Greetings,
Over the past several weeks I've seen numerous messages on this
list that recommend new features and/or complain that a particular
feature, presently available in a competitive product, isn't available
in the BrailleNote family of products. While I certainly wish that
additional features could be added to the BrailleNote, I also realize
that everything takes time and time is but only one of the resources
which implementation of new features consumes! Often there's money,
legal fees, internal corporate structure changes, etc.
Almost from my original look at the "scientific calculator" (a
look that happened years ago) I've found it very lacking. Modern
products from all of the popular calculator vendors would put it to
shame. When I attended college from 1982 through 1986, all of my fellow
students had calculators that performed all kinds of calculus
operations. If memory serves, these products sold for around $200 back
then so they're probably either much less expensive, much more feature
rich, or both now. Today, twenty years later, I know of no blindness
product that can do anywhere near what the sighted community used twenty
plus years ago. The only somewhat accessible product I know of that can
do such things is Octave. This product is available for free from (I
think) www.octave.org or on a Kurzweil 1000 CD-ROM in the extras folder.
Ok, having said all that, let me say this. I've been on this
list (on and off) for quite some time and have seen zillions of requests
for updates to the web browser, the e-mail system, the calendar and the
wordprocessor. I've seen complaints that the BN doesn't support
wireless networking. I've seen very little in the way of people
requesting calculator updates. So, it's pretty clear that PDI has
worked on what the majority of people want and my requests for
calculator updates are lower on the priority list. That's the way the
software industry works, unfortunately.
Additionally, as a software engineer, I want to remind people
that there's far more to implementation of a feature than mere software
development. If a company is going to release an SDK then they have to
be prepared to take telephone calls from developers who need support
using that SDK. Furthermore, an SDK is something of a contract. It is
a statement that some functionality can be, and pretty much forever will
be, achievable by doing a specific bit of software magic. Furthermore,
that specific bit of software majic must never change. Violation of
this basic tenant of SDK development is the best way to have your
company violently beaten by irate software engineers who developed
products which worked fine under, say, KeySoft 6.0 but now, although
they haven't changed at all, don't work at all under, say, KeySoft 7.0.
Considerations such as these must be dealt with prior to release of any
SDK or future nightmares will ensue.
Microsoft Windows is loaded with functionality that Microsoft
begs developers not to use any longer because it is merely there for
backwards compatibility ... Like way back to the Windows 3.1 days.
There are functions that exist that no nothing of system security, for
example, that have been made obsolete by new, similar, functions that do
no about system security. Microsoft begs us all to use the new
functions, and often we do, but nobody's going back to update ancient
code that was written years ago that still exists in customer's
machines.
It may be true that FS has addressed these issues more
effectively then PDI has to date. I'm not here to make a judgement call
on that one. I will, however, recommend that those who think they have
should look into the status of GPS on the PacMate. I don't know all the
details, but I've heard one or two people seriously criticize FS for
their handling of that particular issue and, from what I've heard, and
from my understanding of development, it all comes down to this sort of
issue. It's a tough issue and, though I'm very frustrated by a lack of
an SDK for the BN, I also am hoping that the delay is caused by PDI's
dealing with this sort of thing up front and getting it right when it is
released.
Finally, wireless support on the BN would be a terrific addition
to the product. I'm sure that PDI staff are aware of this. Again,
because of the way such things tend to be done, implementation of such a
feature is not a triviality! Such things take time. Folks who
want/need the functionality should absolutely continue asking PDI for
it, but I also would hope that folks have a little patience and give PDI
staff a chance to do something about all these requests prior to
accusing them of ignoring people's wishes or abusing they're customers.
I haven't seen either happen, myself, but it seems like they get accused
of it quite a bit on this list.
John
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of richard Van
Driel
Sent: Friday, April 30, 2004 2:30 PM
To: Braillenote List
Subject: Re: [Braillenote] graphing calculator
Hi Mary Elen,
I know what you mean.
Many people have asked for something similar to this, but sofar, not
yet. It would be nice if we could download things other than Keysoft
updates that would work on the bn. I don't see why it's so hard. If
Keysoft is the problem, then go with something else that isn't going to
make a hissy fit when you try to use other programs and accessories. The
way it stands now, other notetakers have scripting, we still don't even
though we have been promised a sdk for some time. Other notetakers have
wireless and we don't, again, we have been promised this for some time.
A checkwriting/banking program or maybe even a spreadsheet program
shouldn't be that hard. It would be wonderful if we could just use
something like Pocket Exell or something, and if we could download
programs to the bn that we wanted or needed. Oh well, (sigh) we wait!
Richard
> ----- Original Message -----
>From: "Mary Ellen Earls" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>To: "Braillenote List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2004 17:16:21 -0400
>Subject: Re: [Braillenote] graphing calculator
>I have been wanting a checkbook program on these devices for years.
>But, seemingly to no avail. Mary Ellen Earls
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Josh Kennedy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>To: "Braillenote List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Sent: Thursday, April 29, 2004 3:19 PM
>Subject: Re: [Braillenote] graphing calculator
>> hey! ya know what would be cool, and probably not too hard? If the
>> braillenote would have a version of lowrez graphic. Then we could
>> put braille graphics on the braillenote and insert them into our
>> documents and braille them. Ah but then inc-printer drivers would
>> have to be updated to allow the printing of graphics on the printer
>> as well. How about a check-writing/banking program?
>> Josh
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