Welcome to part one of our three-part series featuring our interviews from ATIA 2012 in Orlando, Florida. After some initial greetings from Jamie Pauls and Joe Steinkamp, we hear Jamie’s interview with Lary Skutchan of American Printing House for the Blind. Next, Derek Lane tells us all about BookShare. Joe follows with an interview featuring low-vision products from Ash. Derek brings us information about Click and Go Maps. Jamie learns about two stand-alone reading devices from Abisee. Next, Joe tells us about another video magnifier from the Low Vision Store. Derek tells us about several turnkey solutions from Compusult. Wrapping up our first episode, Jamie visits with Patrick from Learning Ally.

Let’s do some math! On this plan, your Atom-based netbook running Windows XP will set you back about $1160 in total, assuming you’re somehow able to keep your internet usage below 200MB a month. (Note: Nobody does this.) If you want a slightly more realistic plan—a still-anemic 5GB a month—you’ll have to step up to $60 and month, which pushes your cost of ownership to $1640.

Even a modest cellphone plan adds up a to a lot in the long term, but we expect something in return: decent calling plans, effectively unlimited data, and a free, or at least heavily subsidized handset. The only thing you’re getting here is an oppressive transfer cap, some Wi-Fi hotspot access and about $100 off street price on a few modestly-specced netbooks. I guess if you’re set on AT&T’s data service anyway, it’s not a terrible deal, but it’s sure as hell not a good one. [