What happens when people don't use Braille any longer? I haven't used
Braille for several years. I wouldn't be adverse to having a note taker,
but then I have the recorder. When I get back to the computer, I then
listen to my notes and make them again on the PC. It's basically the same
thing except you transfer files from bp to pc.
Skip
I like those comments, and I would agree with everything you said.
Those that seem to be so opposed to expanding the usability of BookPort remind me of some computer companies that never decided to move on, and those companies finally found themselves out of business.
I have one question for those who oppose changes and addition of other features. Would you rather carry around two or three devices in order to have everything you need with you for work or on a trip or what if you could reduce the number of devices, batteries, and things to remember how to operate to one device that would do everything you need to do with simplicity and a operating environment that was the same from application to application (basic operation the same for book reading as in text editing, and appointment creating and reading)?
I guess I would come closer to urging APH to change the name and drop the word BOOK from the product name than limit the unit to only book reading when it could be so much more, and there are so many blind people who could profit from the additional functionallity.
Finally, if anyone on this list doesn't believe that the competition products like Maestro won't try to get to a point that they can handle reading all the file types that BookPort can then you had better think again because they are already headed in that direction.
Right now BookPort can do things that no one other product can do, but right now, with the given fact that apparently if one ordered a BookPort today they wouldn't have it for at least two months could be just the thing to encourage other makers of hand-held devices to start trying even harder to meet or beat what the BookPort can do right now.
So, let's get Grade 2 Braille into the notetaker, and help APH dream of what else can they do to make it even better than it already is now.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Bruce Toews" <DogRiver@xxxxxxxx>
To: <bookport@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, December 09, 2005 2:17 PM
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
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