There ya go Josh! Then the we users would be happy and so would the jfw people like me ----- Original Message ----- From: "Josh Kennedy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Braillenote List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, April 05, 2004 12:38 PM 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 > >
