Hello Kim, Rhonda and list,
It is not what was said that really is the issue I don't think, it was the
way it was said! To put it another way, it wasn't the presentation that
was the problem, it was the way it was presented! I have been on this list
at least four years, as long as I've owned a braillenote and I've seen
things go pretty low at times! I don't particularly like to see this list
go to the dumps! I'd like to keep things in a proper purspective so one
truly can see the big picture, the true picture of what the BN family of
products is all about!
Imagine your home or office for a moment! Right now everything seems to be
fine, everything looks so nice and everything for the most part is nicely
arranged in your home or office. Then one day you decide to move a piano
into the livingroom or meeting room in your office,at least, this is what
you want to do! Would that piano go there especially if it is an
apartment? I can tell you right now with all I have in my house, a piano
wouldn't fit in my livingroom so I won't try moving one in! I can barely
accommodate my keyboard which I may sell one day! I'm certain too if you
managed to move that piano into the livingroom or meeting room, the room
wouldn't remain the same! You'd have to shift things in the room around a
bit for the piano to blend in properly with everything in the room! The
same thing can be said for a computer desk and a host of other
things! Let's imagine what we have for technology to be in a room devoted
to everything that is out there which is considered technology! Whenever
a new concept or technology product comes out, the entire room shifts
about! There are new ways to look at how the room is arranged! There are
new ideas which call for the expantion or enlargement of the room. What
was once very important may go to the basement to be forgotten about or
thrown away because it is no longer needed! As all of you know, things are
changing so quickly these days!
How about a couple of my own experiences with the technology room! Let's
start with the traveler disk drive! I wasn't all that enthused about it at
first especially when my old Blazy disk drive ran on a battery and would
work with the notetaker wherever I went. The Traveler disk drive had to be
plugged into a hundred and ten volt wall outlet in order to work! It also
had to be plugged into the BN in order to function. In time, I got use to
it! I was able to transfer files to and from my BN using the Traveler Disk
Drive! After a time, the files I needed were getting a bit large for
floppy disks. This was evident especially with upgrades and MP3
files. Once I was able to go online with my BN, I was able to take care of
a number of the larger files! I continued transferring smaller files with
the Traveler Disk Drive. Then one day, I upgraded to Keysoft 6.1 and to my
astonishment, the Traveler Disk Drive no longer worked! Never fear said
Humanware, 6.1.1 is on its way and it has a driver for the Traveler Disk
Drive! Hew! That was a relief! I downloaded what I needed for 6.1.1 and
it was sluggish but the disk drive worked again! I was pleased since I
could again exchange files with my PC or transfer some files to my wife's
BN. All was again well till my wife and I bought the M-power. To our
surprise, the Traveler Disk Drive no longer worked and could no longer work
due to the change of voltage in the PCMCIA card slot! Oh boy! What do I
do now? I have since learned from this list that I could get a USB floppy
disk drive which will run on the battery of the M-power! Wow! I'll gain
my freedom back! I can use the floppy disk drive anywhere I can use my BN
M-power and what? The drive costs fifty dollars? That's half the price of
the Traveler! Okay! When I can get to Best Buy, I'll check on it! Goody
goody! Instead of going to Best Buy, I went to Costco and found a couple
of one gig thumb drives. Now I can exchange files with my wife easily
using these USB thumb drives. I can even give her audio files some of the
time. Maybe I won't need that floppy drive all that much now. I can send
files to and from the PC through the network to and from the BN so my wife
for now can forward Email with attachments to me till we get her PC
functioning through the network to send and receive files. If the
attachment is on the BN, it is a simple matter to put the file on the thumb
drive and I'll have it in my unit very quickly! At the moment, I can only
transfer files to my BN from the PC or visaversa through the network or
floppy disks. The USB ports are hard to reach on my PC since they are way
in back and it is hard to get cables in and out where they need to go. I
hope to get a new PC shortly! If I get one with a PCMCIA slot, network
capability of course, accessible usb sslots, CD drive and perhaps a floppy
disk drive, wait! why would I need one? I can get that USB floppy drive
and I could access the floppy disks. This is how the technology room
tilts! Everything changes! For those keeping older units, one might be
able to get traveler disk drives for next to nothing I bet! Don't all
write at once!
What can I say about embossing! The BN has been the best notetaker for
embossing documents I have seen! I've used the parallel port all this time
till I bought my M-power! Now my BN M-power doesn't work with my
Embosser! I need to figure a way to get the USB port to become a useable
parallel port. I'll get that figured out one day perhaps shortly but I can
use my older BN to emboss documents. I can use a compact flash card to
transfer a file from the M-power to the BN classic. I can emboss from
there! At least, I have this work around for now! Perhaps I can get the
infrared port to work with the embosser with some kind of infrared
gismo. I love to emboss braille letters! It is such fun! The problem is
that it is so easy to send Emails to those with this capability so why send
braille letters. A friend of mine wants me to send her some
information. I'll emboss it for her but once she gets a BN or some other
technology, I'll either send her an attachment or tell her where to go on
the web to read about what she wishes to learn about! So the room
continues to tilt!
I had Keysoft 4.02 when I chose Verizon as my carrier and I had a Modorola
Startac phone. My Email with my PC was dial up then! With the help of a
friend, I bought the necessary cable and all was well! I could send and
receive Email with my wireless phone and BN from almost anywhere! I had to
go to a meeting in our state Capitol of Helena. I downloaded my Email
before I left. While the bus stopped at a major stop of Bozeman, I sent
out and received more Email while on the bus. I did this while I was on
the bus and sent and received Email from the hotel room using my wireless
phone since I didn't want to be charged for calls on a hotel phone line. I
sent a few people an Email telling them where I was as I was coming to the
meeting! The problem was they probably didn't read the Email till they got
home. I'm certain I was the only blind person in Montana at that time who
had this kind of functionality with the available technology. I took my BN
to Denver as I visited my wife to be. She was impressed with how I could
keep up with my Email while there! We sent Email back and forth and to
lists as I came to Denver to move her to Montana. She had DSL at the
time! Too bad I didn't have an Ethernet card then! Oh well! Once she was
here, we needed to update our phones so we both got the Modorola V60
phones. We didn't have them long enough to get appropriate cables for them
to use them as modems. We decided to go the LG VX4500 phones which gave us
different functionality but we lost the ability to use our wireless phones
as modems. I don't understand why the V60 phone won't work in the M-power
serial port. Just another one of those shifting room technologies again I
suppose! Hopefully Humanware will find a fix. Maybe it would work in the
USB port, but then, those wishing to use wireless phones as modems would
want the USB port to be a serial port and I wishing to use my embosser want
it as a parallel port. I don't see much progress with Verizon in the
forseeable future when it comes to accessible phones. I'm hoping T-mobile
or Cingular Wireless will reach Montana soon! I then can explore the
possibilities of getting a more accessible phone with bluetooth
capability. Till that time, using a wireless phone as a modem is out of
the question but wait! Something else happened! We are now on wireless
DSL through our phone company! What a marvelous change! I can again send
and receive Email anywhere in my house! I can even be outside to get on
the web and listen to streaming audio and do all of this much more quickly
than I could with the wireless phone I once had! We have been to Denver
and back again and we were able to send and receive Email from our
hotel. While at our state Convention, we could send and receive Email
right from our hotel room! I went to another meeting in Missoula and I
could send and receive Email as well as listen to audio streams from that
hotel! The network is much more efficient and quicker than a wireless
phone connection. I'd say the wireless phone will be a good second option
though! It still would work if I were visiting someone who did not have a
PC or network. The room continues to tilt!
I wouldn't want to be in the place of the developer of this technology who
can foresee the changes that will take place! How is older technology best
used and continued while the new technology takes over! What a nightmare
or tug-a-war this truly is!
I'm not happy with how my embosser isn't working with my M-power but what
is the percentage of peple out there who will encounter this problem? What
about those who used the wireless phone with their BN, how many are
encountering this problem? I can see where trying to prioritize and solve
problems with the M-power can really be a struggle at times. Despite the
challenges I face with my M-power, I'm so pleased to have one and I'm
enjoying its many new features. Perhaps I'll need to join Jonathan Mosen's
accessible phone list to educate myself further!
Jim Aldrich
At 08:37 AM 11/02/2005 , you wrote:
You are absolutely correct. If we say one thing that doesn't work, it's
taken as a complaint. I knew what you meant, and agree with you
totally. Because we may ask a question about something that doesn't work
doesn't make it a complaint. People are really getting too
offensive. It will boil down to people being afraid to make any comment,
for fear of repercussions.
People are asking questions that aren't getting answered. For instance,
Kathy Dauis asked about the cell phone issue. With her BN, she could use
the cell phone; with the mPower, it isn't working. Is there a difference
in what needs to be set up?
Let's get back on track to helping people, rather than criticizing.
----- Original Message -----
From: kim <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [email protected]
Date: Wed, 2 Nov 2005 09:30:51 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [Braillenote] re: some observations
Hi everyone,
It seems as though the motivation for posting my
observations was badly misunderstood. I did not intend
to start a Braille Note against every other notetaker
or pc war, nor do I expect perfection in any device. I
realize that all computers have the potential to lock
up, and I know that any type of notetaker is not a
replacement for a pc. I would not use it as such. Many
people on this list are not happy at all, with any
less than glowing observations that are offered about
the Braille Note, becoming very defensive, and even
daring anyone else to come up with a better solution
as a notetaker. My intention was not to bash the
Braille Note, in favour of another device. I simply
wanted to share my thoughts, based on what the list
had to say. Jonathan was the only person who was not
stuck on the locking up issue, offering me his opinion
on other aspects of my post. I hope that I have
clarified my reasons for giving you my thoughts about
the Braille note.
Sincerely,
Kim
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