I'm probably splitting hairs here, but I still feel it's GW Micros
responsibility to address the requests that are made by Booksense
customers. Sure, HIMS may need to do the programming or update some
hardware, but I don't think I should have to go to HIMS to request the
features I want. I'm sure GW Micro has some contractual relationship
with HIMS, and I assume GW Micros distribution of the Booksense impacts
HIMS bottom line, giving GW Micro some clout with HIMS. As prevalent as
the OEM business is today, customers wouldn't get anywhere if every
company that sold a product simply pointed back to their OEM suppliers
every time a customer reported a problem or asked for a feature. I'm not
saying Raul or GW Micro has done this. I'm just saying that I'm not
willing to accept this assumption.
I think almost every product has had it's critics saying it was released
too early, with too many bugs and without enough testing. I remember one
of the first times I was involved in the decision on whether to ship a
product or not, and ironically it was the service/support manager who
pragmatically said that if we wait until the product is perfect, we'll
never ship it. When I bought my booksense, it was still running version
1 of the firmware. All of the reviews I read, feature lists I looked at
and demonstrations I heard were all with the Booksense running version 1
of the firmware, and I still bought it. Furthermore, I don't regret it.
If I had waited until version 2 of the firmware had come out, I would
have had to give up months of using the booksense. Actually, that isn't
true, because when I was ready to buy a book reader, I wasn't going to
wait, and I would have ended up with a Victor Reader Stream. Every
company has to decide when a product is ready to be released and start
capturing market share.
I'll be interested if we hear more from GW Micro or HIMS on the future
development of the booksense, but I'd be shocked if we actually get the
information you're asking for. I'm not aware of any company that
provides such information on their products. I would think it would put
them at a competitive disadvantage. I also think it puts them in a "no
win" situation with their customers. If they say they're going to
release a certain feature then people will want to know when. If it's
late people will complain that it's late and wonder what's taking them
so long. Maybe they aren't putting the resources into this product
anymore or maybe they aren't listening to their customers anymore. If
they get it out on time, but it has some bug in it, or it doesn't work
the way people wanted it to then they'll hear how it was rushed out too
early, without enough testing and with too many bugs. I think there's a
reason so many companies are quiet about their future plans until
everything is pretty solid and the product or feature is right around
the corner.
--
Christopher
[email protected]
On 8/20/2010 5:03 PM, Gary King wrote:
I was glad to see the message from Raul clarifying the relationship
between GW Micro and HIMS, the manufacturer of the BookSense. Some
users may have thought that GW Micro is directly responsible for fixes
and features that go into the BookSense, but Raul's message makes it
clear that this is not the case. As Raul said, GW Micro communicates
high priority items to HIMS that need to be addressed, but they don't
control how HIMS chooses to allocate their development time and
resources. To me, this means that GW Micro, and through them the
users, don't really control the future development of the BookSense.
Once GW Micro has submitted bug reports and suggestions for new
features that come from the users, HIMS decides whether or not they
will fix the bugs or implement the new features. Fortunately for
BookSense users, most bugs that are not the result of poor hardware
design or quality control issues are fixed at some point, but
unfortunately, often requested features are not so likely to be
implemented.
I agree with those people who say that the BookSense has come a long
way. However, I think that many folks who were around for firmware
version 1.0 will agree that it had a long way to go. Checking the
list archives for the early days would reveal a number of comments
that expressed the opinion that the BookSense was released too soon
and without sufficient testing.
In his message, Raul also made the point that just because we don't
get the features we want from the beginning or in the time frame we
want them, it doesn't mean that no one is listening. I don't think
listening is the problem; it's communicating to the users what the
plans are for the future. If some requested features can't be included
because of hardware limitations, this fact would be good to know so
that we won't be expecting them in a future update. If there are DRM
licensing issues that are delaying the implementation of this feature,
let the users know what they are and how and when they may be
addressed. If cost is the issue, let those who want DRM support pay
for it or simply go out and purchase an inexpensive player from
Creative Labs to play their Overdrive books. Finally, if some
requested features are simply going to require more development time
but will be coming along somewhere down the road, inform the users of
that fact, and we will just have to be patient. What's really
frustrating is not knowing. Does HIMS tell GW Micro their plans for
the BookSense, and will GW Micro tell us, the users?
I see that one member of the list has written directly to HIMS, but
didn't get a response. I can't help wondering though, if we haven't
seen any further progress over the next 6 month or so, would a number
of messages from frustrated users be more effective? Information
about the company, including their email address, is easy to find with
Google. If the company web site I found is the only one they have, I
think they could use some accessibility tips from Aaron.
Finally, and not a moment too soon I hear you say, we know that most
commercial electronic products have a very short life cycle.
Fortunately, most blindness-related products stick around a little
longer. HIMS recently released a new model of the BookSense with a
screen and new keyboard design. This doesn't necessarily mean that
current BookSense models will continue long into the future, but we
can hope that it will be long enough to get at least some of the
features we want before they're discontinued.
Gary King
[email protected]
----- Original Message ----- From: "Raul A. Gallegos" <[email protected]>
To: "Book Sense Discussion List" <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, August 18, 2010 9:31 PM
Subject: Re: [GW-Booksense] Features
To all, please don't feel that we think that people who wish for new
features means that you are unhappy with the BookSense. In fact, we
always welcome input, whether it's a new feature suggestion or an
improvement, or a bug fix. Also, we don't read emotion into emails,
but when something like the following is read, one can't help but
wonder if users are upset because feature or bug X hasn't been fixed,
or users are upset because their own personal needs have not been
tended to. I'm referring to the following excerpt from Gary King:
> I wonder just how much programming time HIMS dedicates to the
> BookSense compared to their far more expensive notetakers. Will we
> ever see any of the features we've requested from the first, such as
> > setting independent volume levels for the menu voice and playback
> and the capability of listening to Overdrive books and other
> DRM-protected files?
The above quote is a perfect example of the high priority items we
have been communicating with HIMS that need to be addressed. However
just because they are not added from the beginning or during a time
frame of our wanting, it does not automatically mean that no one is
listening. Furthermore, it does not mean that higher priority is
given to the expensive notetakers. In fact, during the BookSense
release and the various updates from last year, we got a lot of flack
from the notetaker users for the same thing. There were many messages
which implied that Braille Sense users were left in the dust now that
the cheap hardware such as the BookSense was out and that HIMS must
be dedicating all their attention to the BookSense users who don't
have to spend all that money since rehab wasn't buying them. So you
tell me, does this sound familiar? If you don't believe me, go read
our list archives on the gw-notetaker list. Basically it comes down
to the old saying, "screwed if you do, and screwed if you don't."
HIMS makes choices on where their time and development goes and that
is something we do not control. Remember, HIMS sells all over the
world and we only sell BookSense in the U.S. and the Sense notetakers
in North America. That leaves quite a few other countries where the
Sense products are sold and HIMS still needs to consider those users'
needs.
If you feel the negative aspects of the BookSense outweigh the
positive ones and cannot recommend it to others, that is your
prerogative. Everyone has to judge whether their glass is half-full
or half-empty. Personally I would recommend or not recommend a
product based on how it's going to meet the user's needs. For
example, a weak point of the BooksEnse is the poor pronunciation in
the TTS such as October said as Octoaboo. However if someone wants to
use it for reading Audible.com and NLS books only and could not care
less about the document reader, would I recommend the BookSense? Yes
I would.
Many thanks, and good night.
--
Raul A. Gallegos
GW Micro Technical Support Team
Voice 260-489-3671, Fax 260-489-2608
Web http://www.gwmicro.com
If you reply to this message it will be delivered to the original
sender only. If your reply would benefit others on the list andyour
message is related to GW Micro or the BookSense, then please consider
sending your message to [email protected] so the entire list
will receive it.
To manage your subscription to gw-booksense, visit:
http://www.gwmicro.com/listserv
If you reply to this message it will be delivered to the original
sender only. If your reply would benefit others on the list andyour
message is related to GW Micro or the BookSense, then please consider
sending your message to [email protected] so the entire list
will receive it.
To manage your subscription to gw-booksense, visit:
http://www.gwmicro.com/listserv
If you reply to this message it will be delivered to the original sender only.
If your reply would benefit others on the list andyour message is related to GW
Micro or the BookSense, then please consider sending your message to
[email protected] so the entire list will receive it.
To manage your subscription to gw-booksense, visit:
http://www.gwmicro.com/listserv
