the braillenote to me is like a small laptop Being as I hate pc's the closes thing I have to a pc is my braillenote. My mac is a lot better then the braillenote but hey, I still like my old impower 7.5 It's old and sometimes slow but I mean for the most part it is pretty fancy and sleak. I think that the best thing about my braillenote is the internet. It's amazing but the enpower is limited in the streams it can play. That is a bother to me as I am an avid streamer and an avid broadcaster. But all in all, I can't complain.
Blessings Timothy On 12/17/10, sammie clay <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hello Nicole, > As I said, I am forwarding your message to the list and > apologizing for what offended you. No offense was meant. > However, I think 6500.00 is an awful lot of money to spend on a > device that you experts say don't live up to it's potential, is > called a computer, and when we question it's ability we are told > to get a computer. Maybe what I really mean when I ask you to > try to create something is to ask you experienced computer users > to stop telling us to get a computer when what we have is a BN or > some other company's very expensive PDA which allows us to do a > limited amount of the things a PC can do. And, thank you Joseph > for, I hope, understanding my rants and raves about calling the > BN a full fledged computer when it (at this time) isn't even as > much of a computer as my cell phone. > Thanks for listening or reading, > > Sammie D. Clay > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Joseph Lee" <[email protected] > To: "'Nicole B. Torcolini at Home'" > <[email protected]>,"'sammie clay'" <[email protected] > Date sent: Thu, 16 Dec 2010 20:18:58 -0800 > Subject: RE: Computer or Not? was Re: [Braillenote] FAQ 4 > (technical): Whatisand what is not possiblewith a BrailleNote? > > Hi, > Actually, I understand where Sammie is coming from. To some, BN > would be the > "only computer" machine availible, while for others, we have a PC > with BN as > a companion device. > The whole point of this FAQ series and the survey was to find out > the level > of understanding of listers on current trends, as well as to > clarify points > raised on certain messages from user perspective. We may say > that BN is a > computer - in fact, it is if we look at tech specs and > investigate how it > does its work. But in terms of usability and interface, it is > not. As some > of us said, BN could not possibly qualify as a fully-fledged > computer mostly > because it does not do what a typical PC would perform, such as > advanced > graphics and hardware resources - in fact, anything that we think > a computer > can do (from sighted perspective), BN cannot perform. Not that > it does not > have a microprocessor or cannot perform tremendous number of > advanced > calculations - the processor inside the BrailleNote series can > perform > advanced calculations; only that the interface used on these > devices make it > seem as though we cannot perform things such as giving you a > superb unit > converter or allow a cellular modem to work out of the box. For > these kinds > of tasks, some of us say that it is doable provided that if there > is > commitment from HW, hence the words, "Apex exhibits potential." > Any embedded system that exhibit computational behavior, such as > those with > microprocessors and can be programmed would be considered a > computer. If we > examine a BrailleNote from this angle, we can safely conclude > that BN is in > fact a computer - a specialized computer that performs such and > such task. > But the problem is, "what if we take account the features or > interfaces that > this computer system exhibit?" If this question is considered, > some would > say that it's just a special PDA or a notetaker for the blind. > PDA's > themselves are computers in a sense - having the ability to be > programmed - > whether to fix bugs or add user suggestions, and if we examine > various > notetakers, we can say that it is a specialized computer system > using > different interface strategies to perform tasks. In this > context, we can say > that BN is just a specialized computer. Further, if we examine > this, we > arrive at this question, "what can we do to improve the usability > of this > computer system?" I heard there is a specialized study in > computer science > called human-computer interaction - where people study ways in > improving > usability or interaction of a computer system with humans i.e. > users. In my > opinion, the best way to improve user experience is if we users > ourselves do > something about it - adding useful suggestions, finding detailed > bugs and > giving back to user community. > Hope it does not offend anyone... If there were misinformation, > I apologize. > Cheers, > Joseph > > -----Original Message----- > From: Nicole B. Torcolini at Home > [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Thursday, December 16, 2010 7:49 PM > To: sammie clay > Subject: Re: Computer or Not? was Re: [Braillenote] FAQ 4 > (technical): What > isand what is not possiblewith a BrailleNote? > > Sammie, > > Please excuse me, but, although it may not have been intended > as so, I > found part of your message to be quite offensive. > > Nicole > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "sammie clay" <[email protected] > To: "Joseph Lee" <[email protected]>; > <[email protected]>; > <[email protected] > Sent: Thursday, December 16, 2010 7:33 PM > Subject: RE: Computer or Not? was Re: [Braillenote] FAQ 4 > (technical): What > isand what is not possiblewith a BrailleNote? > > > > Hello, > I don't know what the writer's reasons are for objecting to > calling the > Bn or Apex a computer, but I know what my reason is. In the > past, > whenever I've complained about something my device won't do, > Someone on > the list tells me to get a computer. After I explain that I > don't have a > computer and don't know how to use one, someone then reminds me > that the > BN is made to compliment a computer and I should not expect it > to perform > as a personal desk top, laptop, or notebook computer. I realize > that by > definition, the BN is a computer, but until it can do for a > visually > impaired or totally blind person what a PC does for the sighted > world, > it's still just a very expensive device that can't even do what > a cell > phone can do. > It can't describe the picture in the E-mail I receive; it can't > read PDF > or HTML files without help from the sporadic working of > the internet; it has difficulty navigating dialogue boxes; it's > limited in > > the size and amount of attachments it can send; I haven't been > able to > download music with mine (listen to music, but not download it > to a card; > currently it can't download my requests from the National > Library Service; > > and many other things a PC or cell phone does. I personally > would > appreciate all you "GEEKS" who use a PC with your PDA to stop > telling us > what these devices can do. Why not spend your time trying to > create > devices which will do what you say our BN's can do and sell them > to us > much cheaper than we buy our "ALMOST" computers for now. > That's my opinion of the BN being a computer, and I agree with > the > writer! > > Sammie D. Clay > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Joseph Lee" <[email protected] > To: "'Nicole B. Torcolini at Home'" > <[email protected]>,<[email protected] > Date sent: Thu, 16 Dec 2010 16:11:59 -0800 > Subject: RE: Computer or Not? was Re: [Braillenote] FAQ 4 > (technical): > What isand what is not possiblewith a BrailleNote? > > Hi, > As a follow-up: what's your reasoning behind your thoughts? > Cheers, > Joseph > > -----Original Message----- > From: Nicole B. Torcolini at Home > [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Thursday, December 16, 2010 4:02 PM > To: Joseph Lee; [email protected] > Subject: Computer or Not? was Re: [Braillenote] FAQ 4 > (technical): What is > and what is not possiblewith a BrailleNote? > > Personally, I do not like calling the bn a computer. Yes, it > has many of > the > > software and hardware components of a computer, but I still do > not > consider > it a computer. Just throwing that out there. Thoughts? > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Joseph Lee" <[email protected] > To: <[email protected] > Sent: Thursday, December 16, 2010 3:43 PM > Subject: [Braillenote] FAQ 4 (technical): What is and what is > not > possiblewith a BrailleNote? > > > Hi folks, > > yet another FAQ post - mostly in connection with words posted on > the list > about CE6 and other things: > > 1. Can BrailleNote run programs? > yes and no. BrailleNote will run programs made by HumanWare or > ones > Humanware licenses its SDK or development tools - at this time, > Sendero > Group is the only one. There are provisions to allow rapid > creation of > third-party programs, but the key that is missing is the actual > development > tools that programmers need to write applications that'll run on > the > BrailleNote. > > 2. Can a desktop program be run on a BrailleNote? > No. Windows CE devices uses slightly modified programming > tools, or API > (Application Programming Interface) different from regular > Windows or > desktops. if you attempt to run these programs, you'll get a > message > saying, > "program is not a valid win32 application." > > 3. Can VOIP clients be implemented, or possible to be used by a > BrailleNote? > No - for now. There are numerous factors, including licensing, > availibility > and integration strategies involved when coming up with this > client or > others. > > 4. Is it possible to work with unsupported devices? > Yes and no. If the unsupported device presents basic features > that > BrailleNote can handle e.g. getting power from a USB port, > presenting > storage options, etc., then it'll work with the device. If the > unsupported > device presents nothing that BrailleNote can utilize, then it'll > not > work - > for the time being. The condition here is if a device driver > for that > specific device or a family of devices is created, which then > allows a > BrailleNote to communicate with that device. However, there are > devices > which requires a firmware update, such as possible use of SDXC > (Secure > Digital EXtended Capacity) cards which requires flashing > (installing) new > firmware. > > 5. Can a user use a cellular connection kit i.e. USB cell > modems? > No for the time being. It requires creation of a device driver > that > allows > > a > BrailleNote to recognize that celular modems are just a family > of > connectivity devices - much like 56K modems. > > 6. Can one charge a cell phone with the BrailleNote? > Yes (confirmed). > > 7. Can a user change boot priority or other system options? > No. A bootloader is a special program or a function that allows > a device > to > start; BrailleNote's bootloader presents options such as > formatting system > partitions, performing tests on hardware and so forth. Although > one can > access some functionality of bootloader or read the debug > message from the > bootloader, there is no way of changing things such as boot > priority, > network debugging and others. The most useful way of using the > bootloader > (particularly on the mPower) is to upgrade KeySoft via > bootloader menu or > viewing technical information that comes out of debug port > (which happens > to > be the serial port). > > 8. Can one write program code or HTML files on the BrailleNote? > Yes and no. Yes, since one can use text document (ASCII format) > to write > program code or HTML code (be aware of some formatting > problems). No, > because there is no way of testing the code - apart from HTML or > other web > code, since one can save the file and open it using KeyWeb. > > 9. Can a user do absolutely anything with a BrailleNote? > Conditionally. There are things that users can try out, such as > connecting > some devices; but just because BrailleNote is a computer does > not mean > it'll > be a computer replacement. > > 10. What are things that Windows CE 6 can bring to keySoft? > It all depends on what HumanWare thinks of it. Surely KeySoft > can take > advantage of better memory management. Other potentials include > more > secure > Wi-Fi via WPA2 (since CE6 supports it), running more programs > and so > forth. > > Hope this helps. if you were unsure of answers given or have > any > comments, > feel free to let me (and others) know. > Cheers, > Joseph > > > ___ > 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 > > > > ___ > 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 > > > > ___ > 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 > > -- WTCN Management http://wtcnradio.webs.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/braillenote
