Yes, Howard, that's correct. The mic just doesn't have the strength to pick up anything more than personal memos and, of course, there's no provision to attach any kind of external mic. The basic idea, I think, was that one could read on the BP and stop to make audio memos for later use when writing book reports, papers, etc., that used the document that was being read. Now, you also have the braille note ability, which was added relatively recently. And I had the same feeling about the BP as you--wish I'd have bought one when they first hit the market. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Howard Kaufman" <wa9top@xxxxxxxxx> To: "book port" <bookport@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Monday, November 06, 2006 1:06 AM Subject: [bookport] greetings Well was it a good day or a bad day? Last Wednesday I went to work and found that my position has been eliminated. I got home from work and found a brand new bookport on my desk. I didn't realize what a good machine this is! My only regret is not buying one years ago. It'll take a while to figure it all out. I see some old friends here. So far, if I get it? The recorder is designed for memos but not lectures?