yeh Josh, and you could be president. Just be sure and let me have a ride in the corprate jet ok?
Richard > ----- Original Message ----- >From: Josh Kennedy <[EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: Braillenote List <[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Mon, 05 Apr 2004 15:38:32 -0400 >Subject: Re: [Braillenote] Another idea for future upgrades: >hey! cool! I'd buy a pacnote. When will they go on sale!!? >That was kind of funny. But it sounds neat. but let's make some changes. >We'll combine all three companies. ... Freedom scientific, pulsedata, and >gw--micro. >Josh >you wrote: >Okay, I have a solution to your problem. Let's merge pulsedata and freedom >scientific and call it pulse scientific. They could combine their >notetakers >and call it the pacnote. >Then we would have all the advantages of both devices along with all their >combined shortcomings. >Would this suit anyone? I doubt it. ><grin >Thanks, >Bob >> ----- Original Message ----- >>From: richard Van Driel < >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: Braillenote List < >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Tue, 06 Apr 2004 04:38:41 +1200 >>Subject: Re: [Braillenote] Another idea for future upgrades: >>Hi Kirstyn, >>I know what you mean! >>When I first got my braille note, it was the best thing going. >>I tried the braillelite, and found the speech atrocious. >>I have a hearing impairment, which basically means that, the device with >the clearest speech is going to get a high score, if it is just as good as >the >other device with poorer speech. >>I will be taking a class on the pacmate in may, (I hope) but I already know >that the speech is a little less clear for me because, 1 the speaker is >smaller >and, 2 the amp doesn't put out as much power as the bn. >>What prompted me to get the bn was the fact that I could use the braille >display and/or speech. >>I taught a class in my church, and being able to use the braille display >without speech was a great help there, letting me hear my students and keep >track >of my lesson without having to mess around with neckloops and earphones. >>But I like what I've seen of the Pacmate, in that it just seems more >versatile. >>What I don't understand, is why pdi keeps harping on the (oh so nasty) >graphical interface. >>For those of us who use Windows with Jaws, we get along ok with that nasty >old gui! >>Why does pdi not concentrate on making gui easier for blind people to use >by adapting their product to handle commands so that we can use it with the >minimum >of roundabouts? >>I think many things might be automated, so that what might be a roundabout >could be done with one menu option or keystroke. >>>From what I have read on the pm list for example, there's quite a little >roundabout to disconnecting when online. >>There is no such problem with the bn, so why not incorporate that same >quick way in whatever you use for your system, whether that's pocket pc or >Linux >or whatever? >>One thing that's becoming obvious to me is that Keysoft is out of date and >way too proprietorial and inflexible for users who need to modify it. >>The Windows ce we use is the same, but even so, it has already built in >some of the things that would make the bn more versatile. >>The results are sometimes a problem, since we are denied access to the >Windows Ce itself, we can't fix some things that, I would assume are handled >quite >well on regular pdas. >>For example, why is there not a way to erase or control the "history file >on the ks disk that we heard about some time ago? >>It's a windows bile, not a keysoft file, and according to Pdi, the only way >to get rid of it temporarily is to do a hard reset. >>IF you don't, it eventually takes up all the space on the ks disk. >>Furthermore, Ks doesn't use this folder or file or whatever it is. >>Ok, so here's my question. >>How is this file or whatever handled on a regular pda? What is done so that >you don't lose all your memory just from this one thing on a regular pda? >>I seriously don't believe that Ipaq or any of the other pda manufacturers >or, for that matter, Microsoft would market something with that glaring a >defect >for long. >>No, there is a way this is handled on a normal pda. >>Why not take advantage of this Pdi, >>Also, why create a trash folder etc, when this is already built into >Windows? >>Why have a very limited media player if the capacity is already there to >have a full one in Ce? >>And why have a suite of software that, according to your own admission, is >really hard to make wireless compatible when Windows Ce gives you that >capacity? >>Use a suite that lets us fully have access to Windows capability and make >it flexible enough that a user can get programs he wants or needs to work >with >it. >>I don't give a darn if it's a gui or not, all I ask is that it be easy to >use and as consistent as possible. >>The reality is that most applications that people use nowdays are, in some >way graphical, and that people want their technology to keep up. >>Make the bn more versatile by, >>1 making it possible to script for it (as is done on Pacmate) so that >people can add programs. >>2 use all of the possibilities of the Windows Ce system, making as much of >it as possible available to the user. >>3 At least make it possible for users to use some of the stuff available >for the pda, such as pocket excel and the latest Pocket word, if not for >use, >then for translation so that we won't have all the problems with that that >we now have. >>Use proprietary software only where the regular software doesn't work. >>Pm did this with the Windows version of the calculator, and create a much >better calculator with more functions. >>Because it uses Pocket Pc, it can accept programs that work with regular >pdas and because Jaws is a script capable program, scripts can be written so >that >things that might not work normally on the Pacmate can and do. >>That is what the Pacmategear site is all about. >>Remember, there are people who use the bn in school and college, and it's >important to have as much flexibility as possible. >>As for buying a laptop, Kirstyn already answered that one, and besides even >though laptops have gotten smaller, in comparison to the bn or pm, they are >still delicate and rather bulky, when you consider the case and all, and I >think they are also heavier. >>WHY drag around a laptop when most pdas could handle what you want to do? >>Only one reason, we can't see to use it. >>But, if Pacmate can handle all these things, and still be accessible to the >people for whom it is designed, then, surely, the bn could and if the reason >it can't is because of outdated hardware and software, then obviously, it's >time for more than just a new planner, although that is good, and a more >advanced >sync, it's time to update and upgrade and use that which will make the unit >more flexible, Gui or not. >>Thanks for listening to my ramblings! (lol) >>Richard ----- Original Message ----- >>>From: "Kirstyn" < >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: Braillenote List < >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Sat, 3 Apr 2004 11:56:05 +0000 (UTC) >>>Subject: Re: [Braillenote] Another idea for future upgrades: >>>Hi Jim, >>> I hope fervently that PDI does not agree with your attitude. The BN >users--or I should say, the former BN users--who are now on the PACMate list >did exactly what you are telling us to do now just to get us to shut up. >They sold their BN and got a PAC Mate. The difference between them and >those >who, like me, are still hoping to see the BrailleNote keep pace, is that--we >are still hoping, while they decided not to and just switched. What PDI and >users like you, Jim, should do is not to tell more users to switch or treat >those who have as though they made the wrong decision, but to show us that >in time, we will shake off the feeling of wanting to switch because the >BrailleNote is still keeping abreast. >>> Stop challenging BrailleNote users to sell their BrailleNote and get a >PACMate because if it is not yet obvious to you, this is counterproductive >for PDI. Instead, use your fingers to type a post for PDI, urging them to >get their act together and find better ways of facing the competition and >prevent >their customers from taking the expensive leap of getting a PM. This is not >about ranting. This is about telling PDI that we are willing to hang on to >our BrailleNotes, but not forever. I'm tired of reading posts from Jonathan >Mosen or whoever assuring us that this and that request will be taken into >consideration for a future upgrade. Anyone can say that, and who in his >right mind will say otherwise? But I want to see action. >>> I do not want to see a version 5.2 with just one KeySoft application >being improved and the long-standing urgent problems linger. 5.0 was >released >in late August 2003, 5.1 was released in March 2004. I am disappointed to >see that in about seven months time during which PDI was expected to develop >an upgrade, we got only a new planner system and a word count feature that >only solves the inconvenience of using the spell checker to get the number >of >words--I was able to check the number of sentences and lines with my >BrailleLite. Meanwhile, in the same amount of time, other PDA users got >more speed >and more memory, and discovered more third-party applications that work well >with their product. >>> We waited longer for 5.0 and got a bit more, but I still feel it was a >half-baked upgrade. We got a stopwatch that could not be used as a >countdown >timer. We got a media player that plays only MP3 files with certain >limitations to sample rates. We got a better translator that does not agree >with >the speech and so words that appear right in Braille are translated >incorrectly to text and read wrong with speech. We got KeySync but it only >works for >contacts and calendar, not email, and still the speed of synchronization or >the choking on large files was not addressed. Add to that the lingering >problems >with KeyMail and KeyWeb, and the File Manager that lacks some useful >functions that Richard posted a rehash of a suggestion that I have seen from >other >users before but sadly, still no response--concrete response--from PDI. >>> Like I said, they are way too slow in playing catch-up. And with a >post like yours, users are beginning to think that PDI will never catch up >so >you are advising us to shut up and get a PACMate. Do you realize that in >your desire to defend the BrailleNote, the faster you are causing it to >plunge >downhill? >>> Another misinformation about the PACMate. You do not lose data as >soon as the battery goes flat. The Lithium Polymer battery used by newer PM >units, >or the Lithium Ion used on the version 1.xx units, will guarantee that if >the battery goes flat, you will retain your data in 72 hours--that's three >days. > I do not suppose any wise user will wait for three days before charging the >battery. You say, "What if I'm out of town and forgot my charger?" As it >is obvious, that's user error and irresponsibility, not the product's fault. >>> PM users also save files to cf cards and they do not lose these files >when the batteries go flat, even if the cards are plugged in. With the >BrailleNote, >you may lose the files in your cf card if you had been working on a large >file saved to a cf card. The problem with large files getting truncated or >wiped >clean--which I still experience with 5.1 and .rtf files--is not linked to >where you have the file; whether it's in the Flash Disk or compact flash >card, >you can still lose it. Like I said in my other post, if you overwrite your >bacup of the email database with one you did not know was already corrupted, >you'll lose that, too, even if it's on the cf card. >>> No, I did not write those last two paragraphs merely to compare the PM >and the BN. My purpose? To show you and PDI that you cannot claim the >BrailleNote >is still leading just because of the battery and losing of data, since this >is no longer an urgent issue with the PACMate. So stop focusing on what you >think the competition cannot do and hail that the BrailleNote can do that. >Start looking on what the BrailleNote cannot do, and that the competition >can, >and do something about it, and please, at least for our money's worth, do it >fast while we're still holding on to our BrailleNotes. >>>Sincerely, >>>Kirstyn >>>___ >>>To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to >>>[EMAIL PROTECTED] >>>To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit >>>http://list.pulsedata.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote >>___ >>To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to >>[EMAIL PROTECTED] >>To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit >>http://list.pulsedata.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote >___ >To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit >http://list.pulsedata.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote >___ >To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit >http://list.pulsedata.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote
