This message was meant to go to the list, yesterday, but I hit reply and
sent it to the sender instead. Here it is.
Michael
----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Forzano" <[email protected]>
To: "Grant Hardy" <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, March 03, 2009 3:13 PM
Subject: Re: [Braillenote] KeyChat Isn't Looking Too Pretty
Hi,
I have to say this. I am a programmer myself, and there are no hardware
limitations to coding a client for MSN messenger. None at all. The problem
is, HumanWare likes to decide what's best for us. The sign in invisibly is
a little creepy, huh? Well, maybe to Hw, but come on, I thought HW
consisted of blind people. Why don't they come on this list and give us a
proper explanation? The BN is way behind all the other products, and
obviously, these other products have bypassed your so-called hardware
limitations. The only thing I can see as a problem is the OS upgrade, but
you know what? When the Classic became the MPower was the perfect
opportunity to use more up-to-date hardware. HTML email, better word
support, and more popular instant messengers should not be a problem.
That's what Microsoft's API's are for. Seriously, what have you guys at HW
been doing? If it were up to me, I wouldn't use a BN anymore, but it's
what I'm used to, and that's how HW is getting us all. They won't
disintegrate, since a great many of us won't want to, or can't afford to
switch notetakers. This is a disgrace, a complete disgrace.
Mike
----- Original Message -----
From: "Grant Hardy" <[email protected]>
To: "BrailleNote mailing list" <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, March 02, 2009 10:19 PM
Subject: Re: [Braillenote] KeyChat Isn't Looking Too Pretty
Jahmal,
Saying that Humanware will disintegrate is a little strong, lol, but
they do need to revamp their attitude a bit. The world will not adapt
to BrailleNote users; BrailleNote users have to adapt to the world.
So using KeyChat as an example, the social scene at my university will
not migrate to Google Talk simply because it would be easier for the
handful of BrailleNote users on campus; rather, by using scripted
instant messaging clients such as Windows Live Mobile, that handful of
users should be adapting to everyone else. This analogy extends to
other parts of blindness notetaking, from compatible document formats
to reading PowerPoint presentations to reading rich Emails that people
send us, etc..
My philosophy--blindness products needing to adapt to the mainstream
world rather than the reverse--is the one that Freedom Scientific and
the PAC Mate seem to be following. And while things can get a bit
sticky sometimes, particularly in the early days of a device like the
PAC Mate, it's a philosophy that I think will work much better than
Humanware's, unless some SERIOUS work is done to make BrailleNote more
adaptable.
At this point in my life I really only use a notetaker for just that,
"note taking", maybe light web browsing, and reading, doing most of my
other computer-related tasks on a mobile phone or full computer. I
therefore have no problem sticking with the BrailleNote for now, which
performs these tasks fairly well. But if you want to have the
complete power of a mobile device, I sadly have to say that the
BrailleNote just might not be there, yet. Humanware, I'm still a
fairly loyal BrailleNote user, so listen to me, please!
Cheers,
Grant
On 3/2/09, Jahmal Lovato <[email protected]> wrote:
It's not windows live and yahoo that will disentagrate, it's HW!
On Mon, 2 Mar 2009 18:03:53 -0800, Grant Hardy wrote:
Hi all,
In today's Tech Talk presentation on KeySoft 8, I emphasized the fact
that
while nearly everyone on the University of British Columbia campus with
me
carries around laptops and mobile devices with Windows Live Messenger
and
Yahoo! Messenger, I know nobody who uses Google Talk, iChat, or any
other
open instant messaging service. And with two other notetaking
products--the
Braille Sense and the PAC Mate--supporting Windows Live, I asked at what
stage, if at all, the BrailleNote would follow suit. In an evasive
response, Dave Wilkinson from Humanware implied that somehow Windows
Live
and Yahoo! were going to disintegrate, so it really isn't necessary
anyway.
Not true: the one and only reason neither Yahoo! nor Windows Live need
to
use an open instant messaging standard is due to the sheer volume of
users
who already populate their services. Rather than adapting to this truth
as
other competing products have, the BrailleNote from Humanware will
change
the way you communicate in realtime...if you can convince everyone you
know
to switch instant mesaging clients.
There is also no way to sign in invisibly (also called appearing
offline)
in
KeyChat. This is standard in all other messaging clients that I have
come
across, and is a great way to see who's online without getting flooded
with
instant messages. Greg Stilson from Humanware discounted this and
called
it
"kinda creepy", so apparently the BrailleNote user base will not see
this
function, either.
Normally I don't rant, but I am upset with the attitude of these
Humanware
representatives: instead of politely stating that these essential
features
are not yet present in KeyChat, they instead discounted their
importance.
So to summarize: communicate in real time with the 1 % of your friends
that
KeyChat will support, and don't expect to be able to sign in invisibly,
cuz
that's just kinda creepy!
Grant
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