I suppose that depends on the economic status of the driver. I know plenty
of people who are driving cars that are between 10 and 20 years old. Many
people buy second-hand cars from people who choose to buy a newer model, but
those cars still stay on the road. Obviously, many people *choose* to buy a
car every few years, upgrade, to buy the latest models, to want the latest
and the best and the most up-to-date, but for those for whom finances are
such a big consideration in such a major purchase, the product should be
designed and manufactured well enough to last longer than a few years. And
many cars do run for many, many years. So to my mind, a $6000 Braille note
should not *have* to be replaced every 3 or 4 years, especially if one keeps
up with the software upgrades that will keep the machine at least somewhat
up-to-date.
I know, especially with software and all that, that there comes a point
when the stuff is so outdated, it won't work with newer programs and so on.
But IMO, these products are too expensive to be considered so disposable.
And, BTW that second-hand thing is another problem. As I understand it,
if you buy a used Braille Note second-hand, Humanware will do *nothing* for
the new owner. They say, you are not the original owner. So what? The
service contract or repair contract or what have you should be for the
machine, not tied to the person who originally bought it. After all,
*someone* bought it and paid for it, and IMO, the new owner should be able
to get the machine transplanted, repaired or what have you. It can be
assumed that the person selling it has upgraded to a new oone, at least a
large percentage of the timme, so new products are still being sold. What is
the justification for this procedure?
Alice
Alice
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kevin Chao" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "'Alice Dampman'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>;
<[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, December 07, 2007 1:33 PM
Subject: RE: [Braillenote] planned techno failure
Alice,
To be honest, it is very uncommon for drivers to have their vehicles for
more than 5 years, it is rather rare for someone to own a
vehicle for even 2 years.
Kevin
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Alice Dampman
Sent: Friday, December 07, 2007 3:05 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Braillenote] planned techno failure
Maurice,
You wrote:
"People do have an unrealistic expectation of how long you should be able
to service something. I'm not a heavy mobile phone user, but I'm onto my
5th phone and in most instances I've got a new phone because the old phone
just couldn't be serviced, and if I wanted some new feature then I payed
for a new phone."
So humanware will also become part of our throw-away culture? And anyhow,
a
cell phone costs $100 or thereabouts, unless of course you choose to get a
more expensive one with more bells and whistles. But one has no choice in
the price of these note takers, and the idea of spending $6000 every 5
years
or so to replace the Braille Note is unacceptable and indicates to me that
the machines are not very well made. It's not only a matter of new
technology, it's a matter of duragbility, stability and adaptability.
In short, these things are simply too expensive to require such
frequent
replacement. Can you imagine the outrage if drivers were forced to replace
their cars every 5 years?
Alice
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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