "advertisements" in Abled up 
to this point, but those of us who are "reading impaired," can appreciate 
a good deal, as adaptive equipment is generally too expensive for most of 
us to afford.  Usually what occurs is they place the lable "adaptive 
equipment," on it and multiply the price twice.
 
In the case of the ARKENSTONE however, because we are "reading 
handicapped," we are Able to afford this OCR at less than what the 
"normal" market place pays for the same equipment, only they use theirs 
for decorating magazines, ads, and the like, while we "reading 
handicapped," use it for reading.
 
0 Dollars is a great price for a $1,000. piece of equipment, and if I had 
known about this opportunity, I would now be $1,000.00 richer.  There is 
an old saying, "Opportunity only knocks once," and this is one of those 
times.  If you wish to stare a gift horse in the mouth, that is your 
business, but I do appreciate your giving me this extra "air-time" in 
Abled, because it probably would've gone unnoticed if it hadn't been for 
your response.
 
Have a good one,
 
-Les
BTW, To answer your question, yes it is really a good deal, and this is a very 
limited offer.  Hopefully my attemped informative messages will afford someone t
 ability to read print, who wouldn't have ordinarilly been able.  Hence, the 
name, 'ABLED!'  That's what we're all about here, after all!    TTYL, -Les
 

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Les.Barr@f41.n147.z1.fidonet.org (Les Barr) (02/27/90)

Index Number: 6961

In a message of <21 Feb 90 12:05:18>, Pat Goltz (1:300/3) writes:

 PG-"Bravo! Your message to Les Barr in response to his personal attack. I 
 PG-"always get so hurt that I can't respond like that.
 PG-"  I think the points you raise against the ad were valid. It's too bad 
 PG-"that Les has chosen to concentrate on personalities rather than the 
 PG-"issues you raised.

You raise a good point here Pat, and I did consider this after I
had gotten over the initial shock of being attacked for an earlier
post attempting to let people know about the good deal ARKENSTONE
was letting we "print impaireds" in on.  However, sometimes the
best of us allow things to slip away from us; hence, missing the
actual point.

I also sometimes forget that others do not have the same
experiences I do; therefore, I pressume they should understand what
I am saying is true.  (I don't believe any of us like to have our
word questioned, and I apologize for allowing myself to react in
this manner to such.)

Back to the initial point, if anyone can come up with a product of
this nature that is more accurate as an OCR (optical character
reader) and can beat the price of a $2,244.00 OCR package with the
free HP ScanJet Scanner, I will apologize for all statements that
are inaccurate about this being a great deal.  However, once the
research is completed, and those who take this challenge find that
I am accurate in my urgings, I ask only that they post a message
here stating their findings.  (No apology required, affirmation
will suffice!)

I truly believe this is the best equipment for optical character
reading out there, and anyone whom researches optical character
readers will find none better than the ARKENSTONE.

BTW, I purchased my ARKENSTONE in December and paid full price for
my package.  If I had waited one more month, I might have been able
to take advantage of receiving a free Hewlett Packard ScanJet
Scanner.  (My hope is that someone here can have access to
something I missed out on, so I will at least know someone who got
a free scanner!!!)

Sincerly,

Les Barr
'the Handyman Sysop'

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Curtis.Oglesby@p13.f1.n360.z1.fidonet.org (Curtis Oglesby) (02/27/90)

Index Number: 6971

 PG> It was quite interesting to me that after I told you I agree with
 PG> you completely, another person here said that he had decided to buy
 PG> the ARKENSTONE under the special offer. So it served someone after
 PG> all! Oh well, live and learn. Perhaps guidelines in writing
 PG> promotions would be a good idea. Simply announcing the availability
 PG> without the hype would seem to be the way to go.

Well, I never commented on whether the Arkenstone was good or bad.
I don't know if it is or not, but that really wasn't the point.
Leaving out the hype was the point.

Curt

BTW, if it is a good product, then others should know about it.
Hopefully, those who have direct experience with it will give us
their opinion.  An unbiased opinion would be very helpful.

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Marda.Anderson@p0.f4.n393.z1.fidonet.org (Marda Anderson) (03/03/90)

Index Number: 7065

Personally, I am very glad that Les posted his announcement of the 
Arkenstone.  I have been wanting to purchase one for a long time.  It 
has been proven to be a very good product and does indeed do as Les 
says it does.  This special deal really is a good thing for those of us 
who could not normally afford to purchase such equipment and such 
equipment does serve to increase the independence of visually impaired 
people in all sorts of ways.  It is exciting to me that I will probably 
now be able to buy this system and will be able to access my personal 
mail, affording me the dignity of privacy which I have always so 
desperately craved.  It is exciting that I will be able to have timely 
access to such things without having to wait for someone's convenience 
to read things to me.  The possibilities for increasing my ability to 
function on an equal level with sighted classmates, without having to 
scrounge up readers or wait months for books to be put on tape, is 
awesome to think about.  Certainly, this system does not totally 
eliminate the need for people ot help look up things in the library and 
stuff like that.  But this technology does indeed hold a lot of promise 
for us   and the Arkenstone is, from the research I've done, the one 
that seems to be the greatest value for the money.  It really does seem 
to have advantages over more expensive machines as well.  I find it 
interesting that Les cross posted his original announcement in both 
this echo and in blinktalk.  IN blinktalk, the announcement was warmly 
received because everybody there appreciated the value of the equipment 
and the intent of the message, to get the equipment to as many visually 
impaired people as possible who wouldn't perhaps be able to get it 
otherwise.  I didn't see any hype in that message.  I knew enough 
already about the equipment to know he was telling the truth and I saw 
his motives.  It disturbs me to think that something like that would 
generate such controversy in an echo where we're supposed to be helping 
each other.   
marda

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