The founder of Basecamp, Jason Fried has taken the time to share his experience with the UbiDuo on his blog. While many people have been resistant to the idea of using a UbiDuo for various reasons, the biggest reason is peer pressure by other people within the community. Many community leaders are very vocal and against the product even though they have never taken the time to try it out and then make a decision.
Jason Fried talks about how amazing the experience was and how quickly it was set up. Clearly, Jason Curry, the founder has had a lot of experience setting up a UbiDuo and knows exactly how to get everything in working order fast enough to have it not be an inconvenience however that doesn’t change the fact that it’s a simple tool that can make a lot of peoples lives easier. Somebody that has been the writer of NY bestseller books and a hip way to do project management recognizes the potential behind the UbiDuo but not lead members of the community? Is there something wrong with that picture?
Sometimes it takes years for something to be socially accepted however that doesn’t mean that the product is wrong or not useful. There is a lot of resistance also because people are afraid they will replace interpreters. That is not the case. UbiDuo is mainly marketed as a “face to face” communicator. With the rise of the VRS industry, many interpreters have chosen to go work for the industry rather than stay in schools, hospitals, and community events. Some VRS providers have (in the past) gone as far as prohibiting their interpreters from doing community interpreting and this has in turn caused undue stress on the community.
The concept of the UbiDuo being a face to face communicator has been shared in comments by the Basecamp founder.
If the community were able to eliminate the need for interpreters during one on one conversations, this would help with the shortage of interpreters and maximize them for larger meetings or classroom settings. It’s also necessary to remember that fewer than half a million people in the 1970’s used sign language as their primary mode of communication.
Another common issue is, “My English is not good enough”. When somebody says that it shows how little they realize that the rest of the world has horrible English and there is nothing shameful about it. English is a native ASL user’s second language not their primary language. With that in mind, it shouldn’t be shameful at all to communicate in text form.
Jason Curry has founded sComm to market and spread the word about UbiDuo and what it can do to help knock down barriers. Just like not everybody likes Jason Fried, not everybody is going to like Jason Curry and not everybody is gong to like the UbiDuo but it works for some people. The important thing is to approach devices like this and “I See What You Say” with an open mind.
Too many people have been demoralized by their peers because of their desire to use the UbiDuo. This is the wrong approach. Just like not everybody uses interpreters, not everybody will use a UbiDuo but those that do use UbiDuos use them for a reason.
