In the Lower Left-Hand Drawer column of the December Chronicle, I included an item about the new product called the Tiny Tunes Talking mp3 player, made by Future Aids and sold by the Braille Super Store. I had thought they were separate companies but apparently they are not. the information which I gave was based solely on information I had gotten from an email that contained the announcement from the company. The announcement stated that it was fully accessible and that all of the functions talked. I have received the tiny tunes for Christmas and have found that this is not true. Some of the menu choices do not have speech but this is not admitted in the instructions. I am told that new firmware is coming out in a month or so to correct some of the problems but that remains to be seen. I feel that this proeduct, while promising, clearly needs much improvement. I would not recommend that any of you purchase it at this time without doing some research on it. I also feel that it is dishonest and unethical for a company to get money from blind people by advertising that a product is fully accessible if it is not.If it is not completely accessible, then admit it, tell us which functions speak and which ones don't and state clearly that improvements are going to be made. It also came with no written instructions of any kind. I did manage to find directions on the web site, which were ok as far as they went but left many questions unanswered. The unit which I received also does not work properly. It works for about fifteen minutes and then stops talking until I recharge the battery. When I called the company, I was told that they only answer questions by email, not by phone, which caused lots of back and forth emails that resolved nothing. Finally, the company does not offer refunds on merchandise, which I find very strange. If you don't like something you buy from them, you can get credit for ordering something else, but no money back. the company is the Braille Super Store, which also goes by several other names. This may at some time be a very good device but in my opinion it is not a good buy at this time. In other words, buyer beware. Others may be very happy with it but so far I am not. It got a very mixed review on the ACB Radio Main Menu program last night. At this time, I plan to return the defective unit but not ask for a replacement. John
_______________________________________________ ATI (Adaptive Technology Inc.) A special interest affiliate of the Missouri Council of the Blind http://moblind.org/membership/affiliates/adaptive_technology
