It would be nice if someone could come to my college and let me demo a pacmate for a week. a pacmate qt. just to see it. If I'd have the money I'd buy a pacmate and a laptalk and a voicenote qt. but for now it's just wishful thinking.
Josh ----- Original Message ----- From: "Brian Zolo" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Braillenote List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, April 03, 2004 6:13 PM Subject: Re: [Braillenote] Another idea for future upgrades: > Hi, Kirston. Thanks so much for a well thought out and eloquently stated > post. I decided to subscribe to the Pacmate list to check it out and see > what folks were thinking regarding this product. For one thing, the ability > to transfer files between Pacmates using infrared is mighty neat. Couple > that with the ability to use the Pacmate with wireless cards, as well as > various bluetooth and other USB devices certainly has caused me to seriously > consider checking out the Pacmate. The detachable Braille display is > another plus as well as the upcoming release of the Trecker GPS version for > Pacmate later this year will be exciting to check out. Rather than > constantly harping on the negative aspects of the gui, let's wholeheartedly > embrace the gui and move forward. Please don't get me wrong, I've been very > happy with my Braillenote, but there's going to have to be lots of catching > up done and we, the Braillenote user community have a vital and constructive > role to play in this process. This certainly has been thought provoking and > is in no way meant as a slam to a good product. It's apparent that users > have expressed concern about where the Braillenote is going and it's time to > hear from Pulsedata about where we're going from here! My moto has always > been that I want to be part of the solution and not part of the problem. > Thanks again, Kirston, have a great weekend, and keep up these thought > provoking posts. Brian Zolo > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Kirstyn" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: "Braillenote List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Friday, April 02, 2004 4:43 PM > Subject: Re: [Braillenote] Another idea for future upgrades: > > > > Hi List, > > > > I am doing this just once because I have seen how some members of this > list can react irrationally whenever the BrailleNote is being compared to > the PACMate. Since these people do not like product comparisons on a > support list, then let me post these observations and corrections in support > of a better understanding of what the BrailleNote lacks, what users are too > blind to see, and to correct the computer ignorance and PM misinformation > that has been going around, at least on this list. > > First of all, as a couple of listers have posted, the HumanWare > person's idea of multi-tasking is incorrect. What we have now on the > BrailleNote is task-switching which is different from multi-tasking that the > PACMate supports and any computer-literate person will understandably > request. Can we write email or a document while checking new mail? No, > because the BN does not multi-task. Can we listen to an MP3 tutorial and > take down notes in a document at the same time? No, because the BN does not > multi-task. This should also answer the comment that being able to listen > to an MP3--music--while doing something else is not important. Remember > that people use the MP3 player not just for music but also for listening to > books or tutorials. Can we have more than one file open in KeyWord? No, > because the BN does not multi-task and must exit and save the file you have > left to open another. As mentioned, the PM can multi-task and so if these > questions were asked about the PACM > > ate, the answers will all be yes. > > Someone said, in a moment of confusion, I hope, and not of ignorance, > that you do not have more than one window open at the same time on a > computer. This is incorrect. When you have a file open in Windows, and you > press CONTROL with o to open another, the window for the first file is not > closed but minimized. The focus will be on the window of the second file. > When you exit the second file with ALT with F4, the focus is returned to the > window of the first file unless you have other windows open but minimized. > If we do this in KeyWord, exiting the second file will return you to the > KeyWord Menu, not the last file you have been to, which proves that you > cannot have more than one file open. > > Next thing I would like to correct is that people seem to be defending > the BrailleNote against the PACMate by saying that it is not a laptop. I am > not arguing that the BrailleNote is a laptop because it is not marketed as a > laptop but as a notetaker/PDA. But neither has the PACMate been marketed as > a laptop, and I don't know where some listers here got the idea that it was. > I hope this is not one of PDI's vague attempt to create wrong impressions > about the competition just to keep their customers. > > If you subscribe to the PM list--by sending a blank email to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] will read some posts that remind new > users to keep their expectations reasonable because the PACMate is a PDA, > not a laptop. So only these few BrailleNote users seem to be misinformed > about the PM, and not the PM users themselves, and I doubt if FS will > purposefully tell BrailleNote users that the PM is a laptop and then once > they buy it, will inform them it's a PDA. Please, do your research before > making claims and forming a flimsy defense of the BrailleNote. > > Now those on the PM list who are reminded that the PACMate is not a > laptop are those who expect something that requires a laptop's memory size > or speed. I want to comment on this now. If some of these folks complain > about the memory on the PM, which has about 96 MB or more compared to the > BrailleNote's 48 or 16 MB, and its speed where the PM uses a 400 MHZ X-scale > processor compared to the three times slower 133 MHZ processor used by the > BrailleNote, then what will they say about the BN? But that's not the > important point I want to make. The more important question is why has PDI > not done anything about this, despite the posts here about sluggishness and > limited memory and their related problems? What is PDI waiting for? The > chance to steal Freedom Scientific's customers who want more speed and > memory and don't really care about the graphical user interface? > > Speaking of GUI, I find it ridiculous that PDI continues to use this > philosophy as the selling point--or more appropriately, the remaining saving > grace--of the BrailleNote. I have been subscribed to the PACMate list for > some months now and I have not seen any significant number of posts > complaining about the graphical user interface like radio buttons and such. > The longest debate on the PM list, I think, has been with the carrying case. > Believe me, if my problems and concerns about the BrailleNote are as puny as > the wish for a better carrying case--and some PACMate users bought a > messenger bag that suits them well--then I'm sure this list will be quieter > and will not find repeats of the same questions and problems over and over > again. > > Anyway, I think that GUI is something that should not be shunned but > dealt with, and the BrailleNote has done a bit of that with KeyWeb. Web > pages will inevitably have radio buttons and check boxes, but was KeyWeb > designed to ignore them? No, we have display indicators for them and the > only difference with speech is that when the cursor is moved to a radio > button or check box, the name of the page element is not announced but just > its state--check/unchecked, pressed/unpressed. Frankly, even if speech > calls them properly as radio buttons and check boxes, I doubt if users here > will find them any more confusing than the display indicators. > > I have seen about 7 former BrailleNote users who are actively posting > now to the PM list because they switched to the PACMate and say they do not > regret their decision. These are the skilled BN users I used to see on this > list. There are more who have been asking questions because they have been > thinking of switching to the PACMate. On the other hand, I have not seen > anyone who used a PACMate--not only tried it and found it too sophisticated > for his IQ, but really experienced using it like an average user--who had > posted to this list saying he wants to switch to the BrailleNote. If ever > there had been a couple of people who said they've played with a PACMate for > a short while when they were deciding on which product to buy, they said > they settled for the BrailleNote because it's less complicated. But I > notice that the same people had questions about the basic functions of the > BrailleNote that they could have understood from the manual. > > This leads me to think, maybe the BrailleNote was the right choice for > them not because of what the BN offers but because of how much--or > little--they can grasp. That does not improve the image of the BrailleNote. > It implies that this technology will soon be for people with simple computer > needs, with very little or no computer skills prior to owning the > BrailleNote, or for those who are intimidated by graphical user interface > because someone who is good with computers said they will find it difficult > to learn. > > Notice also that the suggestions made recently for future > upgrades--MSN messenger, audio-streaming, file operations executed while on > a file list like the directory option in the BrailleNote's File Manager--are > already available on the PACMate. All that on a PDA for the blind, not a > laptop, so what's wrong with expecting to have these on the BrailleNote? One > more thing I cannot help noticing is that FS comes out with upgrades--both > software and hardware--more frequently than PDI does during the same period > of time. Is it because FS has a bigger team working on the PM? Or is it > because scripting JAWS to work with PPC applications--which some PM users do > and share the scripts for free--aside from the Microsoft SDK that is also > available to them--makes it a lot easier to upgrade the product than > fiddling with KeySoft which, contrary to what someone posted, does not work > as well as PPC with Windows CE? In order to work well with something, the > important word to consider is > > "with". KeySoft works on Windows CE, but because the user is limited to > KeySoft, then it is not so accurate to claim that it works well with Windows > CE. > > Why did I write at the start of this message that I'm posting it "in > support" of a better understanding about the BrailleNote, and not merely to > compare the BrailleNote with the PACMate? In my opinion, PDI should not > allow BrailleNote users like those I have seen posting to think that the > BrailleNote does not have a lot of catching up to do, and at the same time, > the users should not let PDI think that we agree with what they're saying > and give them an excuse for not upgrading the BN fast enough to catch up > with the PACMate. Imagine that, version 5.1 gave us a new planner, but not > an improved email system and web browser which have more problems with > greater urgency. I can use a Perkins Brailler and an alarm clock for my > appointments, and endure the inconvenience of using primitive technology, > but what happens to the BrailleNote user who does not have his own computer > but needs to do banking transactions online which he cannot do now because > the website requires IE vers > > ion 5 or higher? Borrow a computer and risk revealing to the computer's > owner your banking information? > > PM users asked for internal flash memory and they recently got it > without having to wait for years. BN users are having connectivity issues > because schools, for instance, are turning to wireless and fewer devices > have serial and parallel ports but make use of USB or Bluetooth technology, > and every time we request solutions from PDI, we get only an assurance that > these will soon come, but how soon may take more than two years. People who > have expressed their preference for PM units with integrated Braille > displays got that late last year with the newer models--not to mention that > the display is detachable so you can carry just that with you and use it > with a computer running JAWS or buy a PM without it first and just pay later > for the display--and yet the PACMate was released late 2002. BN users ask > for more processor speed, and so what if we had to pay for a hardware > upgrade, that's our choice, but the best we can hope is to have upgrades and > fixes to already existing > > software applications that run poorly or sluggishly like the new planner > taking the place of the old and less efficient one. We are moving too slow > like the download of messages in KeyMail or the loading of a web page, and > the competition is progressing in leaps and bounds like the use of > ActiveSync with the PACMate that takes 2 to 3 minutes to synchronize > hundreds of appointments, tasks, emails and files, and PM users complain > when it takes them 6 to 12 minutes sometimes--unlike the BrailleNote which > takes longer and can sync less, even choking on large files because they are > stored in the limited space of the KeySoft Systems Disk. > > I congratulate the listers who have demanded and continue to request > for improved features, and have not bought the sales talk about the BN being > better because it does not use GUI, nor expressed satisfaction with what the > BN offers because they think asking for more is turning it into a laptop. I > urge PDI to stop telling us what makes the BrailleNote still superior over > the PACMate because that does not take away the sinking feeling that the > BrailleNote, our BrailleNote, is being flushed down the toilet of > technological advancement. Just pick up your pace in improving your product > and accept that there is a lot of catching up to do. You do not need to sit > around and wait for more posts on future upgrades, we have seen and written > so much already that you have not proven to us that you can deliver at a > satisfactory rate. Users have done enough talking and rehashing of > suggestions, now it's PDI's turn to respond, not just mere assurances from > the product manager, but r > > eal good news like, "Users can expect a working relationship between > KeyMail and KeyWeb that will both work faster, more functions on a directory > list in the File Manager, and more useful calculator functions in the next > upgrade to be released this year", or "We will have a hardware upgrade > available during the first quarter of 2005 which will address issues about > connectivity via USB, wireless support, a faster processor and a newer > version of Windows CE". These are just examples, the real thing will depend > on PDI's resources. Of course, I trust that PDI knows it is good business > practice to be able to deliver within the projected time frame, or at least > a little after that but not in six months like version 5.0. > > I expect people to react, telling me that I should shut up and get a > PACMate. Don't push me, I'm near the edge already. But not everyone will > have the option or funds to switch to the PACMate when they had to go > through so much to get a BrailleNote. That's why PDI has to respond more > impressively and efficiently--and very soon. > > > > Sincerely, > > Kirstyn > > > > > > > > ___ > > To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit > > http://list.pulsedata.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote > > > > > > > > ___ > To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit > http://list.pulsedata.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote >
