I do not find your comments to be harsh, but they are so general so as to make it difficult to know what specific areas you'd like to see improvements in.
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jean Menzies Sent: Sunday, February 05, 2006 2:07 PM To: Braillenote List Subject: Re: [Braillenote] A Call for Better Keyword Support and other things Just a thought. Could it be that the proprietary approach has reached its limit in terms of compatibility with mainstream applications? Although I really like the mPower for the features I got it for, it kind of reminds me of trying to use Notepad for Word functionality. Yes, the BN is a notetaker, but it has a long way to go to be truly compatible with what most people have to deal with in a competitive learning or working environment. People shouldn't have to be asking for scaled down or special versions of documents. I will continue to use the mPower for what it is good at in my personal situation, but there are definite areas where it doesn't meet the grade with file compatibility and functionality. For me, there are a lot of situations where the PC is by far the most efficient choice. I will admit I'm a bit disillusioned with version 7 as I was hoping for other improvements. I only hope that Humanware does all it can to make the BN a truly viable tool, and doesn't let it drop any further behind when it comes to its functionality. Some might find my comments harsh, but I believe them to be my honest impressions. The mPower is a great tool for what it does, but I do think it needs to be rethought in some areas to bring its functionality and competitive status up to par. Jean ----- Original Message ----- From: "Olitta Fa'apusa" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Braillenote List" <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, February 05, 2006 10:17 PM Subject: re: [Braillenote] A Call for Better Keyword Support and other things > Thanks Tom for this topic. I too, stand up to be counted in voting in > support of the upgrade you're asking for. > > I am studying, but also get a lot of documents emailed to me, for > community and sporting activities. > > I haven't been able to access a lot of the info I need, due to the fact > that not all word documents are accessible, or supported by the > Braillenote. > > I have had messages adapted and resent, pasted into emails, or even > verbally explained over the phone, but many times I've simply gone without > a lot of the important information I need, because people don't have the > time to keep resending them to me. > > If this could be addressed in future upgrades, I'll also appreciate that > greatly. > > > > > CHEERS Humanware for great work thus from > Olitta > > >>----- Original Message ----- >>From: "Tom Lange" <[EMAIL PROTECTED] >>To: "Braillenote List" <[email protected] >>Date: Fri, 3 Feb 2006 12:57:39 -0800 >>Subject: [Braillenote] A Call for Better Keyword Support and other things > >>Hi list and Humanware support staff, > >>There are times when I have to vent and get something off my chest, and >>this >>is one of them. > >>Today I encountered two problems with a Word document that I downloaded >>from >>the Project Assist web site in connection with a course that I'm taking. > >>First, after downloading the document to my PC and transferring it to a BN >>Classic running Keysoft 6.11 build 26, I attempted to open the file in >>Keyword, at which time I got the "review options?" prompt. So far, so >>good, >>but when I pressed Enter on that prompt I was told that the file was not a >>recognized Word document. I re-saved the file on the PC as a Word 97 >>file, >>transferred that one, opened it and it worked fine. As it turns out, I >>couldn't open the original file until I did a 1-2-3 reset, then all was >>well. However, that led to a second problem. > >>The Word file in question contained a number of web addresses which I >>needed >>to visit in order to complete a class assignment. Though I could see them >>quite clearly when viewing the Word file on the PC, they were omitted >>entirely from the document when viewing it in Keyweb. I was unaware that >>Keyweb wouldn't display embedded hyperlink fields in a Word document, so, >>frankly, I was a little surprised, and, a tad bit annoyed. >>My Braille Note is on its way back to me, having been upgraded to an >>MPower >>which should be running Keysoft 7, and I'm really excited about that. >>Having >>heard about all the neat functionality built into Keysoft 7 and the MPower >>platform, I can't wait to take the unit for a spin. > >>However, I need to reiterate and expound on something that I've been >>saying >>for a long, long time. Humanware development managers have been very >>responsive to the needs and wants of the customers, and I extend a hearty >>thumbs-up for their efforts thus far to enhance the functionality of the >>product offering. Many folks, myself included, asked for a faster >>hardware >>platform and got it, a newer version of Windows CE and got it. Folks >>asked >>for enhanced media player support, streaming audio, database >>functionality, >>and the list goes on, and all of that is here now, and that's great! > >>But what about the long-standing issues that still need to be addressed? >>Humanware needs to recognize and remember that there's a significant >>percentage of folks within the user population who, like myself, use the >>Braille Note for education and business as well as pleasure on a >>day-to-day >>basis, so special consideration must be given to ensuring that those >>applications that can be used for education and business have the best >>possible support that the platform will offer. This means that Keyword, >>for >>example, needs to be able to handle any Word document version that's >>thrown >>at it, and that in the interest of being fully and seamlessly integrated >>into education and business-related activity, it needs to, among other >>things, be able to handle fancier formatting such as tables without >>crashing and handle markup such as embedded hyperlinks without omitting >>the >>associated information. It also means that those memory glitches which >>cause critical documents to mysteriously disappear into the bit bucket >>need >>to be isolated and dealt with in no uncertain terms. Yeah, I ran across >>that one a couple of weeks ago and let me tell ya, folks, re-creating my >>data wasn't much fun. > >>These issues still haven't been fully addressed in years, and it's become >>apparent that those of us who are concerned about them just haven't "made >>enough noise" by submitting formal requests to Humanware development or >>the >>support team. So I urge those who feel as I do, stand up and be counted. >>Voice your concerns on the list yet again, and write to Humanware support >>directly as I'm doing at this very moment, so that Humanware development >>managers can see the numbers and know that we're out here clamoring for >>resolution of these issues. > >>Okay, time to get off my soapbox. No flames, please. See y'all later. > >>Tom > > > > >>___ >>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 > > > ___ > 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 > > ___ 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 ___ 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
