this is why I don't like freedom scientific. I used a braille lite for years, and I will never use one again.
> ----- Original Message ----- >From: "Richard Ring" <[EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: "Braillenote List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Fri, 2 Apr 2004 16:46:36 -0600 >Subject: RE: [Braillenote] Another idea for future upgrades: >Kyrstin and all of you, >I agree with many of the things that are shown in the post below. >However, I would like to share some experiences I have been a part of. >First, one of my co-workers does in fact have a Pac Mate. It has >crashed on many occasions, and because of this, he lost all of his data. >However, because the Pac Mate does support off-the-shelf applications >for the Pocket PC environment, he was able to purchase a back up program >that will prevent this from happening in the future. The Braillenote is >already provided with a back up program. I think my point is this. >When I consider what a person's technology needs require, I do the best >I can to consider the whole picture. If a person needs a Notetaker and >just that, why not a Braille Lite Millennium? >If, on the other hand, an individual needs email support, I believe that >the email provided by Keysoft is far superior than that which is >provided by the Braille Lite. And let me add that Braille support on >the Pac Mate is no better or worse than that provided by Jaws for >Windows. If you need to know what that might be like, for those of you >who have Braille displays and also run Jaws, turn off your speech and >decide if the Braille interface is as easy to use. >I never turn on my speech with the Braillenote, and I don't have to! >This is simply because the Braille support is excellent. Although I >cannot prove this because I am fortunate enough to have my hearing, I >feel that a deaf-blind individual could learn to use a Braillenote. I >think that an individual who is deaf-blind would struggle with the Pac >Mate or, for that matter, with any Windows screen reader on the market >today. This is simply because Braille support in many respects needs >improvement. This is not the case with the Braillenote! >So, if an individual will not need full synchronization capabilities, or >wireless networking, the Braillenote is fine. I suppose all I am trying >to say, the choice is not Braillenote VS. Pac Mate, it is more on the >order of what specific set of needs an individual has, and how best to >meet those needs. Personally, I can tell you that as a pure Notetaker, >the Pac Mate does not function as well as the Braillenote. There is, >for example, no six-key entry support on the qwerty model. However, if >an individual needs the functionality provided by the Pocket PC >environment, I would have to say that the Pac Mate is the way to go. >And yes, I would like to see improvements in the Braillenote, and I >don't feel that list members should castigate other list members for >expressing their honest opinions and concerns. I mean, suggesting that >the Braillenote could be better isn't like coming out against apple pie >or motherhood is it? (smile) >-----Original Message----- >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Kirstyn >Sent: Friday, April 02, 2004 3:43 PM >To: Braillenote List >Subject: Re: [Braillenote] Another idea for future upgrades: >Hi List, > I am doing this just once because I have seen how some members of >this list can react irrationally whenever the BrailleNote is being >compared to the PACMate. Since these people do not like product >comparisons on a support list, then let me post these observations and >corrections in support of a better understanding of what the BrailleNote >lacks, what users are too blind to see, and to correct the computer >ignorance and PM misinformation that has been going around, at least on >this list. > First of all, as a couple of listers have posted, the HumanWare >person's idea of multi-tasking is incorrect. What we have now on the >BrailleNote is task-switching which is different from multi-tasking that >the PACMate supports and any computer-literate person will >understandably request. Can we write email or a document while checking >new mail? No, because the BN does not multi-task. Can we listen to an >MP3 tutorial and take down notes in a document at the same time? No, >because the BN does not multi-task. This should also answer the comment >that being able to listen to an MP3--music--while doing something else >is not important. Remember that people use the MP3 player not just for >music but also for listening to books or tutorials. Can we have more >than one file open in KeyWord? No, because the BN does not multi-task >and must exit and save the file you have left to open another. As >mentioned, the PM can multi-task and so if these questions were asked >about the PACM > ate, the answers will all be yes. > Someone said, in a moment of confusion, I hope, and not of >ignorance, that you do not have more than one window open at the same >time on a computer. This is incorrect. When you have a file open in >Windows, and you press CONTROL with o to open another, the window for >the first file is not closed but minimized. The focus will be on the >window of the second file. When you exit the second file with ALT with >F4, the focus is returned to the window of the first file unless you >have other windows open but minimized. If we do this in KeyWord, >exiting the second file will return you to the KeyWord Menu, not the >last file you have been to, which proves that you cannot have more than >one file open. > Next thing I would like to correct is that people seem to be >defending the BrailleNote against the PACMate by saying that it is not a >laptop. I am not arguing that the BrailleNote is a laptop because it is >not marketed as a laptop but as a notetaker/PDA. But neither has the >PACMate been marketed as a laptop, and I don't know where some listers >here got the idea that it was. I hope this is not one of PDI's vague >attempt to create wrong impressions about the competition just to keep >their customers. > If you subscribe to the PM list--by sending a blank email to >[EMAIL PROTECTED] will read some posts that remind >new users to keep their expectations reasonable because the PACMate is a >PDA, not a laptop. So only these few BrailleNote users seem to be >misinformed about the PM, and not the PM users themselves, and I doubt >if FS will purposefully tell BrailleNote users that the PM is a laptop >and then once they buy it, will inform them it's a PDA. Please, do your >research before making claims and forming a flimsy defense of the >BrailleNote. > Now those on the PM list who are reminded that the PACMate is not a >laptop are those who expect something that requires a laptop's memory >size or speed. I want to comment on this now. If some of these folks >complain about the memory on the PM, which has about 96 MB or more >compared to the BrailleNote's 48 or 16 MB, and its speed where the PM >uses a 400 MHZ X-scale processor compared to the three times slower 133 >MHZ processor used by the BrailleNote, then what will they say about the >BN? But that's not the important point I want to make. The more >important question is why has PDI not done anything about this, despite >the posts here about sluggishness and limited memory and their related >problems? What is PDI waiting for? The chance to steal Freedom >Scientific's customers who want more speed and memory and don't really >care about the graphical user interface? > Speaking of GUI, I find it ridiculous that PDI continues to use this >philosophy as the selling point--or more appropriately, the remaining >saving grace--of the BrailleNote. I have been subscribed to the PACMate >list for some months now and I have not seen any significant number of >posts complaining about the graphical user interface like radio buttons >and such. The longest debate on the PM list, I think, has been with the >carrying case. Believe me, if my problems and concerns about the >BrailleNote are as puny as the wish for a better carrying case--and some >PACMate users bought a messenger bag that suits them well--then I'm sure >this list will be quieter and will not find repeats of the same >questions and problems over and over again. > Anyway, I think that GUI is something that should not be shunned but >dealt with, and the BrailleNote has done a bit of that with KeyWeb. Web >pages will inevitably have radio buttons and check boxes, but was KeyWeb >designed to ignore them? No, we have display indicators for them and the >only difference with speech is that when the cursor is moved to a radio >button or check box, the name of the page element is not announced but >just its state--check/unchecked, pressed/unpressed. Frankly, even if >speech calls them properly as radio buttons and check boxes, I doubt if >users here will find them any more confusing than the display >indicators. > I have seen about 7 former BrailleNote users who are actively >posting now to the PM list because they switched to the PACMate and say >they do not regret their decision. These are the skilled BN users I >used to see on this list. There are more who have been asking questions >because they have been thinking of switching to the PACMate. On the >other hand, I have not seen anyone who used a PACMate--not only tried it >and found it too sophisticated for his IQ, but really experienced using >it like an average user--who had posted to this list saying he wants to >switch to the BrailleNote. If ever there had been a couple of people >who said they've played with a PACMate for a short while when they were >deciding on which product to buy, they said they settled for the >BrailleNote because it's less complicated. But I notice that the same >people had questions about the basic functions of the BrailleNote that >they could have understood from the manual. > This leads me to think, maybe the BrailleNote was the right choice >for them not because of what the BN offers but because of how much--or >little--they can grasp. That does not improve the image of the >BrailleNote. It implies that this technology will soon be for people >with simple computer needs, with very little or no computer skills prior >to owning the BrailleNote, or for those who are intimidated by graphical >user interface because someone who is good with computers said they will >find it difficult to learn. > Notice also that the suggestions made recently for future >upgrades--MSN messenger, audio-streaming, file operations executed while >on a file list like the directory option in the BrailleNote's File >Manager--are already available on the PACMate. All that on a PDA for >the blind, not a laptop, so what's wrong with expecting to have these on >the BrailleNote? One more thing I cannot help noticing is that FS comes >out with upgrades--both software and hardware--more frequently than PDI >does during the same period of time. Is it because FS has a bigger team >working on the PM? Or is it because scripting JAWS to work with PPC >applications--which some PM users do and share the scripts for >free--aside from the Microsoft SDK that is also available to them--makes >it a lot easier to upgrade the product than fiddling with KeySoft which, >contrary to what someone posted, does not work as well as PPC with >Windows CE? In order to work well with something, the important word to >consider is > "with". KeySoft works on Windows CE, but because the user is limited >to KeySoft, then it is not so accurate to claim that it works well with >Windows CE. > Why did I write at the start of this message that I'm posting it "in >support" of a better understanding about the BrailleNote, and not merely >to compare the BrailleNote with the PACMate? In my opinion, PDI should >not allow BrailleNote users like those I have seen posting to think that >the BrailleNote does not have a lot of catching up to do, and at the >same time, the users should not let PDI think that we agree with what >they're saying and give them an excuse for not upgrading the BN fast >enough to catch up with the PACMate. Imagine that, version 5.1 gave us >a new planner, but not an improved email system and web browser which >have more problems with greater urgency. I can use a Perkins Brailler >and an alarm clock for my appointments, and endure the inconvenience of >using primitive technology, but what happens to the BrailleNote user who >does not have his own computer but needs to do banking transactions >online which he cannot do now because the website requires IE vers > ion 5 or higher? Borrow a computer and risk revealing to the computer's >owner your banking information? > PM users asked for internal flash memory and they recently got it >without having to wait for years. BN users are having connectivity >issues because schools, for instance, are turning to wireless and fewer >devices have serial and parallel ports but make use of USB or Bluetooth >technology, and every time we request solutions from PDI, we get only an >assurance that these will soon come, but how soon may take more than two >years. People who have expressed their preference for PM units with >integrated Braille displays got that late last year with the newer >models--not to mention that the display is detachable so you can carry >just that with you and use it with a computer running JAWS or buy a PM >without it first and just pay later for the display--and yet the PACMate >was released late 2002. BN users ask for more processor speed, and so >what if we had to pay for a hardware upgrade, that's our choice, but the >best we can hope is to have upgrades and fixes to already existing > software applications that run poorly or sluggishly like the new >planner taking the place of the old and less efficient one. We are >moving too slow like the download of messages in KeyMail or the loading >of a web page, and the competition is progressing in leaps and bounds >like the use of ActiveSync with the PACMate that takes 2 to 3 minutes to >synchronize hundreds of appointments, tasks, emails and files, and PM >users complain when it takes them 6 to 12 minutes sometimes--unlike the >BrailleNote which takes longer and can sync less, even choking on large >files because they are stored in the limited space of the KeySoft >Systems Disk. > I congratulate the listers who have demanded and continue to request >for improved features, and have not bought the sales talk about the BN >being better because it does not use GUI, nor expressed satisfaction >with what the BN offers because they think asking for more is turning it >into a laptop. I urge PDI to stop telling us what makes the BrailleNote >still superior over the PACMate because that does not take away the >sinking feeling that the BrailleNote, our BrailleNote, is being flushed >down the toilet of technological advancement. Just pick up your pace in >improving your product and accept that there is a lot of catching up to >do. You do not need to sit around and wait for more posts on future >upgrades, we have seen and written so much already that you have not >proven to us that you can deliver at a satisfactory rate. Users have >done enough talking and rehashing of suggestions, now it's PDI's turn to >respond, not just mere assurances from the product manager, but r > eal good news like, "Users can expect a working relationship between >KeyMail and KeyWeb that will both work faster, more functions on a >directory list in the File Manager, and more useful calculator functions >in the next upgrade to be released this year", or "We will have a >hardware upgrade available during the first quarter of 2005 which will >address issues about connectivity via USB, wireless support, a faster >processor and a newer version of Windows CE". These are just examples, >the real thing will depend on PDI's resources. Of course, I trust that >PDI knows it is good business practice to be able to deliver within the >projected time frame, or at least a little after that but not in six >months like version 5.0. > I expect people to react, telling me that I should shut up and get a >PACMate. Don't push me, I'm near the edge already. But not everyone >will have the option or funds to switch to the PACMate when they had to >go through so much to get a BrailleNote. That's why PDI has to respond >more impressively and efficiently--and very soon. >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
