Exactly. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Paul Henrichsen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "'Braillenote List'" <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, February 08, 2006 11:32 AM Subject: RE: [Braillenote] A rock and a hard place.
> My concern is now many blind people really know how to use excel? > There are a few on this list, but considering the entire group of users who > use Braille note products, how many would be able to benefit from there > sources that it would take to create a pocket excel for the bn family as > opposed to some other stand alone financial program such as a checkbook > program? > I would bet that most of their users wouldn't have a clue how to get around > excel. > > > > Paul Henrichsen > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Robert Carter > Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2006 6:55 AM > To: Braillenote List > Subject: Re: [Braillenote] A rock and a hard place. > > Hi All, > > This message from Karl clearly states what I believe to be the reality of > what Humanware is facing. I hope all of us will read it carefully. > > Robert Carter > > At 08:40 AM 2/7/2006, you wrote: > >Hello Folks, > > > >I am writing in response to Jonathan's post and have changed the subject > >line to reflect what I feel is really the underlying problem here. First > I > >won't complain about any functionality Humanware is able to get into > >the Braille Note and my personal favorite for top of the list is access > >to Pocket Excel as I feel this is the last major tool for business > >users which is still missing. > > > >Having said this I believe that Humanware and, in fact, Freedom > >Scientific are working hard to provide the products they feel best > >serve the blind population. However in there efforts they find > >themselves between the classical rock and hard place. This is because > >of the nature of the platform they are working with. > > > >Under the layer of applications provided in Keysoft is the Pocket PC > >environment. This product was developed and is intended for use in > >pocket sized devices designed to act as an adjunct to the full PC. The > >sighted user of a PDA carries it around to collect contacts, keep > >appointments and take notes and then at the end of the day brings the > >device back to the office or home, docks it with the PC and gathers the > >information inside for further development with full featured programs like > Word and Excel. > > > >This is all well and good when you have paid from $200.00 to $400.00 > >for the device. Because of the special needs of the blind Humanware > >has worked to develop a product based on the same platform and with as > >many features as possible which exist on the general market PDA for the > >sighted. Because of this special market's needs the product is > >necessarily more expensive costing upwards of $2,000.00 for a version > >without Braille and up to $6,200.00 for the largest Braille version. > >Because of this price structure blind users understandably feel that it > >should do quite a bit more than the similar $200.00 device. After all > >for the $6,000.00 price one could purchase one whale of a desktop or laptop > computer. > > > >This feeling puts Humanware in a difficult position because they are > >developing software on a platform which is simply not currently > >designed or intended to offer the full features of Word or Excel. > >Where a blind person might have only the BN to perform all our > >computing needs thus demanding more features and abilities, a sighted > >person would never consider owning only a PDA without a computer. > > > >I realize the above doesn't solve the problems some are describing with > >compatibility with Word etc. but I am stating it because I feel we > >need to try to understand the monumental task Humanware has set for > >itself and, although not perfect, the distance they have come in > >offering a good solid product which serves many important needs. I > >hope also that it helps a bit in understanding the heavy demands we as > >blind users place on our note takers/PDAs which the sighted do not. > > > >Finally I believe that it is imperative that we as blind technology > >users carefully consider the equipment we purchase or is purchased for > >us before the decision is made. As a technology consultant I take very > >seriously my role in assisting my customers in deciding what they want > >to accomplish and which equipment will best suit the situation. > >Because, as all of you know, once you have started down a path and > >invested the large amounts of money necessary it is difficult if not > >impossible to back up and take another path so our decisions need to be > right the first time. > > > >Well I guess I have rambled on enough and I hope this may be helpful in > >some way. I can only say keep up the good work Jonathan and all the > >folks at Humanware. And I don't envy your precarious position but I'm > >glad someone has decided to take it on because the blind are much > >better off because of it. > > > >Karl > > > > > >____________________ > > > >Karl Smith > >Access Technology Specialist > >Axis > >4304 South El Camino St. > >Taylorsville, Utah 84119 > > > >Phone: 866-824-7885 > >Fax: 866-824-7885 > >E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > >No one will ever go broke underestimating the intelligence of the human > >race. > > > > - H. L. Menkin > >-----Original Message----- > >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of > >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 12:33 PM > >To: Braillenote List > >Subject: Re: [Braillenote] A Call for Better Keyword Support and other > >things > > > >Hi Tom, and thanks for your great feedback. In this message, I'm going > >to attempt to reply to your points as well as the points made by others > >in reply to your original message. > > > >The issues you raise regarding Word support are issues which concern us > >greatly as well. KeySoft 6.11 made some strides to improving the situation. > >Prior to KeySoft 6.11, we did not support files created in Word beyond > 2000. > >Now, we support all versions of Word. that said, there are > >characteristics that cause the Word converter to fall over and crash > >not very gracefully, irrespective of Word version. These include the > >use of formatting such as tables and bullet points. This isn't a > >satisfactory situation to us either, and I have in fact authorised > >funding for a project to research fixes to this issue. > > > >One of the issues we face is that we as blind people use our > >BrailleNotes quite differently from how many sighted people use their > >PDAs. A PDA for the sighted has a small screen, and it's not common for > >people to do very complex editing in that environment. For this reason, > >it may be that the conversion utilities available to us as part of what > >comes with Windows CE need to be replaced with a third party product > >that will offer much more advanced Word support. We're actively > >investigating this now, but at this stage it's too early to give any > >kind of indication as to when you might see the results of this. However, > this is one of the nice things about KeySoft. > >We can take the bits of Microsoft code that work for us, and replace > >others that offer more functionality. We've done this for example in > >the case of our Media player which streams more formats than Pocket > >WindowsMedia Player, and with our Download Manager. > > > >I would have to take issue with those who have described the feature > >set of KeySoft 7 as fluff. BrailleNote and VoiceNote mPower is now the > >only portable product in the market offering you a choice of speech > >engine. We have a powerful database manager already being used to > >assist people with everything from running their businesses to cataloguing > home inventory. > >The fraction functions in the calculator are a big feature for students. > >While much as been made of the games, keep in mind that a huge number > >of BrailleNotes find their way to the education sector. The text > >adventures assist with literacy because they encourage kids to use the > machine more. > >They also assist with orientation, because most of these games use > >compass directions, teaching blind children to retrace their steps and > >assisting them to develop a sense of spatial awareness. And yes, > >they're also good fun. The changes to Bluetooth are particularly huge > >in the education market because of the visual display functionality. > >The FM radio is consistent with our intent, over time, to have the > >BrailleNote replace as many of those other devices you have to carry > >around with you as a blind person who travels. > > > >All that being said, you'll get no argument from me about the > >substantive issue you raise, and we are certainly actively working on the > issue. > > > >Jonathan Mosen > >BrailleNote Product Marketing Manager > >HumanWare > > > >DDI: +1-925-566-9265 > >http://www.humanware.com > > > > > > > >"Tom Lange" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >Sent by: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >03/02/2006 02:57 p.m. > >Please respond to > >Braillenote List <[email protected]> > > > > > >To > >"Braillenote List" <[email protected]> cc > > > >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 > > > > > > > > > >__________ NOD32 1.1395 (20060206) Information __________ > > > >This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system. > >http://www.eset.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 > > > ___ > 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 > > > __________ NOD32 1.1397 (20060207) Information __________ > > This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system. > http://www.eset.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 > > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.1.375 / Virus Database: 267.15.2/252 - Release Date: 6/02/2006 > > ___ 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
