Hi Kim, thanks for your observations and feedback. Hopefully without sounding too defensive, I can address some of your points. What I have to say may also be of interest to people who haven't been on this list for very long, as the release of BrailleNote mPower has resulted in plenty of new subscribers.
The first point I would make is that if a computer was ever created with software and hardware that didn't from time to time experience undesired behaviour, I think we'd all own one. This isn't to say that we're satisfied when we hear of issues like this, because we're not. Far from it. that is in fact why, unlike some other companies, we invest resources in running our own list. As the International Product manager for the BrailleNote, and the person who makes the decisions about what goes into these products, I try where possible to read the list and respond. I hope that HumanWare staff might be given credit for being some of the most accessible in the industry. This forum is an open one where we take feedback, good and bad, and use it as part of our planning processes. For example, there is one freezing issue that we feel has been occurring for some customers with inappropriate regularity. When we discovered this, we took resources away from other projects to address it. Any new product is going to have a few issues because designing something like this is full of various use case possibilities and complexity. I think how we should be judged though is how thoroughly and rapidly we respond to critical issues. I would have to respectfully disagree with you about HumanWare not having address the issues surrounding some microdrives. Dean Jackson has mentioned on this list, that the older 5 volt cards are not supported on BrailleNote mPower. When you build a product like this, there are always tradeoffs. The faster processor on the BrailleNote mPower will draw more current, and in an effort to keep battery levels under control, sometimes support for older products may not be possible. I remember many years ago now upgrading to my first PC that didn't support the old 5.25 inch floppies. Technology advances, but we do try to retain backward compatibility whenever possible. Regarding my response to the recording issue, all issues raised on this list as suggestions are logged and considered for future releases. I have made that point before, but appreciate that it is worth making from time to time for the benefit of new subscribers. So I don't say at the end of every message that we'll consider this for a future release, because we always look through our database of suggestions. A practical example is the BrailleNote mPower itself. When I sat down to think about what the next generation of BrailleNote would be like, I gave great weight to the most common requests. They included USB support, streaming audio, greater speed, more storage, and more. So I think we endeavour to listen to customers and respond as best we can to the huge number of needs that get expressed to us. But we can always strive to do better and I appreciate the feedback. Jonathan Mosen BrailleNote Product Marketing Manager HumanWare DDI: +1-925-566-9265 http://www.humanware.com kim <[EMAIL PROTECTED] ahoo.com> To Sent by: [email protected] braillenote-bounc cc [EMAIL PROTECTED] .com Subject [Braillenote] some observations 01/11/2005 12:38 a.m. Please respond to Braillenote List <[EMAIL PROTECTED] .humanware.com> Upon hearing about the Braille Note Mpower, I was very excited, and have seriously considered purchasing one for some time. After reading the list however, I have felt more discourage for a few important reasons. The first of these involves the new unit, whether it is a transplant, or a completely new one's ability to lock up for some unexplained reasons. Just today in fact, someone posted about her Braille Note locking up after she received an attachment, which she could not read, because the unit claimed it was not a valid word for windows 6.0 or word 97 file. Does this also mean that Word 2003 files are not supported? This is only one instance of the unit locking up, but there have been others mentioned, which are unexplained. One of these occurs, when the braille note will not accept peripherals such as micro drives. From negative micro drive experiences that users have had, the use of the PCMCIA card slot will cause the unit to lock up, and in some cases, cause a reset loop. When asking about peripherals, and their compatibility with the Braille Note, there are severe limitations, and no real desire on the part of people from Humanware that I have observed to expand it. This lack of enthusiasm for expansion extends not only to peripherals, but to any limitation that is mentioned concerning the Braille Note Mpower The most recent example, is the person who asked about being able to pause a recording, and resume in the same file. The answer was no, but that a new file could be created. This could have just been an idle question, but it is something which would be a usable feature for people to have. There was no promise to look into it farther. I realize that this unit is new, and therefore, a lot of improvement is to be had. It will not be perfect, but taking suggestions or questions from users seriously, instead of deflecting them with a band-aid-like solution is quite discouraging. Sincerely, Kim __________________________________ Yahoo! FareChase: Search multiple travel sites in one click. http://farechase.yahoo.com ___ To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit http://list.humanware.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote
