Hi Terry, You are way out in left field, but I can't really say I blame you overmuch. I just helped a woman buy a braille note for law school, and I'm teaching a little girl who just got an mpower through her school. I understand the value, or at least the perceived value of the note taker, but I have to tell you, it's mostly in your head at this point.
To address some comments you made across a couple of emails, you wrote: "I don't believe the notetakers will disappear because mainstream devices cannot replace them." There's not an easy way to tell you this. You are wrong. The transition has already started. See other emails in the thread from Joseph and myself. Whatever you and I might wish or think, the days of the notetaker are numbered. "You can read and write braille, but you can't do that with a mainstream product without extra baggage and braille translation software." Completely untrue. The braille support in my screen reader for windows mobile is superior to that currently found in jaws 11 for windows. It reads and writes grade two braille transparently on the fly. It's closes competitors in the accessibility market, Nokia simbian, and apple Iphone both boast the same high degree of braille support. Current standby time on newer handhelds is between 4 and 8 days straight, with options to extend that time by purchasing larger batteries. Phone and braille display together take up less than a quarter of the physical space and weigh less than half what the smallest proprietary braille notetaker does. "Nothing can match a notetaker for reading, writing, editing, scheduling, calculating, and any other need for on-the-go communication." I'm sorry, that is not true. Here are some examples. office 2007 support, introduced into braille sense june 30th two... Thousand... and... ten. Not currently available in any other notetaker but coming soon to the apex, likely as part of a paid upgrade. My first windows mobile pocket pc from 2007 supported word 2007 files. PDF support, since 2008 on my pocket pc. Not yet on a notetaker as far as I know. Love pdf's or hate them, they are a fixture in the work environment. Imap email support, available ever since I started using pda's off the shelf, still not available in any note taker as far as I know. TLs support, available since 2008 on my pocket pc's, just introduced into bsp. Instant messaging support, woefully lacking on all notetakers. Twitter and facebook support, windows mobile pocket pc, but only via mobile websites if at all on a notetaker. You may need one or more of these features, or you may not, or you may not know what some of them are and how they can help you, but if for example, imap support were important to you, a notetaker would fall short. That is one particular situation in which I find myself. Simply put, it's great that your notetaker does all that you personally want it to do, but that doesn't mean it has more or better features than an off the shelf. That simply isn't true at all. "Do I want to depend on the ever-changing cell phones and mainstream mobile devices? No! Why? Because you must use external screen reading software and manufacturers keep changing the software and screen readers will always be behind keeping up with the changes." I hate to break it to you, but if you've owned a windows or linux laptop or desktop computer in your lifetime then you have been in that position, and it's been a pain in the neck pertimes, but it hasn't killed you. You're still with us. The fact is, a note taker may offer you full access to all of it's features, but it doesn't have nearly the feature set offered by an off the shelf device, even if you just used the device as you bought it without installing third party software for extra functionality. Which by the way, you can't do with most proprietary notetakers. An off the shelf pda with a screen reader is liteyears farther up the curve than a notetaker, and the trade off that you might install some third party piece of software with unlabelled buttons is more than worth it. Again, I totally understand the attraction to a proprietary notetaker. It has a safety net for you, or at least it makes you feel as if you have a safety net. We have to realize though that the market is going the way it is, and there are good reasons why. It is going to get to a point where no company could reasonably be expected to keep up and at that point the notetaker as we know it will cease to be. I'd be doing you a disservice if I told you otherwise. Best, Erik Burggraaf Check out my first ever podcast tutorial, Learn braille using the braille box. Visit http://www.erik-burggraaf.com and click podcasts to read more and subscribe. On 2010-08-12, at 1:10 PM, Terri Pannett wrote: > I don't believe the notetakers will disappear because mainstream devices > cannot replace them. Nothing can match a notetaker for reading, writing, > editing, scheduling, calculating, and any other need for on-the-go > communication. You can read and write braille, but you can't do that with a > mainstream product without extra baggage and braille translation software. > The notetaker environment is tailored for the blind, but mainstream products > are not. > > Think of it this way: in the old days, before the notetakers and computers, > would you take notes using a pencil and paper or typewriter or would you use > a slate and stylus or brailler? It's obvious you would use the latter. Why? > Because you can't read print! > > > Why do I prefer editing with a notetaker to editing with a laptop? Because > it's easier to operate because its environment is developed for the blind! > > Do I want to depend on the ever-changing cell phones and mainstream mobile > devices? No! Why? Because you must use external screen reading software > and manufacturers keep changing the software and screen readers will always > be behind keeping up with the changes. Besides, I don't want to lug around a > bunch of stuff to meet my needs when I can take one nice, little unit with me! > > Terri Amateur Radio call sign KF6CA. > If you wish to unsubscribe from this list, visit: > > http://www.gwmicro.com/listserv > If you wish to unsubscribe from this list, visit: http://www.gwmicro.com/listserv
