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/lit/ - Literature

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7010183 No.7010183 [Reply] [Original]

Hold me, /lit/.

I've been steadily going blind since I was born (now 22). Nothing can be done about it. It has gotten to the point where I can no longer distinguish printed text, not even those big-letter editions they make for old people. I'm down to big shapes and a very vague sense of colour. In a year or three, even that will be gone.

I'm currently learning braille, but it will take years and years before I'll be as fluent as I was reading traditional text. And even then, only very few works are ever printed as braille books, and most of them are 'Babby's First Book' tier.

There are some programs which scan pages of books, but they're then pronounced (I refuse to call it "read aloude) by a horrible computer voice. That robs me of all my will for reading.

There are audiobooks, sure. But I don't know. I'm done reading. Not by my own will, but there's nothing I can do about it.

Hold me /lit/


>tfw have to activate audio captcha

>> No.7010190
File: 82 KB, 499x690, borges.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
7010190

>>7010183
I feel you anon. Keep learning Braille.

>> No.7010196

at least you can get on the dole lel

>> No.7010197

>tfw no blind bf

>> No.7010201

>>7010183
at least you'll never have to read a thread as boring as this one again

>> No.7010205

>>7010196
This. My eyesight has declined in my right eye since beginning full-time work two years ago and whenever I've considered the idea of going blind the benefits tend to outweigh the negatives.

>> No.7010213

>>7010196
>mfw imagining OP's monotone computer AI reading this post to him

>> No.7010220

>>7010183
>There are some programs which scan pages of books, but they're then pronounced (I refuse to call it "read aloude) by a horrible computer voice. That robs me of all my will for reading.

The reason for this, I discovered, after attending a product fair for blind people, is that the robotic voice is free for the makers. It costs nothing to obtain and, because products for the blind or visually impaired are a niche market, costs must be kept to a minimum. How are you reading /lit/ anyway if printed text is a blur?

>> No.7010228
File: 61 KB, 633x758, 1410280413079.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
7010228

Oh god

I'm sorry for you, op.

You can try getting into music, I guess?

>> No.7010239
File: 80 KB, 600x916, C-RAMA_MAMVP_71431-600x916.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
7010239

Heightened senses
audiobooks
cool cane
do whatever the fuck you want
mad pussy
killing it

>> No.7010244

>>7010228
>implying one can actually into music without being intimately familiar with notation

>> No.7010245
File: 61 KB, 450x437, braille.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
7010245

My condolences man, get on learning Braille. If practice enough, you might be able to read faster through touch then you could by sight.

>> No.7010251

>>7010244
You can. Is music auditory or visual?

>> No.7010254

>>7010183
Anon, I truly feel sorrow for you.

No words of encouragement, this is heartbreaking.

>> No.7010270

>>7010183
Learn braille and hope for a good braille e-reader sometime soon.

>> No.7010320

Make inroads with a nice programmer to see if he can build plugins that tweak your favourite website layouts and reader programs to use better voices. Or pester google to hurry up and make a Braille phone.

>> No.7010324

time to acquire a qt gf who can read to you

>> No.7010340

>>7010270
This is unlikely to happen. Not many people will buy this. Unless they succeed in some kind of crowd-funding where everyone would donate.

>> No.7010341

If I ever knew I would go completely blind I'd just kill myself.

>> No.7010381
File: 2.00 MB, 245x207, HAHAHA.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
7010381

>>7010183
heartbreaking but:

>mfw I realized OP is probably so blind he can't read his own thread.

>> No.7010386

>>7010381
I feel so bad for laughing. This is on you!

>> No.7010418

>>7010381
kek, were going to hell.

>> No.7010467
File: 3 KB, 125x125, 1434023816609s.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
7010467

>>7010183

>> No.7010470

nigger fuck off you worthless cunt

>> No.7010472

Think about this OP. Milton went blind. What'd he do? That motherfucker went and wrote Paradise Lost.

Borges went blind and what happened? That motherfucker started cranking out brilliant short stories.

I am sorry though, friend. But it isn't all bad. Life goes on and you'll go on.

>> No.7010480

>>7010340
These already exist.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refreshable_braille_display

You can hook them up to a computer and read really fast.

But how can you type if you can't see what keys you're hitting?!

>> No.7010484

>>7010480
Touch typing you pleb.

Who looks at the keyboard when they type?

>> No.7010501

>>7010484
until someone fucks with anon's keyboard for fun and he writes 15000 pages of gibberish

>> No.7010505

>>7010501
next finnegan's wake tbh

>> No.7010544

>>7010220
Like so >>7010213 Pretty much the same voice that would be pronouncing books for me. And the voice thing makes sense, I guess. Reading is itself sort of a niche already.

>>7010381
Heh. I can! Joke is still on me, though.

>>7010480
Over here it's called blind typing. Yeah. I can also select text and have the computer reread it to me. I type quite slowly as well.

And thanks for your kind words, anons. Though it's not all bad. Yesterday I made a guy trip with my cane, but he couldn't get angry because of the sunglasses and my stuttering walk.

>> No.7010552
File: 1.01 MB, 172x162, 818.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
7010552

This thread is made funnier by the fact that OP never made another post. Not even ONCE.

>> No.7010619

Start an account on myanonamouse. They have a ton of audio books and they don't have insane ratio requirements like other private trackers.

>> No.7010698

>>7010505
This was funny. Good post m8

>> No.7010741

>>7010183
A real terror for me OP, but if possible you could torrent the learning company's great courses, it provides me with hours of enjoyment sipping coffee looking out the window. Otherwise, audible might be a really good idea for you.

Magnet address for great courses right here (according to their sales material this torrent is about 20,000 dollars)

magnet:?xt=urn:btih:6102f4b48e1c79b41bdce48060c83bb5d412ced1&dn=The%20Teaching%20Company%7EBurnedheal%7E

best of luck bro

>> No.7010880

>>7010552
Except I did: >>7010544

>>7010741
>>7010619
Sounds great, anons. I'll be sure to check this out.

>> No.7010909

Is braille a translation of letters or actual diction? because printing braille would be fuck easy if you programmed a translator.

>> No.7010962

>>7010909
It's a literal translation. Every letter corresponds to a certain combination of 6 possible dots, or absences of dots. Interpunction too.

It's probably incredibly easy to program it, but it costs a lot to print. You don't just need software, but also hardware. Although ink isn't a cost, that much is true. For obvious rasons, you can't print recto verso, though.

>> No.7010982

>>7010962
would it cost as much as buying a book? because if I were blind I would definitely print my own books

>> No.7011121

I drew half-assed blueprints for a braille display a few years back, it wouldn't be exactly standard tech but there's literally nothing stopping those from being made other than investments and enough interest to get the cost down. Sadly that's the part that isn't going to happen.

>> No.7011265

I used to work for M$FT tech support and once I got this call from a Chilean old man who happened to be blind. It was probably one of the worst conversations I ever had and it made me infinitely aware of how lucky I was for my decent eyesight.
This guy had a computer with Windows and he used some piece of software for the blind that wasn't fully compatible with the system due to being one version behind. It would read text, menus and what not, but it was a nightmare to navigate and it would make mistakes constantly. Telling him to perform the most basic actions, like close a window, click some option or open up a menu would take very long time and I could hear the robotic voice being very random as I had no idea what the guy was using to navigate the screen. I tried to suggest to use hot keys (like win+r) but how the fuck do you locate the Windows key for a person that has probably never even touched it in his life. If he'd lose control of the "pointer" we would need to go over pretty much everything. To fix his problem he'd need to access a long hidden path, delete some files, open MS Word with some custom parameters, etc. In the end I was with him for almost 3 hours and we couldn't fix shit and I wasn't angry for losing my time, I couldn't help but pity this guy and picture what my life would be like if I lost the ability to use a computer in this modern age. I tried to imagine what Borges felt like when he could no longer distinguish the print in his Don Quixote, aware he'd have to depend on others to have access to the things he loved: words.

Just imagine trying to do the simplest of things, like open up reddit or checking your email with your monitor turned off.

Fuck, I'm sorry for you OP.

>> No.7011356

>>7011265
>reddit
why did you have to say that

>> No.7011379

>>7011265
Great story man, I'm very thankful for my eyesight, we could all lose it at any time, my heart goes out to you OP

>> No.7011408

>>7011356
because I caught nihilism in the summer of 2015

sorry, my therapist tells me I say these clownish things as self deprecation

>> No.7011427

>>7010183
Look on the bright side, at least you'll be free from this shithole of a site.


>It has gotten to the point where I can no longer distinguish printed text, not even those big-letter editions they make for old people. I'm down to big shapes and a very vague sense of colour. In a year or three, even that will be gone.
How did you make this thread and how are you reading the replies?

>> No.7011435
File: 8 KB, 249x202, fregg.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
7011435

>>7011427

>> No.7011530

>>7010244
You can.

>> No.7011542

>>7010244
fucking hell you are wrong.

>> No.7011556

>>7010183
someone post the dictation frog greentext

>> No.7011560

>>7010183
I'm not being condescending OP but, have you considered suicide? That sounds like a fucking awful condition.

>> No.7011563

>>7011560
this OP,
>won't be able to see how shitty the world becomes in the next 50 years
might as well kill yourself.

>> No.7011571
File: 58 KB, 1029x409, fregg.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
7011571

>>7011556

>> No.7011585

>>7011571
ty bby ;*

>> No.7011593

>>7011427
>Look on the bright side
you cheeky cunt

>> No.7011635

>>7011571
sad tbh

>> No.7011661

>>7011635
The saddest thing here is the fact that the pic is incomplete

>> No.7011673

I'm so sorry OP. On top of learning braille, why not try and find some other hobbies that you enjoy quite a bit. Things that will appeal to your other senses? It suck that reading will be difficult, but with more things becoming digital, you most likely will have a lot more options on audio books, but there are plenty of other things in life to enjoy. Start finding them now though, so when you do become blind, maybe it won't be so hard?

>> No.7011712

>>7010197
I am blind, for your beauty outshines a thousand suns.

>> No.7011712,1 [INTERNAL] 

>>7010544
Damn OP ;_;

I doubt you'll ever see this but meditate. Try to get into buddhism.

>> No.7011712,2 [INTERNAL] 

>>7010228
this is the way to go, at this point. hearing is just as satisfying as reading/seeing in someways. kinda comparing drunkness to sex but it makes sense