Pairing is pretty easy. Advantages: 1. You can see what the iPod is saying in braille, so you can move your one hand on the screen and read the braille with the other, or use keyboard commands and read braille, or use keyboard commands and use speech... 2. You can read text you have typed, and you can type, in braille, right on the iPod. 3. Braille will work normally even if you turn speech off, so you can put the iPod in a case or somewhere without headphones and rely only on the braille; very convenient for, say, use with a gps program where it is hard to hear. Of course, gps would require the iPhone, not the iPod, but you get the point. 4. It is all wireless. 5. You can use the touch cursor to activate buttons, like using it to click links in keyweb, and the cursor works as expected in text, so editing is a lot easier than when you are only using speech.
Disadvantages: 1. Typing in braille often results in mistranslations. For example, I was trying to write the word "about" today. I wrote the a, then the b, and paused. The iPod translated the b as "but" and added it to the a, giving me "abut". However, this is because I paused; I tried the word "am" with similar results (ending up with "amore"), but if I quickly hit space after typing the m then I got "am", as I expected. 3. On the Apex, some commands are strange, such as having to use two thumb keys pressed at once to perform tasks like pressing the home button or backspacing. 4. The scroll wheel, from my quick tests this morning at Best Buy, does not seem to do anything on the iPod. 5. Needless to say, bluetooth will drain the apex battery faster than leaving it off would, though a guy at Best Buy said that wifi does not much affect the iPad, so I assume it is the same for the iPod. That is all I can think of for now. Note that I do not own an iTouch of any kind, but I have tested one out (rather quickly) and am on the [email protected] list as well as a Mac braille list whose email address escapes me at the moment. On 12/12/10, olivia <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi All, > I have seen many posts about ipod and iPhone with the > braillenote apex. Could anyone tell me how this is done, what > are the features. What are the advantages and disadvantages? > Thanks so much! I am seriously considering getting an ipod touch > for the braillenote if it's worth it. > Cheers, > Olivia > > ___ > Replies to this message will go directly to the sender. > If your reply would be useful to the list, please send a > copy to the list as well. > > To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to > [email protected] > To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit > http://list.humanware.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote > > -- Have a great day, Alex (msg sent from GMail website) [email protected]; http://www.facebook.com/mehgcap ___ Replies to this message will go directly to the sender. If your reply would be useful to the list, please send a copy to the list as well. To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to [email protected] To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit http://list.humanware.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote
