I totally disagree with this statement for my self. I Feel that The
price is high the there is a reason for this as the braillenote is
unique in design and menus and that's why i love it. I want humanware's
signature software and layout and speech and built in top quality
braillenote.
I don't always want a talking device i sometimes want privacy like a
sighted person without having to use headphones.
As i have said touch screens and little keys and a sighted device made
accessible is just not right for some blind users for many reasons such
as limiter dexterity etc.
I have a sighted uncle and know many sighted friends and business people
who hate touch screens and and extra external keyboards. Come to that
why does a blind person want to carry and keyboard for the iphone
because they have dexterity problems.\\I don't feel the comments made
take a wide enough view of both options - note taker or computer.
Louise.
On 26/07/2011 13:33, Chris Nusbaum wrote:
What do you think of these thoughts about HW from a member of the Blind
Talk list on NFB-NET?
Chris
"A loss of sight, never a loss of vision!" (Camp Abilities motto)
The I C.A.N. Foundation helps visually impaired youth in Maryland have
the ability to confidently say "I can!" How? Click on this link to learn
more and to contribute: www.icanfoundation.info or like us on Facebook
at I C.A.N. Foundation.
Sent from my BrailleNote
---- Original Message ------
From: "T. Joseph Carter" <[email protected]
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] [nabs-l] notetakers: are they worth buying anymore?
Date sent: Mon, 25 Jul 2011 00:05:05 -0700
I don�셳 think they do, or at least I think their lifespan is limited.
First, there�셲 very little that can justify the cost of an Apex these
days. It just costs too much. Second, I don�셳 know how many times I
have heard the excuse from our chapter secretary that his BN crashed
and he needs someone else to get him a recording or produce minutes
or something. Both it and the PAC mate have a solid reputation for
being about as stable as a house of cards in a tornado. During an
earthquake. While a volcano is erupting.
And while the PAC mate is supposed to be so great because it can run
"standard" software for the platform, most of the software doesn�셳
actually work with it properly and the platform has pretty much taken
a back seat to iOS and Android at this point.
At the beginning of the PDA revolution, there was Palm. (Actually,
there was Apple with the Newton, but I�셫 talking successful PDA
revolution here��) Then Handspring came along and produced a Palm
that was better than the Palm. There were accessories the people who
made it never intended, including a folding laptop-style keyboard
called the Stowaray, and suddenly there was no need to lug a laptop
in to a meeting to take notes. Plus the thing was SO COOL, and it
cost a small fraction of what a laptop did that wasn�셳 as fast or as
convenient to the task!
Of course, none of this is accessible.
Fast forward about 15 years or so and today sighted people likely use
an iPad or Android-based wannabe tablet for the same purpose. They
may or may not use an external Bluetooth keyboard. They could use an
iPhone (or wannabe) for the same purpose, but the sighted like having
big screens that are easy to see, so the preference is the iPad.
But the blind can tell you that the iPhone is just as useful, and
perhaps more so because you can�셳 stuff an iPad into a pocket (unless
you�셱e wearing a Scott-E-Vest which is just comical and not really
the point.) There are flip-out keyboard cases for the iPhone 4
(which are a great idea for any blind user) and small Braille I/O
devices that are much more comfortable to ear than the brick-like
note taker of yesteryear.
And accessibility is improving, in general, on the iPhone. Even the
Android platform is starting to see some movement in that direction.
At some point either platform will be viable to the blind, at least
as effective as a PAC mate, probably as easy to use as a BrailleNote,
and cheaper than any of the above.
If anybody has a future with the form factor of the traditional note
taker, it�셲 LevelStar, which figured out that having their own custom
software just doesn�셳 make sense anymore. They�셱e building on the
proven interface of the Icon (their own software) and putting it into
Android itself giving you the ease of a BrailleNote and the function
of an Android device. And if the guys at LevelStar stay true to
form, they�셱e going to bring it to you for a lot less than HumanWare
does.
Neither iOS nor Android is ready to replace KeySoft IMO, but KeySoft
is still the same program HumanWare has been schlepping for decades
now with big ticket upgrade fees for small, incremental feature
additions. In fact, I remember the "major" upgrade (with SMA usage
or paid outright) for KeySoft 7.5 to add RFB&D book support to my
little PK less than six months after I bought the thing! More than a
year ago, I read a blog article from the CEO of Serotek about the
"blind ghetto" technology.
He was talking about Freedom Scientific and HumanWare specifically,
and how neither company seems to truly innovate. Why should they?
So far they�셶e been able to foist minor evolutions of products that
are becoming less and less stable for exorbitant upgrade fees, or
make minor revisions to a product while maintaining an existing price
point. The exceptions for HumanWare were the Apex and the Victor
Reader Stream, the former of which saw a massive cost increase that
isn�셳 going down anytime soon, and the latter was made some five
years ago.
Meanwhile new players are filling the market with devices that are
better than anything any of the big players has to offer at a
fraction of the cost. Companies like LevelStar, HIMS, SeroTek, and
even GW Micro has dipped its toes in the water here and there. They
are still making blindness-specific products, but they�셱e taking a
fresh look and realizing that if they can�셳 deliver products that are
better or cheaper or both than the legacy dinosaurs (and each other),
they will die out.
The BrailleNote will die off because people will move on. There are
still people out there using Braille 'n' Speaks, but not many these
days. The BrailleNote will follow suit. The PAC mate is halfway
there already, if you ask me.
Joseph - KF7QZC
On Sun, Jul 24, 2011 at 10:01:57PM -0400, Chris Nusbaum wrote:
Hi all,
I don't have a set opinion on this matter as of yet, but I'd like to
initiate the discussion. I'm noticing a trend in the blindness
technology field: PC's can do most everything a notetaker
(BrailleNote, BrailleSense, PacMate, etc.) can do, with some obvious
changes and differences, and in some cases can do and support more
than the notetaker. This is also true with the ever-improving
accessible smartphones and tablets: the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch,
(the semiaccessible) Android phones, the KNFB Reader, etc. Yes, the
notetakers have built-in Braille displays, but you can also install a
stand-alone Braille display on a computer to display what's on the
screen, or you could just buy a screen reader (text-to-speech, not
text-to-Braille) as a replacement for the Braille display... that
is, if you think it is in fact a replacement for refreshable Braille.
That's another question for all of you in this discussion.. So,
here's the question: with all the advancements and capabilities of a
computer and screen readers or stand-alone refreshable Braille
displays, is it worth it, in your opinion, to buy a notetaker
anymore? What, given all the things a PC can do, is the real purpose
of the notetakers now? I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Chris
"A loss of sight, never a loss of vision!" (Camp Abilities motto)
The I C.A.N. Foundation helps visually impaired youth in Maryland
have the ability to confidently say "I can!" How? Click on this link
to learn more and to contribute: www.icanfoundation.info or like us
on Facebook at I C.A.N. Foundation.
Sent from my BrailleNote
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