Not to m ention that the braille keyboard may be a more natural transition for users. I prefer the buttons of the tiny qwerty keyboards because I'm faster and can trip keys with thumb tip movements rapidly but I had great and very early instruction in qwerty typing skills which others may not have been luck with.
And i like your point with the fact you only need 6 keys and a space bar instead of 40+. It's an interesting point your m aking because this is a problem on devices in general, not just for the blind. As the devices shrink the means of I/O becomes more complex.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Michael May" <MikeMay@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "GPS-talkusers-freelists.org" <GPS-talkusers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Friday, December 21, 2007 12:25 PM Subject: [gps-talkusers] user interface
Note that the last 5 messages had Round About in the subject line and they had nothing to do with Round Abouts. Please remember to change the subject line when the topic changes please.Regarding the size of various units, it is worth noting that at a certain point, a device can be too small. One of the great advantages of a Braille keyboard over a QWERTY keyboard is that one can have a keyboard in a much smaller footprint. This is the beauty of the PK and the VoiceSense versus their QWERTY counter parts.To get even smaller, you have to go to a keypad instead of a keyboard. You trade off the smaller size for a less efficient user interface. The keypad interface isn't so bad while riding in a vehicle but it isn't so easy to use while walking. Hence Wayfinder for example is easier to interact with when you are in a car and have both hands available for the cell phone user interface.We often debate the difference in features from one device to the next but I think the user interface is the real differentiator between products. Something like a GPS cell phone sounds wonderful theoretically. However, one need experience the user interface before really understanding ease-of-use and productivity of a navigation device.Mike Michael G. May CEO Sendero GroupDevelopers and distributors of the Cadillac of accessible GPS products as well as distributing BrailleNote, VoiceNote, Victor Stream, Talks, Miniguide and the ID MateCrashing Through by Robert Kurson available at http://www.CrashingThrough.comMikeMay@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx http://www.SenderoGroup.com 1-888-757-6810, Fax (530) 757-6830, Mobile (530) 304-0007 Sendero Group, LLC 1118 Maple Lane, Davis, CA 95616-1723, USA