[tabi] nls simple player early evaluation

From: "Lynn Evans" <evans-lynn@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <TABI@xxxxxxxxxx>, <tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 18 May 2009 14:19:44 -0400
Hello everyone:

To respond to Chips inquiry about what flavor of player, simple or advanced:

You may want to contact reader services in Daytona to let them know what 
machine you prefer. Don't just sit there and see what shows up in your mailbox, 
be proactive. Below is the link to the descriptions for the new players if you 
haven't read about them before.
http://www.loc.gov/nls/businessplan/playerdescription.html

I have copied the information below from emails I have received about the test 
and players. I believe it to be accurate.  

The test of the new NLS digital players has begun.  
It seems eight states will be testing the player; Florida, Texas, California.

This is from David Andrews; (David monitors several NFB mailing list)

There are 8 pre-launch states that are getting 500 machines each, 
just to make sure there are no show stoppers.  I can't remember them 
all, I know Iowa, Missouri, Florida, Texas I think, Maine I think, 
and I can't remember the rest.  The test goes through mid July, and 
it is expected that Libraries will start getting machines by late 
July, early/mid august as long as no problems or hold ups.

Dave


About the cartridges: (From Lloyd Rasmussen an NLS employee)

Initially we thought that cartridges might be 128, 256 or 512 MB in 
size.  The ANSI/NISO standard provides a mechanism for splitting a book 
onto more than one disc or cartridge, and our player supports this 
mechanism.  But now our cartridges are going to be 1 GB in size at first, 
and when we come upon any books more than about 93 hours long, we plan to 
use higher-capacity cartridges.  So the rule will hold:  One ZIP file 
extracted to the root directory of one cartridge.

For information on the pre-launch test and other current happenings, go to
   http://www.loc.gov/nls/newsletters/flash/
and read the current issue of our Flash newsletter.

Strictly my editorial opinion on the simple player: 

Keep in mind as you read this, I have been reading one book for about 15 hours 
of use.
 
To compare the two new NLS digital players to anything on the market today is 
well, simply not a fair comparison.  Please keep in mind the players are for 
library patrons with a wide range of skill levels and abilities. Patrons may 
have arthritic hands or no hands at all wile using a mouth stick. 

I have used both simple and advanced players. They are both simple to use with 
good sound quality coming from the on board speaker. 

Books will be on cartridges. As stated earlier one cartridge per book. The 
cartridge is the size of an audio cassette with the Braille and ext label on 
the top...  The cartridge only fits in the player one way. 

When the power is on: Plugging the cartridge into the player will provide the 
following information about the book; book title, position in the book that 
includes chapter number and title, time remaining in the book and battery life. 

When the book cartridge is in the player and power is turned on the user gets 
the same information as above.  
 
For the advanced user of both simple and advanced players 
 
I have been told by email that a thumb drive with a book in the root of the 
drive (not in a folder) can be played by plugging the thumb drive into the USB 
port of the player. A card reader with book on the flash card can be read the 
same way. 

I would like to make myself available to answer your questions on or off list, 
phone or smoke signal. Ok no smoke signals. All I ask is that you read the 
description of the players at the link above. I just don't want to get any 
questions like is it bigger than a bread box. No it isn't. It is about half the 
size of the four track cassette player and not as thick.  

Thank you for your time in reading this.    

Lynn
Email evans-lynn@xxxxxxxxxxx 
Ip voice mailbox: 850 364 8211
[tabi] nls simple player early evaluation

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