Hi Nicole, Maurice and list,
Here's my take on this: Maurice's words are understandable due to busy
schedule (from what I understand). Also, if moderators interfere more
often,
the good side is that the company can show concerns; but another point
of
view is that, by allowing users to post more than moderators do, users
themselves will learn from each other, which has happened on this list
frequently. We have "experts" who deserve mentioning, including would-be
programmers, technology experts, enthusiasts and people who have many
years
experience with BrailleNote family. These folks provide useful
information
(up to a point where a product suggestion or ways of solving a problem
was
discovered through this list - fixing download issue in 2006). Thus,
although moderator intervension (for some posts) would be useful, for
the
most of the time, users learn and help each other, thus negating
intervension from HW staff for the most of the time (in my opinion based
on
experiences).
From statistics, when a "critical" or future of a product ws mentioned,
it
tends to increase anxiety level of the list members (which this KS8
thread
has done)...
On another note: I'll post a Beta version of BrailleNote PBWorks 6.0
today
(you'll see sweeping changes underway for that site tonight). I'll
announce
Beta version for information testing when I've finished working on it
(to
make sure that the information that the public will access is in par
with
KS8 announcement.).
Cheers,
Joseph
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Maurice
Sloane
Sent: Sunday, July 12, 2009 2:46 PM
To: [email protected]; Alex Hall; [email protected]
Subject: RE: HW Monitor the List? was RE: [Braillenote] Keysoft 8
Thread:
Dominic Gagliano
I'm a very quite Moderator Nicole! Experience has shown me that the
more you interfere with nature the more pain you cause. I and several
other HumanWare staff receive either individual posts or daily digests
from the list.
Regards
Maurice
________________
Maurice Sloane
HumanWare NZ
Phone: +64 3 384 4555
Direct Dial +64 3 940 2223
Mobile: +64 21 528 374
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.humanware.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Nicole B. Torcolini [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Monday, 13 July 2009 9:03 a.m.
To: [email protected]; 'Alex Hall'; Maurice Sloane;
[email protected]
Subject: HW Monitor the List? was RE: [Braillenote] Keysoft 8 Thread:
Dominic Gagliano
While we seem to have hw's attention, I would like to know
whether
or not hw monitors the list. The two reasons that I have for thinking
that
they do not are that they seem to not know about the complaints that
have
posted to this list and certain posts that I thought would have
attracted
the attention of the moderator seem to have gone completely unnoticed.
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Nicole B.
Torcolini
Sent: Sunday, July 12, 2009 8:39 AM
To: 'Alex Hall'; 'Maurice Sloane'; [email protected]
Subject: RE: [Braillenote] Keysoft 8 Thread: Dominic Gagliano
I agree, too. As far as not talking about new features, unless
hw
has some kind of mega plan about which they are not sharing information,
its
track record makes it seem as though it has nothing that another company
does not already have. I am also particularly frustrated with hw's
refusal
to give information on the two biggest questions: word support and an OS
upgrade. All that said, though, I do love my bn, particularly since ks
seems to be very robust; none of the times that I sent in my unit were
caused by software crashes but rather for other things.
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Alex Hall
Sent: Saturday, July 11, 2009 8:51 PM
To: Maurice Sloane; [email protected]
Subject: re: [Braillenote] Keysoft 8 Thread: Dominic Gagliano
I agree 110 percent with Peggy's message! Like her, I mainly get annoyed
with HW when there is an apparent blackout of messages, unless it is a
message promising yet another release date that is then missed. A
message
every month or two, both regarding ks8 and as we move beyond it, would
be
great. Just something like "We are in final beta and have not found
anything major, should be a couple months, but no promises"
or
"We are closing feature requests for the next keysoft release and
beginning
the coding stage; still send us your feature requests and bug reports,
though."
or
"Coding is going well and we expect alpha testing to end any week now.
As
always, no timelines will be given, but we expect to start with beta
testing
in no more than ten weeks".
You get the idea. I hate to bring up competition, but GWM has three or
four
of its staff actively posting on its notetaker support list (its
equivalent
to this bn list) and, as new software comes available, it beta tests
that
new update with anyone that wants to risk trying it. In this way, the
random sequence of events that causes a crash is much more likely to be
found since the testing pool is much larger than a select group.
For example, I was using Spanish computer braille for a long time, and
so
was the only one to find a bug in Sendero GPS since I was using such a
strange Braille code. Had that software been a public beta, that bug
would
not have made it into the final release. I know hw always says that it
never releases features until just before the update so that competition
cannot jump on the ideas and get a head start, but this logic does not
really make sense. If you like your unit, then you will continue to use
it
instead of spending thousands of dollars just to switch to another unit
that
beat yours to the punch and got an instant messenger first. I have my
bn,
and I am mostly satisfied with it. I will not switch to a Pac Mate
because
FS sees that hw is going to include, say, an rss reader and so fs puts
one
in the PM first. I hope this makes sense.
Again, thank you for the update, and please keep them coming!!
Have a great day,
Alex
----- Original Message -----
From: "Maurice Sloane" <[email protected]
To: "Braillenote List" <[email protected] Date sent: Sat,
11 Jul 2009 23:14:55 -0400
Subject: [Braillenote] Keysoft 8 Thread: Dominic Gagliano
I'm forwarding the following message from Peggy which is in reply
to
Dominic's earlier post concerning KeySoft 8.
If others wish to comment on this thread please use my message
when
replying and NOT Dominic's original message. The reason for this
is
that the total size of Dominic's original message is close to
exceeding
the limit accepted by the list mailing system. This was caused
by the
fact that Dominic included the list digest as part of his
message.
If you reply to Dominic's original message the messages will be
discarded by the mail list.
Thanks
Maurice Sloane
HumanWare
Thanks for the update, Dominic. I think the frustration, for me
at
least,
is not so much the delay, but the total silence on HumanWare's
part.
I'd
rather hear more frequent "we're still testing and fine tuning"
updates
than
dead silence. It seems like HumanWare only responds when 456
people
start
grumbling and saying we're frustrated, and then we get a message
like
yours.
I would rather have a message like yours posted on its own, and
not as a
response to a bunch of people feeling frustrated. Just
expressing my
feelings and giving feedback, and in no way meaning this as an
attack.
Peggy <who loves her BrailleNote, but is very disappointed at the
total
silence of Humanware about anything BrailleNote-related
http://kernsac.livejournal.com
http://facebook.com/kernsac
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dominic Gagliano" <[email protected]
To: <[email protected]
Sent: Saturday, July 11, 2009 9:33 AM
Subject: [Braillenote] KeySoft 8 update
I read that everyone is anxious to know the status and also read
a lot
of frustrations. KeySoft 8 is in its final beta testing and
being
prepared for release very, soon. There is a risk in providing an
exact
release date if the software is not completely tested and our
only
position is to meet due dates which has happened in the past. We
now
insist that we follow thru on the complete testing process and
release
once R&D have given approval.
There is a good deal of speculation on features for KeySoft 8.
These
have already been established and posted on this list as well as
our
website. This upgrade will not include an upgrade to Windows CE.
http://www.humanware.com/en-usa/about_us/press_releases/2009_pres
s_relea
ses/unveiling_keysoft_8
SMA's provide for two future upgrades without any specific time
frame.
If you prefer to not invest in future upgrades, then you can
purchase
single upgrades at additional cost. SMA purchases help fund the
cost for
engineering to produce software upgrades.
I thank those on the list that have been patient and have
attempted to
explain to those others that in the end we all want a stable
reliable
release.
Dominic Gagliano
Vice President of Blindness Sales
HumanWare, Inc
800-722-3393 Ext 258
Direct: 312-432-1147
FAX: 312-226-6127
[email protected]
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