There is the i-Pad and i-Pod. You can do quite bait on these devices, even write and read documents. I have an Apex and i-Phone. As of last week, I can download and unzip, read and delete Bookshare content directly on my i-Phone. Sadly, my Apex can no longer download and unzip Bookshare content. I have heard that the fault is with Bookshare, but at the end of the day, it still is not possible to download and unzip the content onto my Apex. On Jul 27, 2011, at 1:40 AM, Jasmine Kotsay wrote:
> Hi, > I think what said here is sad! > I don't know about anyone else, but I personally wouldn't want an iPhone or > an Android, because I'm not interested in paying so much for the internet on > a cell phone, which is used mainly to call and text people, in my opinion. > Not that I'm downing the iPhone or Android, but is it even possible to make a > document on a cell phone? I know that some can do it, but I've never been > around one, as far as I know. > I don't know, maybe the BN will die off, but I hope it's not for a long time. > I'm a new user, and I can sometimes do more things on my BN Apex than I can > with a laptop. For one thing, I can edit any size disdoc, BRF, RTF, and text > file much faster than I ever could on my laptop. I know that my BN crashes, > but computers and phones crash too. > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Chris Nusbaum <[email protected] > To: BrailleNote list <[email protected] > Date sent: Tue, 26 Jul 2011 08:33:04 -0400 > Subject: [Braillenote] Re: [Blindtlk] [nabs-l] notetakers: are they > worthbuying anymore? > > What do you think of these thoughts about HW from a member of the > Blind Talk list on NFB-NET? > > Chris > > "A loss of sight, never a loss of vision!" (Camp Abilities motto) > > The I C.A.N. Foundation helps visually impaired youth in > Maryland have the ability to confidently say "I can!" How? Click > on this link to learn more and to contribute: > www.icanfoundation.info or like us on Facebook at I C.A.N. > Foundation. > > > > Sent from my BrailleNote > > ---- Original Message ------ > From: "T. Joseph Carter" <[email protected] > Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] [nabs-l] notetakers: are they worth > buying anymore? > Date sent: Mon, 25 Jul 2011 00:05:05 -0700 > > I don?? think they do, or at least I think their lifespan is > limited. > > First, there?? very little that can justify the cost of an Apex > these > days. It just costs too much. Second, I don?? know how many > times I > have heard the excuse from our chapter secretary that his BN > crashed > and he needs someone else to get him a recording or produce > minutes > or something. Both it and the PAC mate have a solid reputation > for > being about as stable as a house of cards in a tornado. During > an > earthquake. While a volcano is erupting. > > And while the PAC mate is supposed to be so great because it can > run > "standard" software for the platform, most of the software > doesn?? > actually work with it properly and the platform has pretty much > taken > a back seat to iOS and Android at this point. > > At the beginning of the PDA revolution, there was Palm. > (Actually, > there was Apple with the Newton, but I?? talking successful PDA > revolution here?? Then Handspring came along and produced a > Palm > that was better than the Palm. There were accessories the people > who > made it never intended, including a folding laptop-style keyboard > called the Stowaray, and suddenly there was no need to lug a > laptop > in to a meeting to take notes. Plus the thing was SO COOL, and > it > cost a small fraction of what a laptop did that wasn?? as fast > or as > convenient to the task! > > Of course, none of this is accessible. > > Fast forward about 15 years or so and today sighted people likely > use > an iPad or Android-based wannabe tablet for the same purpose. > They > may or may not use an external Bluetooth keyboard. They could > use an > iPhone (or wannabe) for the same purpose, but the sighted like > having > big screens that are easy to see, so the preference is the iPad. > > But the blind can tell you that the iPhone is just as useful, and > perhaps more so because you can?? stuff an iPad into a pocket > (unless > you??e wearing a Scott-E-Vest which is just comical and not > really > the point.) There are flip-out keyboard cases for the iPhone 4 > (which are a great idea for any blind user) and small Braille I/O > devices that are much more comfortable to ear than the brick-like > note taker of yesteryear. > > And accessibility is improving, in general, on the iPhone. Even > the > Android platform is starting to see some movement in that > direction. > At some point either platform will be viable to the blind, at > least > as effective as a PAC mate, probably as easy to use as a > BrailleNote, > and cheaper than any of the above. > > If anybody has a future with the form factor of the traditional > note > taker, it?? LevelStar, which figured out that having their own > custom > software just doesn?? make sense anymore. They??e building > on the > proven interface of the Icon (their own software) and putting it > into > Android itself giving you the ease of a BrailleNote and the > function > of an Android device. And if the guys at LevelStar stay true to > form, they??e going to bring it to you for a lot less than > HumanWare > does. > > Neither iOS nor Android is ready to replace KeySoft IMO, but > KeySoft > is still the same program HumanWare has been schlepping for > decades > now with big ticket upgrade fees for small, incremental feature > additions. In fact, I remember the "major" upgrade (with SMA > usage > or paid outright) for KeySoft 7.5 to add RFB&D book support to my > little PK less than six months after I bought the thing! More > than a > year ago, I read a blog article from the CEO of Serotek about the > "blind ghetto" technology. > > He was talking about Freedom Scientific and HumanWare > specifically, > and how neither company seems to truly innovate. Why should > they? > So far they??e been able to foist minor evolutions of products > that > are becoming less and less stable for exorbitant upgrade fees, or > make minor revisions to a product while maintaining an existing > price > point. The exceptions for HumanWare were the Apex and the Victor > Reader Stream, the former of which saw a massive cost increase > that > isn?? going down anytime soon, and the latter was made some > five > years ago. > > Meanwhile new players are filling the market with devices that > are > better than anything any of the big players has to offer at a > fraction of the cost. Companies like LevelStar, HIMS, SeroTek, > and > even GW Micro has dipped its toes in the water here and there. > They > are still making blindness-specific products, but they??e > taking a > fresh look and realizing that if they can?? deliver products > that are > better or cheaper or both than the legacy dinosaurs (and each > other), > they will die out. > > The BrailleNote will die off because people will move on. There > are > still people out there using Braille 'n' Speaks, but not many > these > days. The BrailleNote will follow suit. The PAC mate is halfway > there already, if you ask me. > > Joseph - KF7QZC > > > On Sun, Jul 24, 2011 at 10:01:57PM -0400, Chris Nusbaum wrote: > Hi all, > > I don't have a set opinion on this matter as of yet, but I'd like > to > initiate the discussion. I'm noticing a trend in the blindness > technology field: PC's can do most everything a notetaker > (BrailleNote, BrailleSense, PacMate, etc.) can do, with some > obvious > changes and differences, and in some cases can do and support > more > than the notetaker. This is also true with the ever-improving > accessible smartphones and tablets: the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, > (the semiaccessible) Android phones, the KNFB Reader, etc. Yes, > the > notetakers have built-in Braille displays, but you can also > install a > stand-alone Braille display on a computer to display what's on > the > screen, or you could just buy a screen reader (text-to-speech, > not > text-to-Braille) as a replacement for the Braille display... > that > is, if you think it is in fact a replacement for refreshable > Braille. > That's another question for all of you in this discussion.. So, > here's the question: with all the advancements and capabilities > of a > computer and screen readers or stand-alone refreshable Braille > displays, is it worth it, in your opinion, to buy a notetaker > anymore? What, given all the things a PC can do, is the real > purpose > of the notetakers now? I'd love to hear your thoughts! > > Chris > > "A loss of sight, never a loss of vision!" (Camp Abilities motto) > > The I C.A.N. Foundation helps visually impaired youth in > Maryland > have the ability to confidently say "I can!" How? Click on this > link > to learn more and to contribute: www.icanfoundation.info or like > us > on Facebook at I C.A.N. Foundation. > > Sent from my BrailleNote > > _______________________________________________ > nabs-l mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org > To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info > for nabs-l: > http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/carter.tj > oseph%40gmail.com > > _______________________________________________ > blindtlk mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindtlk_nfbnet.org > To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info > for blindtlk: > http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindtlk_nfbnet.org/dotkid. > nusbaum%40gmail.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 > > > ___ > 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
