Hi Richard, You know and remember more about KNFB Reader for Simbian but I thought I did remember that $1,500 correctly because when I once considered it here in Canada at the time it was well over $2,000 canadian. Just out of curiocity, what features did the Simbian version have which the iOS version doesn’t have? By the way, I do agree that developers like KNFB Reader or Sendero shouldn’t get too many breaks when it comes to the quality of the product they offer. Just because they may have been first at something doesn’t mean they can now rest on their Laurels and expect unwavering support for a product that doesn’t keep up with the times. I was even earlier to the OCR game than you, I had my first HP Scanjet with Arkenstone in 1989 and it was still the DOS software at that time While I never jumped on the mobile OCR game until the iPhone, I did spend my share of money for expensive blindness solutions here are a few I had:
The ”eureka” notetaker back in 1989, $3,500 canadian at the time The Trekker Maestro I think it was 2006 or 2007, $2,00 or $2,500 canadian A Windows 5.1 smartphone with Mobile Speak and, after I sold my Maestro, MobileGeo, I think it was around $300 for MobileSpeak and $900 for MobileGeo, that was around 2008 I bought MobileGeo from good old Aman Singer from Toronto who was a Code Factory reseller and from whom I haven’t heard in years either on this list or otherwise. And of course I had a VictorReader Stream and a Booksense, I bought the Booksense in 2009 not long before I found out I could buy an iPhone 3GS or iPod Touch third generation with Voiceover. I decided to try an iPod Touch first before I commited to an iPhone and bought one in September of 2009, shortly after I sold my Booksense and VictorReader Stream. Once I bought an iPhone 4 in 2010 I also sold the iPod Touch Third Gen and was able to still sell my Windows Smartphone at the time with MobileSpeak and MobileGeo and get a bit of money for it, can’t remember, but I think I sold it for around $700 in total. Ever since 2010 I only spend money on iPhones and of course apps although even given the $100 I spend on KNFB Reader (I think at the time I managed to snag some 20% iTunes Gift Cards so I also paid less for it) what I spend on apps over the last 9 years is probably not that much compared to the costs of some of the above mentioned devices. But I must say that it was fantastic when I went to Maui in 2008 and I had my Trekker Maestro and I was able to walk over a mile through Lahaina from the dive shop where I did my scuba certificate all the way to a photo store where the owner was also a diver and had taken a bunch of underwater pictures for me and burned them onto a Cd. I had my dog with me, but if I recall I never had to ask a single person for directions. Regards, Sieghard From: viphone@googlegroups.com <viphone@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Richard Turner Sent: Sunday, October 14, 2018 9:52 AM To: viphone@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Some blindness aps and games devs, disappoint in their attitudes towards I've been using specialized OCR products for the blind since the mid 1990s starting with the Arkenstone system in 1995. In the begining, it was a hybrid of MS-DOS and Windows 3.1. I won't bore you with all of the versions, but the flatbed scanner in the early days was several hundred dollars, plus the $1000 or so for the sofware. The first version of KNFB Reader that was made portable included two devices, an HP PDA and a digital camera strapped together so there were 2 batteries to keep charged and the cost was about $3,500. The first Simbian version on a cell phone was just over $1500. By the time the iPhone version came along, the simbian system was all but dead and a while before the simbian system went away, the Nokia phone/KNFB Reader combo had dropped in price to somewhere around $500 or $600. So, when the $100 iPhone version was quite exciting, though the $10 Prizmo app was quite good if way more tedious to use. I waited until KNFB Reader was on sale for $49.99 to buy it myself, though I still thought that was rather high for what it did since it did not have all the features the simbian version had. I still find the fact that Prizmo Go for free offers format retention and The full Prizmo at $10 offers document saving also with format retention to put KNFB Reader to shame. Yes, the Prizmo products are rather tedious to use, so I do not use them that much, but it isn't just Microsoft with their massive resources who are out performing KNFB. The fact that KNFB is so unresponsive to customer feedback and that they have gone backwards in their usability, no matter what their previous performance was like, puts them on my personal (explative remove) list. Richard xpert: an ex is a has-been, a spirt is a drip under pressure. -- Bruce U. Utah Phillips 🦅 On Oct 14, 2018, at 9:23 AM, Mary Otten <motte...@gmail.com<mailto:motte...@gmail.com>> wrote: I hear what you’re saying. But the knFB reader was never equivalent to the blindness specific OCR apps which cost about $1000, not 1400, at least not in the US. Maybe it was 1400 Canadian? Those were quite expensive, still are. But they have a whole bunch of features that the iPhone app from KNFB Reader has never offered. Sent from my iPhone On Oct 14, 2018, at 8:47 AM, Sieghard Weitzel <siegh...@live.ca<mailto:siegh...@live.ca>> wrote: And just to remind all of you that when KNFB Reader first came out and for some years afterwards it was considered the best OCR app out there, a game-changer and many of us were happy to pay $100 for an app which previously when it was available for okia cost $1,500. There have always been other OCR apps, but none was as user-friendly and worked as well for a blind person as KNFB Reader until the Seeing AI app came along. Now KNFB Reader is talked down because Microsoft, a multi-billion Dollar organisation has spend what probably is a few hundred thousand Dollars on the development of Seeing AI and they are giving it away for free. They probably write this off as charity or something but I'm always surprised how short people's memories sometime sare and how sometimes one app or developer is talked about like the second coming until they do something which doesn't suit some people and then it's a 180 degree reversal in attitudes. Regards, Sieghard -----Original Message----- From: viphone@googlegroups.com<mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com> <viphone@googlegroups.com<mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com>> On Behalf Of Anthony Vece Sent: Saturday, October 13, 2018 10:32 AM To: viphone@googlegroups.com<mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com> Subject: Re: Some blindness aps and games devs, disappoint in their attitudes towards Richard; I agree completely with your assessment. It’s just another example with KNFB Reader of how we are over charged. Sent from my Verizon iPhone X!!! On Oct 13, 2018, at 1:23 PM, Richard Turner <richardturne...@outlook.com<mailto:richardturne...@outlook.com>> wrote: Frankly, KNFB Reader isn't worth the $100 US it costs and would certainly not be worth the 1884.70 in Mexico. The only advantages it has over Seeing AI is that you can do multiple pages and save them as one document. I suppose also that you only have to be about 12 inches or so above a document with KNFB Reader, and while you can manually take a picture at that height with Seeing AI, it won't do its automatic scan until you get about 18 inches or so above the page. Seeing AI costs nothing. Just my 37 centavos worth. Richard “Definition of an expert: An ex is a has-been and a spirt is a drip under pressure.” – Bruce U. Utah Phillips -----Original Message----- From: viphone@googlegroups.com<mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com> <viphone@googlegroups.com<mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com>> On Behalf Of Gerardo Corripio Sent: Saturday, October 13, 2018 9:28 AM To: iPhone List <viphone@googlegroups.com<mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com>> Subject: Some blindness aps and games devs, disappoint in their attitudes towards As some of you guys might already know, I’m the person responsible for the “Ciberaprendiendo Tutorials and Tech” pocast which airs Tuesays at https://nam03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eiberoamerica.com&data=02%7C01%7C%7C48e9d8201679490521ee08d631f15e1d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636751310060479505&sdata=STZi%2BULLBRf3s1L4atS6IIGiDv7JHqw4tMaha%2F7CgTM%3D&reserved=0, and whenever I find an app that I personally feel would benefit the blind (especially those here in Latin America and other Spanish-speaking blind folks) I send an EMail to the devs of these aps, with generally interest in me featuring their apps in the before-mentioned podcast, which has an average listenership of between 800-1600 monthly, depending on the apps or services featured. However I’ve encountered two or 3 blindness devs whose attitudes leave to be desired. It’s as if ey all seem to think that we blind folks live in the same economic situation, in which usd$1.99 independent of where we are, is the same; here in Mexico, for instance, a USD$2 app or game would be almost Mxn$40. Yes I know I could buy these games. As long as I have the funds for these, but or more-expensive aps? Among the promo codes I’d like to get to record “Ciberaprendiendo” episodes on are KNFB Reader, and the Knight Commander recently-released game, which I could probably buy, but not until I have enough funds for.kn Gera Enviado desde mi iPhone SE de Telcel -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. 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