I am aware that in writing this message, I will, in all probability, incur the wrath of some listers; however, I feel that what I have to say speaks to the questions at hand. When technological changes occur, there will always be casualties when it comes to devices. The majority of you are too young to remember this, but here is a boring history lesson. A long time ago, in a computer universe far far away, there were devices called internal speech synthesizers. They were hardware devices that provided speech when combined with the correct drivers and a screen reader. They ranged in price from about $295 to $1100. These devices worked fine in Dos, Windows 3.1, Windows 95, and Windows 98. However, with the advent of Windows XP, they would no longer function. This loss of functionality was caused not only by changes in the operating system, but hardware changes as well. However, if you had one of these devices, and you preferred its speech over that of say, Eloquence, it didn't matter to you what the causes of this change were, what mattered is that your speech synthesizer no longer functioned, and whatever money you invested in it was now wasted. If you had a large record collection (records were round flat disk like objects with holes in the middle that spun on turn tables) and you suddenly discovered that the CD (compact disk) was rapidly replacing your technology, you had a choice. You could continue to play your records and hope that your turn table would hold up, or you could decide to purchase the new technology and, eventually, lay your turn table to rest. Insofar as cell phones are concerned, it seems that Humanware was never able to pin down the particular problem that Cathy Davis and others experienced. In fairness to Humanware, they could never have been expected to test every conceivable cell phone. Cell phone models change as fast as the weather, and there are so many of them that this task would have been impossible. This does not make it any easier for someone who was used to using their cell phone with their Braillenote product, only to find that it would no longer work with the mPower. However, things like this do happen when technology changes. The embosser issue is a more difficult one. Embossers are expensive and difficult to maintain. And, if one were able to emboss prior to a software upgrade, and this functionality would no longer work reliably, it would seem to me that this would pose a real problem. I hope that Humanware addresses this issue, and I believe that if they can, they will.
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of kathy davis Sent: Tuesday, April 18, 2006 2:59 PM To: Braillenote List Subject: re: [Braillenote] I can't emboss with my Mpower Hi, Terri, Yes, indeed, I totally agree with your unhappiness over having to spend and spend in order to get the same kind of connectivity with the mPower and/or version 7.0. I've had to get a different printer and a new cell phone in order to be able to do with the mPower what I could do so simply and inexpensively with the classic. With the classic I could use the cell phone and printer I already owned. I know it's progress they say, and the mPower does have some nice new features, but so many of us are definitely not rolling in dough, assets are definitely limited, and it just seems very unfair. I do like the mPower for itself, but it's not user friendly when it comes to working with other devices. Kathy ___ 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
