I hope I don't offend anybody by saying this, but I think that we might be
going a little overboard with some of our suggestions for improvements to
the BN. I think there are good reasons why Humanware should concentrate
more on supporting deaf-blind people as well as all blind people at their
jobs. I love the FM radio and the games, but the reason I upgraded to
Version 7.0 was the database. I also need to use my planner at work to keep
from going crazy. So even though these aren't the most fun features of the
BN, they are important to a lot of the customers, and these are the features
that make the product competitive. I'd love to have DAISy support, for
example, and I've enjoyed the FM radio, but the fact is, there are smaller
and less expensive products that offer these features, but there's nothing
else that offers the easy-to-use database, planner, word processor, wireless
email, or just plain old note-taker. I'm not criticizing Humanware for
adding the FM radio. I'm only saying that it probably shouldn't be the main
focus.
We should probably also learn from history. the Braille 'n Speak family of
products were really wonderful when they first came out. However, the
company kept adding more and more features without ever making the necessary
changes to the basic unit. The result was an out-dated product with too
many features that didn't really work like they should have. I was teaching
people to use the products during the last few years of their production,
and I found it harder to teach beginners because the command structure had
grown up like a bunch of weeds, and only the older users were really
familiar with the reasons why things were done the way they were. Then,
other devices came out that incorporated the newer features, but the new
machines, like the BN, did it better and in a way that was easier to learn.
I think we should keep on making suggestions, but I hope that Humanware can
exercise good sense in deciding which ones are more important. I don't envy
them, because what's most important to one person is just fluff to somebody
else. But there really have to be priorities.
----- Original Message -----
From: "kathleen spear" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Braillenote List" <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, April 29, 2006 1:55 AM
Subject: re: [Braillenote] Idea for the next version of KeySoft
Hello Listers, This is KC Spear.
I don't mean to be a wet blanket. However, have any of you stopped to
think your sugestion would cause prolems for BN Users who are
deaf-blind!
Frankly, I think Humanware has already incorporated a chunk for those
who are only blind--e.g. FM radio, Media Player-- and I wish there was
some consensus so we could keep the BN user friendly to all!
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