The Future

[Guest guest]

The Future (Not too far from now)

Not far in the future! Not at all...............

Operator : " Thank you for calling Pizza Hut. May I have your order? "

Customer: " Hello, can I order.. "

Operator : " Can I have your multi purpose card number first, Sir? "

Customer: " It's eh..., hold on....6102049998-45-54610 "

Operator : " OK... you're... Mr Sheehan and you're calling from 17 Meadow

Drive. Your home number is 494 2366, your office 745 2302 and your mobile is

014 266 2566. Would you like to have the delivery made to 17 Meadow Drive?

Customer: " Yes, how did you get all my phone numbers? "

Operator : " We are connected to the system Sir "

Customer: " May I order your Seafood Pizza... "

Operator : " That's not a good idea Sir "

Customer: " How come? "

Operator : " According to your medical records, you have high blood pressure

and even higher cholesterol level Sir "

Customer: " What?... What do you recommend then? "

Operator : " Try our Low Fat Soybean Yogurt Pizza. You'll like it "

Customer: " How do you know for sure? "

Operator : " You borrowed a book entitled " Popular Soybean Yogurt Dishes "

from the National Library last week Sir "

Customer: " OK I give up... Give me three family sized ones then, how much

will that cost?

Operator : " That should be enough for your family of 10, Sir. The total is

$49.99

Customer: " Can I pay by credit card? "

Operator : " I'm afraid you have to pay us cash, Sir. Your credit card is

over the limit and you're owing your bank $3720.55 since October last year "

Operator : " That's not including the late payment charges on your housing

loan Sir.

Customer: " I guess I have to run to the neighborhood ATM and withdraw some

cash before your guy arrives "

Operator : " You can't do that Sir. Based on the records, you've reached your

daily limit on machine withdrawal today "

Customer: " Never mind just send the pizzas, I'll have the cash ready. How

long is it gonna take anyway? "

Operator : " About 45 minutes Sir, but if you can't wait you can always come

and collect it on your motorcycle... "

Customer: " What the..? "

Operator : " According to the details in system, you own a Harley,..registration

number E1123... "

Customer: " @#%/$@ & ?# "

Operator : " Better watch your language Sir. Remember on 15th July 1987 you

were convicted of using abusive language to a policeman...

Customer:( Speechless)

Operator : " Is there anything else Sir? "

Customer: " Nothing... by the way... aren't you giving me that 3 free bottles

of Pepsi as advertised? "

Operator : " We normally would Sir, but based on your records you're also

diabetic....... " !!!!

~ " We are connected to many people in many ways and although the ways may not be

evident in the beginning they will come to light at some time in our lives. "

~ " If I could reach up and hold a star for every time you've made me smile, the

entire evening sky would be in the palm of my hand. "

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 4/23/2004 5:10:17 PM Pacific Standard Time,

justagram@... writes:

I think our prelingual members can answer this better than I can but

it seems to me that most of them probably never really had the

advantage of speech reading so probably do little of that now with

their implants. I think they are learning to comprehend speech

because of the device. Hopefully, they will see this and comment

because their input is valuable to this thread.

I was thinking on orginal post too...... I was born profoundly deaf, and I

can tell you that i have already have started to understand speech, something

that I wasn't able to before, just rely on what I " think " i heard and

lipreadings.

Now, 3 months since my activation day, i have been talking on phone. It is

not easy but it gets easier all the time.

I do agree that implant today is really good, there is no need to wait. Of

the several pre-ling that I have stayed in touch ether by IM/messager or

email,,,, many of them are now making head and tail of understanding speeches.

Your fiend will have to understand that it will take longer for our group to

understand speeches than those who had recent memories. There is no guarantee

but I have seen enough to convince me that we are being helped.

Lee

[Guest guest]

I am sorry to read that this gentleman has so many issues to deal

with. I think he is right about needing speech comprehension but

with today's implant, it is very doubtful that he will not have

speech comprehension but this will not come without a lot of effort

on his part.

I think our prelingual members can answer this better than I can but

it seems to me that most of them probably never really had the

advantage of speech reading so probably do little of that now with

their implants. I think they are learning to comprehend speech

because of the device. Hopefully, they will see this and comment

because their input is valuable to this thread.

I would like to add that he has two ears. A CI today could help him

in the present and future technology may help him further in the

future.

Alice

> I have been chatting with a fella who is blind and deaf and has

> little mobility. He lost his hearing when quite young, so has

little memory. He feels that if he cannot get speech comprehension,

anything else is of little benefit. He thinks waiting for new

technology will pay off. I think he believes that future technology

will give him speech comprehension. We are debating this. What do

you all think?>