I agree. Notetakers are much more mobile and much faster than a laptop; I
prefer having a big pc and a pda, not a pda and laptop or pc and laptop.
The pda to use on the go and during class and the pc for use at home and
when I want to do things the bd cannot do (programming, heavy web browsing,
some music playback...
Have a great day,
Alex
----- Original Message -----
From: "Nicole B. Torcolini" <[email protected]
To: "Ray Campbell"
<[email protected]>,<[email protected].
com
Date sent: Fri, 30 Jan 2009 08:16:52 -0800
Subject: Re: [Braillenote] Future of BrailleNote and other
Notetakers Like It
Until the gap becomes too big and/or they design a laptop with a
built in
Braille display that starts up in less than 5 seconds, has a
totally
accessible o.s., has a Braille keyboard (not just a 6 dot mode),
and has
built in speech, I think that the bn and other notetakers will
still have
their place in the world. Probably if you made a list of reasons
for a
laptop and a list of reasons for a bn, would see what I am
talking about.
Nicole
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ray Campbell" <[email protected]
To: <[email protected]
Sent: Friday, January 30, 2009 8:08 AM
Subject: [Braillenote] Future of BrailleNote and other Notetakers
Like It
Hi Everyone:
These are just random thoughts going through my head. With much
fanfair, a Press Release came out announcing Keysoft 8.0. While
there
are some nice new features like KeyChat included, basic issues
such as
an upgraded operating system, better support for word documents
and HTML
e-mail support in Keymail are not addressed.
The BrailleNote is not alone in not supporting all of the things
which
standard PDAs support. What I'm wondering is, are we seeing the
beginning of the end of the notetaker for people who are blind?
After
all, we have products like Mobile Speak Pocket, portable Graille
Displays and bluetooth keyboards which will allow us to access
mainstream PDAs just like we access the BrailleNote and other
products
like it today. Are we as consumers who are blind being gently
nudged
towards the mainstream PDA solution and away from the notetaker
as we
know it?
I bought one of the first Braille Notes when it came out in 2000.
I am
concerned that the BrailleNote appears to be falling far behind
mainstream PDAs and other notetakers. I have over 15 years of
software
engineering and development experience. I understand the
complexities
of upgrading a device like the BrailleNote. However, I also know
that
many of the features people are asking for are things which have
been
asked for several times, and are things that are included on
mainstream
PDAs. Yet, we never hear anything about them, even something
like, we
understand this needs to be done but we can't do it right now for
this
or that reason would be nice.
I really like the BrailleNote. It is an all in one device; I
don't want
to really have to start using three devices -- PDA, Bluetooth
keyboard
and portable Braille display -- to gain more functionality than
what I
have in the all in one Braillenote. However, we who are blind
need to
be able to keep up with our sighted peers, be they students,
co-workers,
or just friends.
I truly hope that Humanware hears what people are saying, that
they are
listening, and that they will tell us why such things as HTML
E-mail and
better word support are not being included in Keysoft 8. These
are
things we the customers have been asking for and have a right to
know.
While I don't want to know their exact plans for including these
things,
I'd like something telling me they are coming soon, like within
six
months.
Thanks for reading,
Ray Campbell, Help Desk Technician
Adaptive Technology Center
Chicago Lighthouse for People Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired
1850 W. Roosevelt Road
Chicago, IL 60608
312-997-3651 (Voice/Relay) or
888-825-0080 (voice/Relay)
[email protected]
AIM Screen Name: tclhelp
www.thechicagolighthouse.org
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