This is, unfortunately, a very good comparison. It is unfortunate that
these kinds of things happen, but progress does have its price.
On a side note, in case anyone is wondering, Rich also remembers the
days prior to the discovery of fire when one had to cook your food by
leaving it in direct sunlight or if you were fortunate enough to find a
thermal vent.
Take Care
John D. Panarese
Managing Director
Technologies for the Visually Impaired, Inc.
9 Nolan Court
Hauppauge, NY 11788
Tel/Fax, (631) 724-4479
Email, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Internet, http://www.tvi-web.com
AUTHORIZED DISTRIBUTORS FOR PORTSET SYSTEMS LTD, COMPSOLUTIONS VA, PREMIER
ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGIES, INDEX, PAPENMEIER, REPRO-TRONICS, PULSEDATA,
DUXBURY, DANCING DOTS, ROBOTRON AND OTHER PRODUCTS FOR THE BLIND AND
VISUALLY IMPAIRED
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Richard Ring
Sent: Tuesday, April 18, 2006 5:51 PM
To: Braillenote List
Subject: RE: [Braillenote] I can't emboss with my Mpower
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
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