Hi Terri and all, Thanks for your comments.
First, I wish to reiterate what my colleague from New Zealand wrote. We, at Humanware Canada as well as our branches in US, UK and Australia, follow the discussion in the list and keep precious notes of your feedback. This information was integrated in the design of the new Apex and will be as well in future versions of our products. Your feedback is also precious when defining the content of new KeySoft versions such as 9.1 which included various requests from the list. As part as our commitment to Braille literacy, we continue focusing our efforts towards the development of new Braille products, the evolution of the existing ones and the resolution of software issues. For example, presently our first priority is to investigate and fix the Apex issue whereas the TTS stops and the device freezes as some of you reported to the list or to our tech support team. Best regards, Lucia Gomez Product manager -----Original Message----- From: Terri Pannett [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: 6 avril 2011 12:44 To: Alex Bec; David Meador; Josh Gregory; Greg Stilson; Lucia Gomez Cc: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Braillenote] our concerns That's the most lame-brained excuse I ever heard! Besidess, this man is in New Zealand, not Canada, where the HumanWare headquarters is located! The fact is HIMS and GW Micro take the time to respond to their lists. No apologies or recriminations were necessary on those lists. I understand why a company wouldn't want to give away information until a new product comes out, but the excuse "I don't have time," is really no excuse at all. This man in New Zealand doesn't have the time to respond to us, but what about the other employees--the ones based in Quebec? What's their excuse? Terri Amateur Radio call sign KF6CA. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Alex Bec" <[email protected]> To: "David Meador" <[email protected]>; "Josh Gregory" <[email protected]>; "Greg Stilson" <[email protected]>; "Lucia Gomez" <[email protected]> Cc: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, April 05, 2011 1:46 PM Subject: RE: [Braillenote] our concerns Hi David, Josh, I won't comment on the projects that keep the R&D team very busy as this is not my role, and I fully understand the commercial reasons for not advertising too much of what is being developed until it's almost ready to be released. I will however just say here again, that I (and other staff members) read and follow the discussions on the braillenote list on a very regular basis. If I don't step in the discussions, it's mostly a question of lack of time available to do so, and also because of confidentiality reasons that would dictate too much of what I could or couldn't say and restrain my comments. On top of that, typical internet discussion syndrome implies that some people will misinterpret things being said, escalate things, requiring follow up, corrections, explanations, even apologies, etc... and it ends up being a full time job, and a very depressing one for that matter. Some users are very skilled and knowledgeable to contribute to those discussions and help others, and it's great to have that help for everyday issues. However, when a juicy problem arises through the braillenote list, it doesn't get unnoticed, and usually ends up being investigated in the R&D. The tech support channels are of course usually a better way to report issues. As this had been suggested already in the past, we'll look at improving that communication channel. Best regards, Alex --------- Alex BEC Software Design Engineer HumanWare Christchurch, New Zealand S: alexandrebec IP phone: 344 www.humanware.com ........................................................................ ........................................ The power is in your hands -----Original Message----- From: David Meador [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, 4 April 2011 6:02 a.m. To: Josh Gregory; Greg Stilson; Lucia Gomez; Alex Bec Cc: [email protected] Subject: re: [Braillenote] our concerns Dear Josh, You've written a respectful request. For me, I'm wanting the Note-taker to grow up and become a PC, especially for browsing the internet. Perhaps that's impossible with today's BrailleNote firmware software interfaces. But at the very least, Humanware tech people owe us the courtesy of a periodic response to our discussion points and questions. David Beyond Vision Nashville, TN 615-385-0784 www.davidmeador.com > ----- Original Message ----- >From: Josh Gregory <[email protected] >To: [email protected], [email protected],[email protected] >Date sent: Sun, 03 Apr 2011 02:20:12 -0400 >Subject: [Braillenote] our concerns >?Hello, >My name is Joshua Gregory. I use a BrailleNote Mpower with a 32- >cell braille display running KeySoft 8, build 21. I am writing >this letter on behalf of myself as well as the BrailleNote list. > I, as well as the list, am concerned that if certain features >are not introduced to KeySoft, such as better word support, or an >SDK, that the BrailleNote will no longer be as competitive in the >blindness PDA market as it is today in just a matter of a few >years or so. For instance, the Braille Sense products from HIMS >now have an SDK available for programmers interested in writing >programs for the Braille Sense, with the upcoming 6.0 firmware >release from HIMS. We, as BrailleNote users, do not yet have >this available to us and we would like to see this implemented. >With this, we could write games for the BN, such as uno, and also >write programs that we could all benefit from. > We are also concerned with the absence to response from hw >staff to questions posed on the list. While many people on the >list are able to answer most of the questions posed there, we as >a collective group strongly feel that more communication would be >valuable to feel a company presence on the list. > I strongly hope that this letter will be taken into >consideration to both better the braillenote line of products and >to make us bn users feel a presence from the company on very >critical issues. >Thank you. >Sincerely, >Joshua Gregory, >Eleventh Grader at the Maryland School for the Blind >___ >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 ___ 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 __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6017 (20110405) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com ___ 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
