Why don't we have more purpose-built communication solutions for the handicapped? It's simple, really - economies of scale. Take a look at the god-awful, drm-wrapped, clunky, super expensive CD players for the blind and you'll understand. Those $220 devices do a much crappier job than the $49 Shuffle. The (theoretical) brilliance of Raman's design is that it makes sense for MORE than just the blind, which means that it has the potential to a much better device in ways that go beyond the interface.

My 82-year-old mother has lost all of her vision but a bit on the periphery (macular degeneration) and as her blindness set in she moved from large-print books to books on tape and on CD. But eventually those devices became impossible for her to use. Last year we got her a shuffle - spent about an hour with her teaching her how to use the no-screen device and she's been very, very happy with it ever since. We load it up, she can navigate within and between her books with relative ease. The darn thing just works. I just got her a cell phone at Christmas and I have to say NONE of the dozens and dozens of models I looked at came close to accommodating someone with low vision. I'd love to see this system or something like it. I think there's a big growing market here....