[bookport] Re: Progress and the Book Port

  • From: "David Tanner" <david-tanner@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <bookport@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2005 17:02:19 -0600

Well, it will probably cost a little more than $600, but could be easily done 
for under $1000, and done in fine fashion with an external Qwerty keyboard and 
the ability to do a lot of basic operation with voice input for $1200 with 
MobileSpeak Pocket or Pocket Hal.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Josh Kennedy" <jkenn337@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <bookport@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, December 09, 2005 5:09 PM
Subject: [bookport] Re: Progress and the Book Port


: And also for those people who can't afford a pacmate or braillenote or 
: voicenote there's always that new mobilespeak pocket that's coming out. You 
: can get that for $425 and then buy a cheap pocket pc from somewhere and you 
: got a notetaker that can do all that the pacmate can do and more for only 
: $680 instead of buying a pacmate or voicenote for thousands of dollars.
: 
: Josh
: 
: he should try out the animal before he bought him. He took the could. The 
: Bear soon left him, for it is said he will not touch-land... A RIVER carried 
: down in its stream two Pots, one made of pounce upon in a whole year. Evil 
: wishes, like chickens, come home to roost.
: ----- Original Message ----- 
: From: "Richard Ring" <ring.richard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
: To: <bookport@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
: Sent: Friday, December 09, 2005 4:45 PM
: Subject: [bookport] Re: Progress and the Book Port
: 
: 
: >I am getting quite tired of aspersions being cast at people who don't
: > want to turn the Bookport into a Braille 'n Speak.
: > There are many changes that would make the Bookport a better unit.
: > However unless we completely rebuild the system, it will not meet the
: > needs of students who need a real note taking device.  One huge group of
: > individuals who would never wish to use the Bookport as a primary note
: > taker are those who do not use Braille.   Unfortunately, the majority of
: > those who are blind do not know and use Braille, therefore if such
: > individuals were to own a note taker, they would prefer one with a
: > qwerty keyboard.  That would certainly change the overall portability of
: > the device.  To compare the Bookport's  note taking capabilities to a
: > Braille Note or a Pac Mate displays a clear and profound lack of
: > knowledge concerning the functionality of these devices.
: > Students with whom I work want a notetaker that can read MS-Word
: > documents, and they want the ability to save documents in that format.
: > They want the ability to create contact lists, and an appointment
: > calendar.  They want the ability to browse the web, and the ability to
: > read html documents.   Professionals want the ability to synchronize
: > email, appointments and contacts with their PCs, just as sighted
: > professionals do with their PDAs.
: > Can the Bookport do these things?  Should it do these things?  And, if
: > it does, will APH still offer the device at $400 US? I don't have the
: > answers, but as someone who teaches note takers every day, I can tell
: > you that none of the individuals I work with would want to go back to a
: > Braille 'n Speak!
: > Some prefer the Braillenote, some the Pac Mate, but I never receive
: > requests from college students to learn how to use the Braille 'n Speak!
: > Frankly, the majority of the individuals that I serve don't even know
: > computer Braille, although it is not all that difficult to learn.
: > Here are some changes that I wouldn't mind seeing, and they have nothing
: > to do with note taking.
: > I would like to see USB 2.0 support.  I would like to see the 256 mb
: > limit for audio files done away with. I would like to see an MP3 shuffle
: > mode, I wouldn't even mind giving the transfer tool the ability to
: > create play lists.  I would like support for CF cards of greater than 4
: > GB, and I would like to see support for type II CF cards (microdrives).
: > I would also like to see real html support, so that if one had a book in
: > html format that book could be read as it was intended.   To be read.
: > Many books allow the reader to go immediately to an item in a table of
: > contents, because each item is a link.  Support for this would be an
: > excellent improvement.
: > I would also like to see an internal hard drive although that would
: > probably add a bit to the cost.
: > I would also like to see SD card support.
: > However, as someone who can make recommendations to clients, I would
: > never tell a client that he/she could use the Bookport as a note taker!
: > It would be like telling someone a hot dog was a steak!
: > Before we add features, let's fix some of the bugs that have been
: > reported to this list.  Bug fix releases aren't as slick and sexy as
: > releases rich in new features, but I'd rather fix the roof on my house
: > before I built a recording studio on the second floor, it would just
: > make solid sense.
: >
: > -----Original Message-----
: > From: bookport-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
: > [mailto:bookport-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Bruce Toews
: > Sent: Friday, December 09, 2005 2:18 PM
: > To: bookport@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
: > Subject: [bookport] Progress and the Book Port
: >
: >
: > One of the recurring topics on this list is that of feature suggestions
: > and why they should or should not be implemented. People have very
: > strong
: > viewpoints on this issue, and they tend to polarize users into two
: > camps,
: > two camps which rather vehemently oppose each other. One camp views the
: > BP
: > as a complete solution as is, and feel very strongly that no changes
: > should be implemented, as making such changes would dilute the existing
: > features, or add new functionality that opposes the BP's original
: > purpose.
: > A classic example of this is something I saw on a list for the Book
: > Courier, in which one person said that what makes the Book Courier so
: > much
: > better than the Book Port is the fact that it doesn't have a note-taking
: >
: > feature, as the Book Port does.
: >
: > The other camp, the camp to which I personally subscribe, feels that the
: >
: > Book Port is a great unit, and that great things can be made even
: > greater,
: > that the truly great products continue to evolve. Anyone who saw the
: > Braille 'n Speak evolve before Blazie Engineering was swallowed up by
: > Freedom Scientific will know what can be achieved through this sort of
: > thinking. The eveolution of the computer, once thought of as only useful
: >
: > for crunching numbers, is another. People in this second camp believe
: > that
: > the Book Port, too, can be such an example.
: >
: > Over the course of its existence, the Braille 'n Speak became more
: > powerful, more flexible, more versatile, and it did so while battery
: > life
: > increased as opposed to decreasing. It outgrew the limitations of just
: > being a notetaker, while at the same time staying true to the needs of
: > that original purpose.
: >
: > One of the arguments I hear again and again is that the Book Port is a
: > book reader, and it should not be anything else. This is the path taken
: > by
: > the Book Courier, and there's nothing wrong with it. But APH has seen
: > fit
: > to expand the usefulness of the unit. It has flown against the
: > conventional wisdom which says that, if you want a notetaker, you ahve
: > to
: > shell out thousands of dollars to do it.  This probably irritates some
: > of
: > the people who have been in the business of either designing, selling,
: > or
: > procuring the multi-thousand-dollar notetakers, becasue the Book Port is
: >
: > available for a few hundred dollars, and for it to seriously rival one
: > of
: > the "big boys" would seriously challenge the conventional wisdom, and
: > force those who claim that you need to fork over thousands for a decent
: > notetaker to seriously rethink those claims. It's not a lot of fun to
: > find
: > the book from which you've been preaching for years to be totally
: > discredited. The flat-earth hold-outs are still struggling with it.
: > Another argument against increased functionality is that increased
: > functionality yields increased bugs. My only answer to this is: Nothing
: > ventured, nothing gained.
: >
: > Another argument suggests that the long life of batteries would be
: > compromised by increased functionality. I submit that my current
: > cellphone
: > lasts twenty times longer than did my first on one battery charge, is
: > much
: > more powerful, is smaller, and much faster. My Braille Lite M20 lasts at
: >
: > least ten times longer on a charge than the first braille 'n speak, is
: > only slightly larger (and this because of the addition of the braille
: > display), is much faster, and much more versatile and efficient. People
: > seem to forget that technology has come a long way since the original
: > technology behind the Book Port was introduced: it's faster, it's
: > cheaper,
: > it's more efficient, and consumes less, not more, power.
: >
: > Finally, I suggest that if one likes things the way they are, one is not
: >
: > obligated to turn in their unit. If you don't want the new progress,
: > fine,
: > but why stop the rest of us? Is there insecurity among some because they
: >
: > have always felt at the forefront of technology, but now don't want to
: > move on, yet they still want to be at the forefront, so the best way of
: > handling that insecurity is to stop the progress so they'll remain at
: > the
: > forefront without moving? I can relate to this. I wanted to stay with
: > Dos.
: > I wanted efforts to make Windows speak to be quelled so I could stay at
: > the forefront of technology without moving. Eventually, I grew up and
: > moved on, and I'm glad I did.
: >
: > The basis for the Book Port is exciting. But I truly believe that, in
: > the
: > future, if we can replace some 1990's technology and some 1990's
: > thinking
: > with some 21st-century technology and thinking, the opportunity exists
: > to
: > keep the Book Port what it once was: a device which does what it wasn't
: > thought could be done, affordably, and efficiently. It's a wonderful,
: > fabulous unit. But the talking MP3-players are whizzing past it, or at
: > least preparing to. Others are innovating. The Book Courier is sticking
: > to
: > its roots. The Book Port has the potential to take flight with the rest.
: >
: > Finally, whether or not any of this happens is not our decision,
: > ultimatelhy. It's APH's. I honestly belive that these people know what
: > they're doing; they know if an idea is doable; they know what's
: > realistic
: > and what's not; they know what the Book Port can become and what it
: > can't.
: > End of lecture. <GRIN>
: >
: > Brce
: >
: > -- 
: > Bruce Toews
: > E-mail and MSN/Windows Messenger: DogRiver@xxxxxxxx
: > Web Site (including info on my weekly commentaries): http://www.ogts.net
: > Info on the Best TV Show of All Time: http://www.cornergas.com
: >
: > 
: 
:

Other related posts: