Richard
I think I said enough to get my point across. I'm not going to start
itemizing specific commands and specific tasks. I'm talking about the big
picture, and I think I've said enough. I want productivity, not bells and
whistles. And before you say that bells and whistles for some are
productivity tools for others, let me say again that my feelings and
impressions are based on what I want to do with the unit. Others have
different wants and needs, and I respect that. I just think this upgrade
was a leisure toy kind of candy coating upgrade. There are some serious
things that need to be addressed, and others have also spoken up about them
as well. I'm not alone in my thinking.
Jean
----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard Ring" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Braillenote List" <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 7:10 AM
Subject: RE: [Braillenote] A Call for Better Keyword Support and other
things
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
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