That reminds me, there is music on some of those commercial audio books that
NLS repackages and adds Daisy navigation to for downloading from BARD.
Evan
----- Original Message -----
From: "qubit" <[email protected]>
To: "'GW-micro'" <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, October 17, 2010 12:26 AM
Subject: Re: [GW-Booksense] Re: book sense requesting opinions
I wasn't going to chime in on this thread, but I just arrived home from a
ride in which we were listening to a recorded audio book on the car
stereo,
and I have some comments. First, I have a technical background but not in
audio technology so I don't know what is needed to make a synth speak more
clearly or to speed up a recorded voice without losing any content.
However, I think it is a mistake to make the assumption that tuning the
audio and playing music necessarily place different demands on the device.
In fact, if clarity and pleasantness of the sound is the object, it seems
as
though the demands would be just the same. Second, while listening to
this
particular recorded book this evening, the narration (by the author) was
called a performance rather than a reading or narration. In fact, at the
beginning and end, there was even music incorporated into the audio.
Now I realize this is not the same as a DAISY audio recording. It crosses
the line into a dramatic performance. But if I were to put it on my
booksense I would want both the music and the reading to be clear and
pleasant.
So I say, go full throttle and make it do all things audio and it will be
more likely able to handle future developments in technology and culture.
Off soapbox.
Happy reading.
--le
----- Original Message -----
From: "Carla Campbell" <[email protected]>
To: "'Dianne B. Phelps'" <[email protected]>; "'EVAN REESE'"
<[email protected]>; "'GW-micro'" <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, October 16, 2010 7:43 PM
Subject: RE: [GW-Booksense] Re: book sense requesting opinions
Diane, I agree that I wouldn't want to sacrifice the quality of the device
as a book reader first and foremost. And I do know what you mean about
devices trying to do too many things and therefore sometimes failing to do
any of them well.
I'm also constantly amused by the features included in some products
simply
because they were available on one of the chips used in making the
device--
color identifiers which have games, clocks and memo recorders, for
example.
The combination of functions is sometimes baffling, but makes more sense
when we know that these functions all come on the same chip. But will I
ever play a game or record a memo on my color identifier? Doubtful.
I just don't see that anything which would make the BookSense a better
book
reader wouldn't also make it better for use as a music player and I don't
think features which make it good as a music player detract from the
quality
of the book-reading functions.
Development time obviously has to be prioritized, and I'm sure we both
think
that priority should be placed on features related to the reading of
books.
But for me, that includes all kinds of books-- text-to-speech, NLS,
commercial audio, etc. And once we're looking at commercial audio,
additional time for music-related features is minimal.
But I do understand where you're coming from. That's how I feel about my
cell phone. I don't need my phone to be an MP3 player and a video camera
and so forth. And I sure don't want to use up valuable battery charge
scanning books, using GPS software or identifying money with my cell
phone.
I would also prefer to have separate dedicated devices for scanning books
or
GPS navigation if a different device can do a much better job at these
tasks.
At the same time, I do rely on my phone's calendar and contact information
features and would be lost without them, now, though I might well have
thought them superfluous ten years ago.
What limits my cell phone's usefulness for these other purposes isn't
anything which makes it a better cell phone. It's battery life, plain and
simple. Increasing the battery life on my phone would make it practical
to
use for these other purposes while not detracting from its usefulness as a
phone. And that's the way I think of using my book reader for other audio
purposes, be it as a radio, a recorder or a music player.
--Carla
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If you reply to this message it will be delivered to the original sender
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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
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