Hi, Jonathon: I just wanted to take the opportunity to thank you for the hard work you are doing, especially the past couple of days. I know it's hard to field a convention, and then field these questions. You are much appreciated. In regards to the competition, I've used their products. Jonathon is right when he says that if you want upgraded equipment, you can trade in your old one. They will give you about $500 or $600 for your old equipment, and that old equipment is usually pretty new. Again, thanks for the hard work. I do appreciate it.
> ----- Original Message ----- >From: Jonathan Mosen <[EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: Braillenote List <[email protected] >Date: Fri, 2 Jul 2004 00:35:02 +1200 >Subject: Re: [Braillenote] Bn and me: >Hi mary-Ellen. >Audio streaming doesn't have anything to do with hardware. In one single >release, KeySoft 6.1, we're going to roll out a huge chunk of >functionality that meets the vast majority of user requests, but we have >to stop somewhere because we want to get the release out. The good news of >course is that by moving to Windows CE 4, all these things are much easier >for us to add. It puts the foundations in place for streaming. It was only >a few weeks ago that I saw people on this list saying that an upgrade like >this one would require new hardware and how expensive it would be. >Instead, we've confounded the critics by offering this big change, at most >for US$399 and a lot less if you have an SMA. Frankly I'm not ashamed to >say that is one heck of an amazing deal. Before you go to the competition, >you should find out how many hardware upgrades *they have offered their >customers, but I will give you a clue, the number starts and ends with 0. >They have instead required people to buy a new unit with a trade-in option >only about six months after the first hardware shipped. The blind >community often finds it hard to find the money for these things, so I >think you have the right to expect that the assistive technology >manufacturers will do as much as they can before reverting to costly >hardware upgrades or complete unit replacements. I can tell you this >though. The BrailleNote now has a very clear strategic road map. The >BrailleNote is not going to be replaced by a completely new device any >time soon, so some day I am sure we will have to offer a hardware upgrade >to do what we want, and most importantly, what you want. But I know that >had we offered a hardware upgrade when it wasn't really necessary to get a >lot of this functionality, we would have put it out of the reach of many >people on this list who would have struggled to find the money to pay. As >long as i work here, I'm going to do whatever I can to ensure Pulse Data >produces products in a commercially sustainable way so we can keep >innovating, but also in a way that recognises that most blind people don't >have money to burn. So as you can see I am very proud of what we've been >able to achieve, and based on the amazing response, most people think >we've done the right thing by them which is important to me. >Jonathan Mosen >Blindness Product Marketing Manager >Pulse Data International Ltd >DDI: +64-3-373-6192 >Fax: +64-3-384 4933 >Mobile: +64-21 466 736 >Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Internet: www.pulsedata.com >___ >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
