Quote :

"NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the U.S. Treasury Department is violating the law by failing to design and issue currency that is readily distinguishable to blind and visually impaired people. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld a 2006 district court ruling that could force the United States to redesign its money so blind people can distinguish between values. Suggested solutions include making bills different sizes, including raised markings or using foil printing which is a method of hot stamping that is tactically discernible. "

http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/20/news/money_blind/index.htm?cnn=yes

5/20/2008 4:42:00 PM

I don't have anything against blind people. But I hope the Supreme Court overturns this decision.

5/20/2008 4:43:54 PM

I suggest curing blindness.

(And eliminating money.)

5/20/2008 4:45:50 PM

its not as if they don't have check cards as a viable alternative

5/20/2008 5:06:12 PM

check cards don't work everywhere and come with a fee (for someone) for their use.

i don't know if we should bother with changing all of our money, but if there is some reasonably cost effective way of doing it, then i don't have a problem.

one idea i had was to remove corners to identify bills (no corners removed = $1, 1 corner = $5, 2 corners, short side = $10, 2 corners, long side = $20, 2 corners, opposite = $50, 3 corners = $100.

this would avoid having to make new registers drawers and would likely be cheap to implement. the only major issue that there might be is wear and tear on the bills.

[Edited on May 20, 2008 at 5:11 PM. Reason : .]

5/20/2008 5:11:31 PM

plus say you went to pay a blind person their change and cut a corner off a dollar bill and made it like it was a 20

5/20/2008 5:14:05 PM

they can add braile to the money or they can just make different sized bills.

5/20/2008 5:22:29 PM

^^I would totally do that all the time to blind bums

5/20/2008 5:23:59 PM

I think our currency is in need of a major overhaul anyway. The overhaul could/should help the blind, but that should not be the main or even a major impetus of the change.

5/20/2008 5:29:58 PM

I wonder if Braille would hold out given the heavy wear and tear on currency, especially lower denominations. Probably the size of bills would be the most logical way of doing it. Does any other nation have special adaptations for the blind with regards to currency?

5/20/2008 5:30:10 PM

how about we don't fucking worry about it. Being blind sux, but they need to accept that it's a disability and learn to live with it. Making the money easily distinguishable to them still doesn't stop someone from ripping them off by telling them the wrong price.

5/20/2008 5:37:53 PM

must pay in ones. Problem solved.

Seriously though, wouldn't giving blind folks a scanner that detects the type of bills be way cheaper than changing all the currency. I have to think that making different sized bills would be an incredible headache for all sorts of businesses that do any sort of vending (ATMs etc...)

Heck, I'm sure the blind already qualify for all sorts of federal assistance, the $$-scanner I suggest couldn't cost that much with modern technologies.

5/20/2008 5:40:23 PM

and that still doesn't stop the unscrupulous merchant from saying "35 bux" when the price is actually 15.

5/20/2008 5:47:14 PM

my grandmother who lives in Egypt does perfectly well in distinguishing between different bills, she uses paperclips as a means to identifying and organizing her pocket book.

5/20/2008 5:57:50 PM

This reminds me of Matt Roloff on Little People, Big World. The guys is always complaining about how he has to do things differently because the city, gov., business, etc. does not design things/make laws with midgets in mind. He acts like it's ridiculous that people would not design things around the convenience of an incredibly small portion of the population.

5/20/2008 6:07:47 PM

^^^^ i'm pretty sure that such scanners have been available commercially for years.

5/20/2008 6:29:27 PM

cant we just ask that new govenor of NY what he prefers? he'd prolly pick the best idea cause he'd have first hand knowledge and hes a politician

5/20/2008 6:33:41 PM

^^ youre right, they have

^^^^^^ the lady who ran (runs?) the snack shop in the 1811 Building has a tiny little device that puts about 1" or less of the short edge of a bill in it, and it speaks aloud the denomination.

its not terribly complex any more. i doubt it's $20 worth of parts.



[Edited on May 20, 2008 at 6:58 PM. Reason : ]

5/20/2008 6:57:23 PM

they should have machines for the blind that they can run their bills through and it will print braile on it

5/20/2008 6:58:42 PM

Quote :

"I suggest curing blindness. (And eliminating money.)"

explain why eliminating one of the most efficient means of measuring human wants / needs against services / goods would be beneficial. (no troll)

5/20/2008 7:43:45 PM

Quote :

"this would avoid having to make new registers drawers and would likely be cheap to implement. "

a lot of things would still have to be augmented if this was implemented, as with any currency change.


soda machines, coin machines, juke boxes, automated money counters, etc...


check cards are accepted most places and are becoming increasingly more so.

5/20/2008 7:47:17 PM

Quote :

"this would avoid having to make new registers drawers and would likely be cheap to implement. "

a lot of things would still have to be augmented if this was implemented, as with any currency change.


soda machines, coin machines, juke boxes, automated money counters, etc...


check cards are accepted most places and are becoming increasingly more so.

5/20/2008 7:47:45 PM

This is what happens when you get liberals in charge. This is the dumbest thing I have ever heard of.

5/20/2008 8:44:44 PM

Make bills with little notches cut along an inch of one of the edges. Like a saw blade. The number/shape of notches would differ according to the denomination

BOOM

I JUST DID THAT

5/20/2008 8:45:47 PM

^ What happens when the bills wear out or someone cuts extra notches into their bills?

5/20/2008 10:59:16 PM

or if it gives them paper cuts....

i'm just sayin

[Edited on May 20, 2008 at 11:03 PM. Reason : .]

5/20/2008 11:00:49 PM

Who gives a fuck.

5/20/2008 11:01:49 PM

Teach their dogs to count.

5/20/2008 11:06:12 PM

oh yeah. so with my idea, it would make more sense to reverse (one should have four corners out and a the higher bills less. basically reverse the order. that way cutting the corners would only reduce the value of the currency and would thus be a waste of time.

and as far as the people who say "fuck it". i would agree if this would be particularly expensive or change things much, but i don't think it would. it doesn't necessarily have to be corners taken out, they could be rounded edges instead of sharp corners. just some sort of simple distinguishing shape that doesn't change the overall size of the bill.

5/20/2008 11:53:49 PM

It's certainly something to consider down the road when we change currency again, but the blind are such a small percentage of the population that it makes no sense to do a complete overhaul of the system for their sake. They've made it this far without widespread reports of blind people putting $1000 bills into vending machines.

5/20/2008 11:56:16 PM

^yeah that's exactly what i mean. it's not urgent. but if it's a negligible cost (an extra blade for the bills to go through, or just a new blade), then why the hell not?

5/20/2008 11:57:24 PM

Since I can't imagine that ripping off blind people is an "industry" with enough wealth-making potential to make people willing to risk their lives, I suggest the death penalty. I seriously can't imagine that we'd have to hang more than ten fraudulent sons of bitches before the rest of them found something with a higher profit margin to take chances on.

5/21/2008 5:41:29 AM

Before Germany switched to the Euro the Mark had braile on it. Canadian money has braille as well. All it takes is poking holes in the corner of the bills and the problem is solved.

5/21/2008 7:17:12 AM

Quote :

"All it takes is poking holes in the corner of the bills and the problem is solved"

thank you...i was about to point that out. you dont have to "dimple" or emboss anything on the bill...just poke holes in it would work fine.

5/21/2008 10:11:38 AM

and as far as using a credit/check card as an alternative, wouldn't it be MUCH easier to defraud someone by simply typing in a different total than was correct than it would be to alter money?

5/21/2008 11:20:57 AM

^^^^ LOL. That's easily the best idea I've ever read in TSB.

5/21/2008 11:38:51 AM

eh i honestly have no problem with this, if they want to add braile to the money go right ahead, i'm sure the cost would be minimal compared to what we spend fighting unconstitutional wars

5/21/2008 11:54:22 AM

let's not use the "unconstitutional" argument

90% of the shit the government does is unconstitutional. if you aren't in the tiny minority of people who have a problem with that, then you have no place invoking the constitutionality argument on anything else.

5/21/2008 4:20:15 PM

Just to let you know, the Europeans already have a solution to this:



Basically, larger denomination is longer than the other, same width for all so there wouldn't be much change in money handling infastructure. ATMs only shoot out 20's so make the 20 the same size and cut down the lower and increase the larger. Same width means same cash registers can be used and vending machines wont be affected.

Blind people typically have superior touch and hearing sensations so they can tell the difference between those euros, even though most of us probably couldn't

5/21/2008 7:26:39 PM

This is a good decision to see (no pun intended). Blind people -- and for that matter, Americans generally -- deserve better than the greenback. It should be different sizes so it can be distinguished by touch. That is much more efficient for counting and actual use. It should be different colors too.

Seriously, our insistence on this ancient currency is bordering on barbaric. What the heck is wrong with us?

5/22/2008 2:26:11 AM

i dont know about you, but those socialists can die in a house fire

5/22/2008 2:31:07 AM

Quote :

" explain why eliminating one of the most efficient means of measuring human wants / needs against services / goods would be beneficial. (no troll)"

paper money is so obsolete its not even funny. I agree with the op you quoted. Its time we eliminate currency all together. Money should be completely electronic by now. This would eliminate all form of tax evasion, illegal trafficking, black market and most forms of low level corruption.

5/22/2008 2:51:10 AM

ha, surely you jest

5/22/2008 3:11:51 AM

I'm all for helping the blind. If they're smart about it, maybe the currency makers can develop something of, say, a textural nature. And there are already security strips in bills--perhaps Braille could be applied to them in some way.

Whatever the Treasury does, I hope they don't make the bills different sizes. I just don't want that.

5/22/2008 3:31:21 AM

Ahhh the joys of not having carried cash consistently for about 4 years now. I am still shocked when I see the new bills and they are all funny colors with neat designs. Sadly this has hampered the completion of my US map with the state quarters.

5/22/2008 5:41:02 AM

being blind is unfair to the blind. i suggest writing God a memo.

5/22/2008 9:59:05 AM

different sizes wouldnt solve that much unless they were drastically different...or you carried at least one 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 to compare to by touch.

5/22/2008 10:13:56 AM

idk, I bet blind people are much more sensitive to the size of objects than we are. Especially if they really trained themselves to compare sizes in money. In Taiwan each bill is just 5mm longer than the previous and this has been sufficient for blind people.

5/22/2008 10:42:03 AM

I cant argue whether it has or hasnt helped there since I know nothing of the situation but with length as the only difference I have a heck of a hard time believing most people could pick up a dollar bill that is 153mm long on its own and know that it is a $1 bill as opposed to picking up a single bill in their wallet that is $5 (and for our purposes lets say its 5mm longer) which is 158mm long. without comparing that is. Im just talking randomly picking up a bill and feeling it and knowing what denomination it is.

and for the record its considered mostly a myth that people with an impairment of one sense have better use of other senses. Although I have read where they tend to DEVELOP them a little better in life because they rely on them more than we do. but you cant just assume that all blind people are going to have such a great internal ruler that they can tell whether an object theyve picked up is 153mm or 158mm

[Edited on May 22, 2008 at 11:00 AM. Reason : ]

5/22/2008 10:55:28 AM

Quote :

" (And eliminating money.)"

COMMUNIST

5/22/2008 11:04:03 AM