[access-uk] Re: georgie trial now available, initial opinion

  • From: Chris Moore <moore.c@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Fri, 3 Aug 2012 09:21:37 +0100

I wonder if BCAB are working on a guide cat version :p 
On 3 Aug 2012, at 09:17, Jackie Cairns <jackie.cairnsplace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> 
wrote:

> Yeah but who cares?  Why have a flaming dog barking at all?  Do we come
> across as that pathetic or what?  Sorry but this kind of patronising stuff
> really gets my goat! (smile).
> 
> 
> Kind Regards,
> 
> Jackie Cairns
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
> Steve Nutt
> Sent: 02 August 2012 14:54
> To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [access-uk] Re: georgie trial now available, initial opinion
> 
> Hi,
> 
> It's because Georgie is named after Margaret, Roger Wilson-Hind's wife's
> first guide dog.
> 
> All the best
> 
> Steve
> --
> Computer Room Services
> 77 Exeter Close
> Stevenage
> Hertfordshire
> SG1 4PW
> Tel:  01438-742286
> Mob: 07956334938
> Fax: 01438-759589
> Email: steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Web: http://www.comproom.co.uk
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
> Eleanor Burke
> Sent: 02 August 2012 13:05
> To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [access-uk] Re: georgie trial now available, initial opinion
> 
> I wouldn't mind but my guide dogs, currently Neela, does not bark *smile* so
> 
> why the barking?
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jackie Cairns" <jackie.cairnsplace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Thursday, August 02, 2012 11:17 AM
> Subject: [access-uk] Re: georgie trial now available, initial opinion
> 
> 
>> Hi Mo
>> 
>> I read your very interesting message on the BCAB list which Colin Howard
>> posted, presumably on your behalf.
>> 
>> I'll say here what I said there.  Personally I feel it is reinventing the
>> wheel.  I think it is taking advantage of those who perhaps haven't had 
>> the
>> opportunity to really try out Android or Apple to see whether they can
>> really master those operating systems.  But, as you say, time will tell.
>> 
>> I'm afraid that the barking made me cringe.  Do we really have to have 
>> these
>> stupid sounds incorporated into "blind" products?
>> 
>> 
>> Kind Regards,
>> 
>> Jackie Cairns
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf 
>> Of
>> Mobeen Iqbal
>> Sent: 02 August 2012 00:02
>> To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> Subject: [access-uk] georgie trial now available, initial opinion
>> 
>> Hi.
>> 
>> The georgie developers have finally seen fit to provide a trial on the
>> google play store, all be it a 14 day trial. I have included a link below,
>> as well as my initial findings. The following is just my opinion and i do
>> not intend to start a debate on list, but it would be interesting to see
>> what others think.
>> 
>> 
> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.screenreader.Georgie&featu
>> re=search_result
>> 
>> Main app interface: the first criticism i have is the fact that all
>> navigation has to be acomplished via a touch screen. Trying on a samsung
>> galaxy pro, i could not click any of the controls via the keyboard even
>> though they are recognised as buttons. I could also not dial a phone 
>> number
>> via the keyboard, something i was very very surprised at!
>> something so simple that's been around for years has been over looked?
>> this is probably because you have to hover over each item on the screen 
>> with
>> your finger. on to my next point. it took me a while to figure out that 
>> you
>> have to hover over a certain icon for 2 seconds or more until a tone is
>> heard, then lift your finger to activate it. being used to the double tap
>> system normally used in android, this came as a little qwerk i could've 
>> done
>> with out, though i can see the logic behind it i guess.
>> The logic being cut out the need to tap the icon twice and risk hitting
>> another icon while you're at it. Also, i would've liked the ability to 
>> turn
>> off the dog barking sound when the app is launched, and every time you
>> return to the home screen from outside the app. nothing against guide 
>> dogs,
>> but it could be a bit of an embarrassment in public places!
>> Also, my phone really started lagging, something its never done with other
>> applications no matter how many i've had installed at any one time. while
>> i'm writing this, the phone's completely crashed, i'll go on to the apps
>> when it reboots.
>> 
>> On to the apps:
>> 
>> Now my battery's back in and the thing's booted, by default, you can try
>> out all the apps in the trial. i liked the fact you can adjust screen
>> contrast/colours, and also the simplicity of the interface. there needs
>> to be more user input in to what can be configured/added for the price,
>> i can see this being aimed at a minority market relating specifically to
>> the elderly or motor impaired.
>> 
>> I did not like the fact that the volume rocker is taken over by the
>> software. there are meant to be 3 pages, each page containing the
>> various apps in various catagories. The volume rocker, instead of
>> allowing you to alter the volume of the app in realtime cycles through
>> the various pages. it also appears to unlock the phone when its been
>> locked, something which i wasn't too impressed with. on android, its
>> standard practis that all buttons are locked and the power button plus
>> jesture is used to unlock. page1 has your standard apps, messaging
>> dialer etc, page 2 goes on to OCR, colour recognition etc, page 3 is
>> thankfully nothing rood, its your lifestile apps containing twitter,
>> audio book services, talking newspapers etc. I would've apreciated it if
>> the developers had enabled scroling so you could scrole to page 2/3, or
>> again provided a setting to switch between various modes for various
>> functions i.e the ability to turn things on and off, or use alternative
>> jestures for commands.
>> 
>> I am going to be using the software over the next 2 weeks, so may post
>> further findings. Also if people request, i may consider doing an audio
>> demo all be it opinionated giving each app a chance, to save people
>> installing it. I would also have liked to see tighter integration with
>> google maps. At the moment, yes you can find out where your nearest bus
>> stop is, taxi information, but you don't appear to be able to send these
>> to google maps to navigate to the destination in mind.
>> 
>> The voice applications also appear, or may rely on the internet. I
>> haven't tested the application offline yet with no internet connection,
>> but suspect that because of past experience, the phone will be sending
>> what ever you say, dictated text messages, numbers, etc to google's
>> servers then back to your phone. Any android user using this app may
>> wish they were on some kind of data plan if this is the case.
>> 
>> I have also tried the colour recogniser application. ironically, a
>> freely available talking colour application from the android market,
>> Colour ID,  produced better results than their app! Their app just
>> stated my teashirt colour as black, the colour ID app was kind enough to
>> be more specific and tell me that it was brownish black, and that the
>> colour of my door was grey.
>> 
>> The OCR app appeared to be doing something, though it requires the user
>> to have the phone level, i.e as if resting flat on a desk before it'll
>> scan. this could proove to be an issue if reading a sign/business
>> information that isn't necessarily on a flat surface. oh dear, where's
>> the gents? i'm getting desperate now!
>> 
>> You can configure settings remotely for georgie via the web, or sight
>> and sound can do this for you. i'm not comfortable with this approach.
>> I'd like to know how secure the remote access app used is? is it
>> encrypted? how safe is user data? Privacy is at risk, what if they can
>> read your text messages? one user complained that sight and sound or
>> someone sent him an unsolicited text message because he posted a bad
>> review! this could be a error/over reaction or mistake  on his part,
>> but? i've installed this on a handset i'm not bothered about but i'd be
>> hesitant to install this on a handset i'm using for daily use.
>> 
>> I would've liked to see inclusion of an email application, as well as a
>> web browser of some kind. georgie at present won't support this at
>> present so you'd have to use talkback to surf the web.
>> 
>> I also couldn't find an option to access the rest of the phone's
>> settings, though i haven't customised it or atempted to unlock advanced
>> settings if any are available. apparently you can control what the user
>> can do on the phone and provide/limit access to certain functions, so
>> we'll see if in the next few days i unlock this supposed functionality.
>> An option to access the android market or the app draw would've been
>> nice, though again this doesn't appear to be their aim. their aim
>> appears to be make the phone as simple as possible for a basic user, and
>> that's it. for a hefty price tag! The app also froze, and i received a
>> force close message on screen informing me that georgie had terminated.
>> i then had to reactivate it via my home button. that, by the way was
>> when i tried to access the georgie news option. this option is meant to
>> provide you with the latest updates from the world of georgie, i have
>> visions of them providing georgie with his own personal blog! there are
>> after all pages on facebook for pets. nothing wrong with that of
>> course... but? anyway back to the point.
>> 
>> And now on to my final point. the contacts app, call/phone app,
>> messaging app, colour recogniser app, and even the OCR app using google
>> goggles all have free alternatives. Google maps are a lot better now and
>> its becoming easier to find your location, to navigate to places, to
>> find local places of interest, and its all free! even if you do
>> pourchase mobile accessibility, at least you can use it outside its own
>> homescreen if you wish! What would then prompt me to buy this. I would
>> buy it if i had a really basic android user in mind, though i'd first
>> try my very hardest to go the free/lower cost  root not because i'm
>> stingy, but a lot of the time people don't have money to burn and also
>> there are apps out there that do the job. the eyes free shell home
>> screen is perfectly customisable and allows you to make things as simple
>> as they could be for someone by adding/removing the apps the user has
>> access to. Mobile accessibility is basic enough for most people. Also,
>> if my client just wanted a basic phone, basic second hand and brand new
>> nokia symbian phones abound on the internet. the haven phone could also
>> be imported to the UK, and i saw a phone that spoke the numbers dialed
>> for £15 in tesco the other day. The only reason i would personally spend
>> any money on this application is the OCR capability, and possibly the
>> audio book/talking newspaper ability though at that price, do we get a
>> free subscription to the services in question? perhaps we should?
>> 
>> the pricing model is also unclear. they state that £150 will get you the
>> default apps. now as far as i know, that's just the basic apps, dialer,
>> messaging, contacts, georgie news and help, the phone dialer, and the
>> call log. mobile accessibility offers all this and more for almost a
>> third of the price! yes MA isn't perfect but that's not the point, who
>> is? £25 extra each for the lifestile and communications apps doesn't net
>> you much. the audio books app, the camera app, again a free alternative
>> available, OCR, tweet by voice, ask any question by voice anyone ever
>> heard of freely available jeanie? talking newspapers, podcasts, and lets
>> not forget the amazing voice blog. If anyone wants to hear me singing in
>> the shower, please let me know! the potential is amazing isn't it? the
>> sarcasm is partly intentional, sorry i'll stop it now...
>> 
>> So, from this hotchpotch email, a conclusion: the app is very over
>> priced, even code factory who i expected to charge a lot more for their
>> app haven't charged much at all, its even available stripped down in the
>> US for free. If users have free alternatives and are only paying for
>> simplicity which can be achieved with selection of a few choice free/low
>> paid apps, what will compell people to buy this? now if they'd included
>> a turn by turn navigation aid like wayfinder for symbian if anyone
>> remembers that, that would've impressed me. I really hope that the
>> company does well, though there's still a long way to go. I hope it does
>> not go the same way as thunder i.e get knocked out by an open source,
>> free!  effort like NVDA. I never really managed to achieve much with the
>> thunder screen reader, it was rather embarrassing when atempting to demo
>> it as part of training a few years ago it kept crashing. we couldn't
>> even get it to read out word documents or the web in a satisfactory 
>> manner.
>> 
>> As i have already said the opinions i express above are just based on
>> early findings. A lot could change over the next 2 weeks. I may end up
>> loving? georgie, though i doubt i'll be paying for it. If i've been
>> harsh on the developers, it wasn't intentional. the georgie app only has
>> a 2.2 star rating on the play store, and the majority of the reviews are
>> from those that are experiencing frustration using the application. some
>> can't get it to work though this could be user error. i wonder how many
>> phones they tested this on?
>> 
>> From a business standpoint, if you set the right price people will buy
>> your product, set it too high and they'll turn to other sollutions. £300
>> with a handset included? a Nokia C5 with talks costs £100, a basic
>> handset like the sony experia pro with icecream sandwitch which is
>> totally accessible would only cost £180 at the most.
>> 
>> finally, i'd like to round things off by quoting a comment from someone
>> called justin on the eyes-free list with which i agree. i hope you don't
>> mind me quoting you justin, though i don't know you personally.
>> 
>> Justin <justinmacleod@xxxxxxxxxxx> Aug 01 10:06PM +0100
>> 
>> That's what I think is so scandalous. They are indeed targeting older 
>> people
>> and those who are less up to speed with computers, those who don't know
>> better or those that can't, for whatever reason, cope with the free, 
>> cheeper
>> alternative that actually does more. Why should they have to pay more for
>> less?
>> 
>> Anyway, it would be great to hear people's experiences. If i'm wrong
>> about anything in this email, i'll gladly stand corrected and i'm still
>> giving georgie a fair chance. People are also welcome to write to me off
>> list,
>> 
>> mobeeniqbal@xxxxxxxxx
>> 
>> is where you'll find me. Its taken the best part of 2 hours to write
>> this, anyone for a cup of tea?
>> 
>> Thanks for reading,
>> 
>> Mo.
>> 
>> ** To leave the list, click on the immediately-following link:-
>> ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe]
>> ** If this link doesn't work then send a message to:
>> ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> ** and in the Subject line type
>> ** unsubscribe
>> ** For other list commands such as vacation mode, click on the
>> ** immediately-following link:-
>> ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=faq]
>> ** or send a message, to
>> ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the Subject:- faq
>> 
>> ** To leave the list, click on the immediately-following link:-
>> ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe]
>> ** If this link doesn't work then send a message to:
>> ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> ** and in the Subject line type
>> ** unsubscribe
>> ** For other list commands such as vacation mode, click on the
>> ** immediately-following link:-
>> ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=faq]
>> ** or send a message, to
>> ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the Subject:- faq
>> 
> 
> 
> --
> I am using the free version of SPAMfighter.
> SPAMfighter has removed 459 of my spam emails to date.
> Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len
> 
> Do you have a slow PC? Try Free scan
> http://www.spamfighter.com/SLOW-PCfighter?cid=sigen
> 
> 
> ** To leave the list, click on the immediately-following link:-
> ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe]
> ** If this link doesn't work then send a message to:
> ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> ** and in the Subject line type
> ** unsubscribe
> ** For other list commands such as vacation mode, click on the
> ** immediately-following link:-
> ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=faq]
> ** or send a message, to
> ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the Subject:- faq
> 
> 
> 
> ** To leave the list, click on the immediately-following link:-
> ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe]
> ** If this link doesn't work then send a message to:
> ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> ** and in the Subject line type
> ** unsubscribe
> ** For other list commands such as vacation mode, click on the
> ** immediately-following link:-
> ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=faq]
> ** or send a message, to
> ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the Subject:- faq
> 
> ** To leave the list, click on the immediately-following link:-
> ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe]
> ** If this link doesn't work then send a message to:
> ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> ** and in the Subject line type
> ** unsubscribe
> ** For other list commands such as vacation mode, click on the
> ** immediately-following link:-
> ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=faq]
> ** or send a message, to
> ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the Subject:- faq
> 

** To leave the list, click on the immediately-following link:-
** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe]
** If this link doesn't work then send a message to:
** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
** and in the Subject line type
** unsubscribe
** For other list commands such as vacation mode, click on the
** immediately-following link:-
** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=faq]
** or send a message, to
** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the Subject:- faq

Other related posts:

  1. Home
  2. access-uk
  3. Archive
  4. 08-2012