Actually, most PDA's can record these days. PDI could do it, but it would
require a new mainboard and either a built in microphone or an external
one. It would be nice not to have to carry a tape recorder and a bn with
you just to you could record a lecture. TSI did this years ago with their
braille unit. Packmate does it and the bn can as well if PDI thinks it is
worth the trouble when designing the new main board. A new board is most
certainly coming anyway because of the need for USB and a faster processor,
not to mention stereo that some folks want to have on their units for
playing music files. Why not the ability to record as well?
The idea that more bells and whistles means more can go wrong is just plain
wrong if units are properly designed and tested. Every appliance you have
these days right down to the dishwasher and television has more bells and
whistles than it did in last year's model. And why? Because the consumers
ask for it.
The palm pilot of five years ago is nothing like the one these days and I
believe you will find the same with any PDA you care to think of. The idea
is to get it to do as much as it possibly can when you cannot be in front
of your pc or mac.
So, since a new board is ultimately on the way, why not? Why not more
memory as well? Why not built in wireless or blue tooth. The prospects can
go as far as the imagination and capabilities of the designers.
Next time you are in a computer or electronics store, take some time to
look at the PDA's and their capabilities.
Start with the cheap 200 dollar ones and go up to the over 1000 dollar ones
that have little keyboards and do almost everything a pc can do.
To say that the bn or any other notetaker is not a pc and hence, cannot do
what a pc does is not realistic.
At 12/25/2004, you wrote:
Yes, that makes sense to me. To my way of thinking, the more bells and
whistles, the more can go wrong. As for me, I like a telephone to be a
telephone, my voice note to be what it is, and a tape recorder to be what
it is. I for one don't want them all in one box.
At some point an upgrade stops being an improvement and just an excuse to
add another bell or whistle that will just mess up the system.
Brenda Mueller
> ----- Original Message -----
>From: "Ann K. Parsons" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>To: Braillenote List <[email protected]
>Date: Tue, 21 Dec 2004 07:05:04 -0500
>Subject: [Braillenote] Recording with the BN family
>Hi all,
>Um, it's because PDI happens to think that Braille Support, ability to
>handle large documents, one word processor instead of two, are more
>important than the ability to record one's voice. If you want a tape
>recorder, go to Walmart and buy one for $20.00. You might also want
>to read the competition's user list, it's rather enlightening, to tell
>the truth. The BN does use Windows CE. It is just the interface, the
>way you interact with the OS that is different.
><smiling> The BN may not have all the bells and whistles of the
>competition, but when it comes to the ability to write a coherent
>document in one place, using one program, and when it works seamlessly
>with something as innovative as the program from Sendero, and when one
>knows that the basics are being looked at first instead of being
>add-ons, then I think one begins to understand the true power of the
>BN. I've read this list and heard everyone complaining that they want
>bells and whistles: recorders, games, support for off-the-shelf
>programs. I'm finally at the point where I've got to say this folks.
>If you buy a car and it has all the features you could ever want,
>electric windows and doors, a DVD player, air conditioning, cruise
>control, leather seats, and so on, but if that car has a faulty
>distributor or if that car has a cracked engine block, or an oil leak,
>you ain't goin' nowhere fast, folks, nowhere nohow no place! On the
>other hand, if you buy a car that has wind-up windows and manual doors
>and a simple AM/FM radio and a cassette player, and no air
>conditioning, but if the engine runs true and the milage is good, you
>can drive from New York City to Sacramento if you want to do so! It
>may be a plain old blue car, but it will pass the caddy on the side of
>the road and keep on goin'.
>Ann P.
>--
> Ann K. Parsons
>email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>WEB SITE: http://home.eznet.net/~akp
>"All that is gold does not glitter.
>Not all those who wander are lost." JRRT
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