Quoted: One other thing, if I own a business I want people that are handicapped to use my store or company. I wouldn't mind making a few small changes that have little or no effect on other without handicap's. A lot of you people deserve to go a week with a handicap just to see how ignorant and selfish you all are. Again, I do not see a problem with deaf people getting to read subtitles as long as they are the only ones who see it.

There's a wealth of bliss behind your arguments. (ignorance=bliss)

If YOU have a business and WANT to cater to people, go ahead. Why should the government REQUIRE EVERY BUSINESS to cater to anyone who has a special need?

We're not talking about $250 worth of stuff to make this work, this is a bit of a larger investment. This isn't "making a few small changes" as you so flippantly claim you wouldn't mind doing. I'm sure the movie theater wouldn't mind making "a few small changes", either.

It would be one thing if this was a settlement between deaf people and say... the DMV, or a grocery store, or somewhere people MIGHT ACTUALLY NEED TO BE. That may have SOME bit of reason behind it. But NOOOO, this is trying to force an independant business to spend it's money catering to people to ENTERTAIN THEM.

Excuse me, but what exactly is so important about going to a movie that the poor people who cant hear need to be protected by our government so that they can survive in life (having watched a movie)?

It's not like these people can't buy groceries because they cant hear the checkout clerk... they're not gonna die from malnutrition because they can't hear a movie. They're not going to miss out on some life changing revelation sent from Holliberalwood if they don't "hear" (read) the movie.

If I was in charge of those theaters I'd put in one or two screens with this equipment and then charge $25 a ticket extra for those screenings until the equipment is paid off (and maybe a bit longer). Obviously, then my company would be going thru more legal BS...

A lot of us deserve to be handicapped for a week huh? cause we're selfish, huh?

Hey, does that mean you deserve to have to pay for all businesses "handicapped accessible" expenses for a week to show you how selfish you are?

I'll take that challenge, I'll "lose" my hearing for a week as soon as you volunteer to pay for the new theaters CC devices in my area. We'll both get to see how "selfish" the other one is.

Heck, let's make it a year.

At the end of that year, you'll be whining about the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars you've had to give up out of pocket, in order to (if you actually had a business) recoup a few hundred dollars in profits.

I will have simply waited for the DVD to come out with subtitles for $15 in 6 months.

First off.  I'm deaf.   I have a Cochlear Implant (which a fancy hearing aid - a digital ear replacement).

I can't see movies without these kinds of systems.  In the entire state of Massachusetts, there are 5 screens total, out of hundreds of theatres, thats 1 screen each, in 5 theatres, one of which is only on part of the year, and shows movies that are out on DVD (a lecture hall at MIT).  I have about a 1:10 chance of seeing a new movie that comes out.  I eagerly check my email every thursday that notifies me what is going to be coming out, and I'm usually disappointed (last 3 weeks, all 4 screens had "shark tale").  Add into that some production companies just don't send out captions at all.

That said, I'm really not entirely comfortable with forcing movie theatres to install the system.  Granted, the system does only cost about $2k plus a cheap computer, and compared to the cost of installing handicap ramps and whatnot, it is probably not too bad, but I still feel weird about it.

I'd be a lot more comfortable with a tax writeoff for theatres to install this stuff.

As for whether or not it affects the other viewers, I have to say, its a load of crap.  Whenever I've gone to the movies with a friend, they've never even known about the reversed LED screen that displays the captions until I showed them the reflector and pointed out the display.  I can imagine that a couple of people right below the LED display (~15 feet) might possible see it, but they're already in the direct light of the huge projection bulb that is in between them and the caption board.  

Quoted: I'm deaf.   I have a Cochlear Implant (which a fancy hearing aid - a digital ear replacement).

If you'll permit me to be rude for a moment, I am curious about something.

How does your hearing with the implant compare to natural hearing (I'm assuming you had your hearing once)? Is it metallic? Is it scratchy? Is it clear as a bell, if only in mono?

I ask because I cannot imagine anything other than what I am used to (I am blessed with phenominal hearing, which offsets blind-as-a-bat eyes), and I'd like to gain some understanding of it.

If I've crossed a line, just tell me to stuff it!

I think I read that the rear window caption cost 11K per theater.   Hollywood is going to incur expense because they have to caption the film.  Personally, I think a lot of people need a reality adjustment.  I have a significant hearing loss.  I can understand well enough in a quiet area, but in a noisy location I'm the guy saying 'What did you say?'.  So if there is a real concern for the hearing impaired, why not kick out the people who cannot shut their mouth, turn off the cell phones, etc in the theater?  My solution is to resist the instant gratification the majority of our society believes they are owed.  I get the DVD a few weeks or months after the release and watch it at home.

For those of you who think they should make it available for the blind, they do.  WGBH in Boston has pushed this for a long time.  They have a descriptive video system so blind people can watch tv.  The narration describing what is happening on the screen is transmitted on the SAP channel of the TV station.  This is an tedious process because they have to study the scene and determine what to say that will fit around the dialogue.

A few interesting technical bits.  Lets take a weather warning that your local tv station may want to crawl across the screen, one of the national emergency messages, or an Amber alert.  They should now be at the top of the screen so if someone is watching the captioning, the message isn't blocked by the captioning.  

I don't think the time is too far away when the gov't will mandate the tv (or whatever) will turn itself on to tell you what they think you need to know.  

Quoted: Quoted: I'm deaf.   I have a Cochlear Implant (which a fancy hearing aid - a digital ear replacement). If you'll permit me to be rude for a moment, I am curious about something. How does your hearing with the implant compare to natural hearing (I'm assuming you had your hearing once)? Is it metallic? Is it scratchy? Is it clear as a bell, if only in mono? I ask because I cannot imagine anything other than what I am used to (I am blessed with phenominal hearing, which offsets blind-as-a-bat eyes), and I'd like to gain some understanding of it. If I've crossed a line, just tell me to stuff it!

I don't consider your questions rude!  Ask away.

It is ... different.  Basically, hearing really comes down to electrical impulses transmitted to the brain.  In my head, the broken part that interprets sonic waves into electrical impulses is just kind of bypassed.  When I first got it, it wasn't tinny or scratchy, it was just.... different.   Now (1+ year after activation) my ear/brain has 'learned' how to interpret these signals into sounds.  While its far from perfect, I can have a conversation, on the phone, with somebody who has an accent, and still make out most of what they're saying.  

Quoted: I don't consider your questions rude!  Ask away.

Thanks. It's just.... touchy, you know?

It is ... different.  Basically, hearing really comes down to electrical impulses transmitted to the brain.  In my head, the broken part that interprets sonic waves into electrical impulses is just kind of bypassed.  When I first got it, it wasn't tinny or scratchy, it was just.... different.   Now (1+ year after activation) my ear/brain has 'learned' how to interpret these signals into sounds.  While its far from perfect, I can have a conversation, on the phone, with somebody who has an accent, and still make out most of what they're saying.

Wow. That's awsome.

Let's hear it for the medical device industry (of which I'm a part)!

It's stories like that which make it all worthwhile....