Hello:
Humanware decisions come from the top, not from the
bottom. I feel that a dialog with the company's CEO
andor Vice-Presidents may prove more beneficial than
writing to Tech or Customer Support. The decision
is a managerial one and if we can pinpoint the
person who has the power we can have a better chance
to make a difference.
I don't feel that a petition would have the impact
of many letters addressed to the CEO.
If you can provide a name and address I'll send a
letter or three.
JD Townsend
Helping the light dependent to see.
Daytona Beach, Florida, Earth
----- Original Message -----
From: "Alex Hall" <[email protected]
To: "Joseph Lee" <[email protected]>,"'Joe
Orozco'" <[email protected]>,"'BN List'"
<[email protected]
Date sent: Fri, 4 Dec 2009 20:51:38 -0500
Subject: Re: [Braillenote] No SDK for Keysoft
The thought strikes me that, instead of a petition,
we just get a brief "why
you should release it" text from every interested
party, whether a possible
programmer or just someone who feels that they, and
other users, would
benefit from an SDK. We then compile all of the
texts into a single, huge
email, and send it to hw tech support as well as
customer service. Thoughts?
Have a great day,
Alex
New email address: [email protected]
----- Original Message -----
From: "Joseph Lee" <[email protected]
To: "'Joe Orozco'" <[email protected]>; "'BN List'"
<[email protected]
Sent: Friday, December 04, 2009 20:48
Subject: RE: [Braillenote] No SDK for Keysoft
Hi,
I see your point.
As for assistive tech in general, I do have that
one as my final research
area. But as it is, I (and others) would like to
start contributing to
small
things before moving onto big things. I plan to
teach computer science to
future students, but as it turns out, the best way
to teach it is via
trials
and errors (I learned this rule during my C++
class).
As for the petition, if we phrase it right, we can
hit a jackpot - the
text
of the petition should be simplified so that even a
newbie can understand
it.
Cheers,
Joseph
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On
Behalf Of Joe Orozco
Sent: Friday, December 04, 2009 5:32 PM
To: 'BN List'
Subject: RE: [Braillenote] No SDK for Keysoft
Well, let's be a little reasonable guys. It seems
a bit risky to base
your
studies on the presumption that you will work for a
specific company,
especially with one where you already know the
operating system is a
closed
one. It seems your genius should be built to help
improve assistive
technology as a whole rather than the features of a
single product. A
petition is unlikely, since most people will
probably not know what SDK
stands for, let alone how to use it to add features
to the device. I
follow
Alex and Joseph diligently, because your input is
always solid, but I am a
little surprised at the both of you for putting all
your eggs in one
basket.
Joe Orozco
"A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn
his back on the
crowd."--Max Lucado
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On
Behalf Of Alex Hall
Sent: Friday, December 04, 2009 8:23 PM
To: Joseph Lee; 'BN List'
Subject: Re: [Braillenote] No SDK for Keysoft
I agree. My goal for years, and my main reason for
going into
my field of study, was to work for HW writing
programs for the
bn, and it has always been my hope that an SDK
would one day be
available that would let me start writing programs.
Imagine
having more games available than just z-games;
keysoft-specific
card games, Battleship, and more... and those
would just be the
practice programs coming from the people starting
to use the
SDK. Then we get a timer instead of just a
stopwatch, maybe,
depending on how deep into keysoft we can get,
things like
creating a keybase database from a csv file instead
of having
to create the database ahead of time, and other
improvements we
have long wanted but never gotten. I am not
talking about huge
changes like fixing Word support (that has to come
from
Microsoft), but many other options, aside from the
few I have
put here, would be possible, and all it would take
is someone,
or a few people, with this SDK writing, testing,
and releasing
the programs. Best of all, if the person did not
want to, they
would not have to charge anything; at the very
least, they
could charge much less than the $200 per upgrade we
currently
pay for. I can imagine each card game costing $5
or $10, for
example, and that cost would only be there to cover
the initial
cost of the SDK that the programmer had to pay.
All this opportunity, though, will never happen
since hw
refuses to allow its products to be expanded by the
very people
who use them on a daily basis. I, for one, would
sign any
petition put forth to ask hw to offer an SDK. Even
if it was
offered with the understanding that use of any
programs made
using it that cause damage would not be covered by
tech
support/repair, I would be fine with that. There
is very little
you can do to a bn that re-installing keysoft will
not fix, and
I would expect the SDK to have an emulator for
testing your
program before you ever put it onto an actual bn
product. HW,
please reconsider your stance on this important
issue!
Have a great day,
Alex
New email address: [email protected]
----- Original Message -----
From: "Joseph Lee" <[email protected]
To: "'Alex Hall'" <[email protected]>; "'BN List'"
<[email protected]
Sent: Friday, December 04, 2009 20:12
Subject: RE: [Braillenote] No SDK for Keysoft
WHAT!!! NO WAY!!! We need something more drastic
than this...
This is illogical: how can a product grow and
exhibit
potential when the
very way of doing it is closed? We have people who
are
willing to do it
and
sacrifice time and effort for it. I am shocked by
this
revelation. Folks,
we
need another petition... NO individualized and
open SDK, no
potential for
BrailleNote for future engineers!
For me (and for possibly others), the prospect of
programmability of
BrailleNote has been the driving force behind some
of us
taking computer
science as our college major. The reason why I
decided to
specialize in
assistive technology and embedded system all came
forth because of
BrailleNote. If a very device was used as an
inspiration, I
view that it
needs further enlightenment via an easy to access,
open programming
environment where professionals and students can
showcase their
engineering
talent. Also, the overall perception and
experience of using
KeySoft can
be
improved if useful third-party programs from
professionals
and students
(who
are dedicated to BN) are released. I do understand
the
company's message
that it needs to protect things from competetors.
However,
for things like
this, I view that availability of the KeySoft SDK
would be a
far better
solution for our future.
Thanks.
Cheers,
Joseph
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On
Behalf Of Alex Hall
Sent: Friday, December 04, 2009 4:52 PM
To: BN List
Subject: [Braillenote] No SDK for Keysoft
Hi all,
Just so everyone knows: I just talked with tech
support through email,
asking about pricing and availability of an SDK for
keysoft,
like the one
that Sendero Group uses. They said that the SDK
cannot be lisenced to
individuals (the way they put it was "no public
SDK"), and
there are no
plans, as far as my rep is aware, to change that.
Tech support was
apparently unmoved by my point that so many little
things
that users would
like could be solved this way, like metric
converters, extensions to
keyplus, or a countdown timer. So, sadly, no SDK
for private
use, and no
plans to ever offer one. Sorry to all that would
like to get ahold of
one...
including myself!
Have a great day,
Alex
New email address: [email protected]
___
Replies to this message will go directly to the
sender.
If your reply would be useful to the list, please
send a
copy to the list as well.
To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message
to
[email protected]
To view the list archives or change your
preferences, visit
http://list.humanware.com/mailman/listinfo/brailleno
te
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 8.5.426 / Virus Database: 270.14.91/2542 -
Release
Date: 12/04/09
07:32:00
___
Replies to this message will go directly to the
sender.
If your reply would be useful to the list, please
send a
copy to the list as well.
To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message
to
[email protected]
To view the list archives or change your
preferences, visit
http://list.humanware.com/mailman/listinfo/brailleno
te
__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus,
version of
virus signature database 4661 (20091204) __________
The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.
http://www.eset.com
__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus,
version of virus
signature
database 4661 (20091204) __________
The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.
http://www.eset.com
___
Replies to this message will go directly to the
sender.
If your reply would be useful to the list, please
send a
copy to the list as well.
To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message
to
[email protected]
To view the list archives or change your
preferences, visit
http://list.humanware.com/mailman/listinfo/brailleno
te
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 8.5.426 / Virus Database: 270.14.91/2542 -
Release Date: 12/04/09
19:34:00
___
Replies to this message will go directly to the
sender.
If your reply would be useful to the list, please
send a
copy to the list as well.
To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message
to
[email protected]
To view the list archives or change your
preferences, visit
http://list.humanware.com/mailman/listinfo/brailleno
te
___
Replies to this message will go directly to the
sender.
If your reply would be useful to the list, please
send a
copy to the list as well.
To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message
to
[email protected]
To view the list archives or change your
preferences, visit
http://list.humanware.com/mailman/listinfo/brailleno
te
___
Replies to this message will go directly to the sender.
If your reply would be useful to the list, please send a
copy to the list as well.
To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to
[email protected]
To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit
http://list.humanware.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote
