That's all the more reason to have a multi-platform version of Keysoft. Terri, Amateur Radio call sign KF6CA. Army MARS call sign AAT9PX, California ----- Original Message ----- From: "Paul Henrichsen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "'Braillenote List'" <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2006 2:34 PM Subject: RE: [Braillenote] A rock and a hard place.
: New pc's are also cheap these days, under $500. : : : : Paul Henrichsen : <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> : : : -----Original Message----- : From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] : [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Les Kriegler : Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2006 11:07 AM : To: 'Braillenote List' : Subject: RE: [Braillenote] A rock and a hard place. : : Hi Terry, : : Where is HW going to get the staff needed to do what you've suggested? I'd : rather see them focus on development for the current family of products. : Best Regards, : : Les : : -----Original Message----- : From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] : [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Terri Pannett : Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2006 12:27 PM : To: Braillenote List : Subject: Re: [Braillenote] A rock and a hard place. : : Dear Karl, : : All of what you said is good, except you forgot one other contender in the : notetaker market--GW Micro and the Braille Sense. It's the new kid on the : block, but GW Micro is also trying to help us get the most out of a PDA : using a limited platform. : : I have always believed it isn't a wise idea to depend on only the : BrailleNote or VoiceNote to meet one's needs? Why? Because you have : nothing to fall back on when you must send your BN in for repairs. And I : wouldn't depend on only a PC either. Computers can crash and you're : computerless until you get it fixed or get a new one. : : So, I would suggest that it should be recommended that all blind people : should have both a BN and a PC. Used PC's are very cheap, so if someone's : budget is tight, and they don't have a PC, they could buy a used one. : : A person on a tight budget can download a demo of WindowEyes and use it as a : screen reader or they could lease a copy of WE. : : I believe Humanware should make improvements to the BN, but the lousy : platform of Windows CE will present problems in implementing some of the : things people need. : : I have often suggested Humanware should develop a version of Keysoft for : Windows so people could use Keysoft on a PC. They should also consider : developing a BrailleNote which would use Windows or Linux instead of Windows : CE. : : They should also consider loaning the classics to people whose BN's are : being repaired. They could even offer the classics as cheap backups for : people who absolutely don't have and don't want to buy a PC. : : Terri, Amateur Radio call sign KF6CA. Army MARS call sign AAT9PX, : California : ----- Original Message ----- : From: "Karl Smith" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> : To: "'Braillenote List'" <[email protected]> : Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2006 6:40 AM : Subject: [Braillenote] A rock and a hard place. : : :: 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 :: :: :: __________ 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 : : : ___ : 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 : : : __________ 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
