Hi James.
I'm almost certain that this has been marked down.
Peter.
----- Original Message -----
From: "James Aldrich" <[email protected]
To: <[email protected]
Date sent: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 19:58:14 -0600
Subject: Re: [GWN] Braille Sense and its limits
Hello!
The biggest real limitation of the Sense notetakers is that they
don't
recognize cookies of any kind! I wish they did! One cannot
submit a
Schwans order from the Schwans site as an example.
Jim
----- Original Message -----
From: "Alex Hall" <[email protected]
To: <[email protected]
Sent: Friday, August 14, 2009 8:56 AM
Subject: Re: [GWN] Braille Sense and its limits
I agree, but simple things that most wordprocessors have, like a
word count,
and adding a couple functions to programs like the Database
Manager do not
seem outside the realm of possibility for this device; if you can
add a
database field at the end, just load all fields into an array or
stack/queue
and allow insertion of a new element/node. Word count code is
simple. I can
see big things, like enabling dhtml, being long processes that
may couse
many problems, but small additions and modifications to programs
already in
place seem reasonable.
I also agree that a notetaker is not a pc replacement, but I know
people who
have only a notetaker; it can already do a lot, and many use it
as their
primary machine, even if they have a pc, because it allows them
to work in
Braille and have a clean, easy interface instead of using a
computer
keyboard and relying on a screenreader that may not read
applications.
Have a great day,
Alex
New email address: [email protected]
----- Original Message -----
From: Joseph Lee
To: [email protected]
Sent: Friday, August 14, 2009 1:07 AM
Subject: [GWN] Braille Sense and its limits
Hi folks,
Nice to see a steady flow of suggestions about Braille sense.
Some of them
included foreign language support, word count and so forth.
Although they
were good ones, one needs to consider if it is worth it to put it
on a
device that has technical limits. Not that I am saying that BS
family has
outward limits, but in terms of specs and OS, it does have
limits.
First, as mike said, Braille Sense is a PDA. In other words,
Braille
Sense is meant to be PC companion, not a PC replacement (although
I've seen
some people mistaken it for such). In other words, not all
things that can
be done on a computer cannot be done under Braille Sense. For
instance, not
all websites that a Windows XP machine can handle cannot be
navigated using
Braille Sense.
On the hardware side, the line between PC and PDA is becoming
less
differentiated - at least when BS is concerned. Braille Sense
has one of the
good processors for mobile devices, as well as sufficient memory
to run
applications and store useful data. But in terms of software
side, it is
not. Braille Sense runs under Windows CE - not regular Wihndows,
folks.
Windows CE is a completely different OS architecture than Windows
NT family.
Thus, it has limits, such as 32 MB of virtual memory and 32
process limit
(this is the reason why BS would only allow seven programs
maximum). As for
virtual memory, I need solid evidence of things such as browser
crashing or
other slow downs before explaining what exactly it is and its
limits (if
demands requires me to, but right now I am going through summer
school in
college).
Also, as I have stressed on another list, writing code for
embedded
devices such as Braille Sense carries different requirements.
One needs to
be careful about memory usage, processor architecture and so
forth. Just
because we imagine things in our heads and pray that it will
appear out of
nowhere does not mean that it will happen soon - one needs to
plan, compose,
debug, recompile and release the software (if stable enough)
numerous times
before a suggestion or feature request will work properly.
Also, it seems that the manual is wrong about type of USB port.
Braille
Sense does NOT have USB OTG (On-the-go) technology at all. All
it has are
one USB host and one USB client, that's all. If it had OTG port,
theoretically Braille Sense can work with two USB client devices
at once -
one on BS's own uSB host port, another one on the USB client port
with a
dedicated adapter.
As to what USB OTG standard is, I'll compose the article in
question when
there is enough demand. For those who have seen me on other
lists, you would
know what OTG is and my article style.
Cheers,
Joseph P.S. Alex, do you agree with me on this one?
