[bookport] Re: bookport hasn't arrived yet also about the notetaker
- From: "Mike Freeman" <k7uij@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bookport@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 6 Dec 2005 18:22:48 -0800
Josh:
What you want is a bookport that's a laptop at a bookport price. Ain't gonna
happen, my friend.
Moreover, I think you'll find that the bookport is, while excellent at
taking casual notes, not a good instrument for intensive note-taking such as
for classes. First, if the bookport is sitting on a desk, the belt clip
makes it unstable although this isn't a problem if you're taking notes in
your lap. Second, the keyboard is made primarily for accessing bookport
functions, not for braille entry. It would be far better for you to con your
rehab agency into getting you a BraileNote or Pacmate. These have been
designed with note-taking in mind.
Use each device for what it's good for. That way, you won't be disappointed
when you can't get a one-size-fits-all device.
I say again, buy a laptop or a real note-taker if note-taking is your
object.
Note, however, that the bookport *does* make a good casual note-taker for
phone numbers and such.
Mike
----- Original Message -----
From: "Josh Kennedy" <jkenn337@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <bookport@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, December 06, 2005 4:25 PM
Subject: [bookport] bookport hasn't arrived yet also about the notetaker
Hi,
I am still anxiously awaiting the arrival of my bookport. It hasn't
arrived yet. Perhaps sometime this week it will come. But in the meantime,
can someone explain to me how the synchronise notes feature works? Where
do the notes go when you put them on your pc? Also as far as notetaking on
the bookport is concerned. I have a feeling I'm gunna be using the
notetaker a lot for taking notes in class, recording classes, etc. And my
suggestions still stand. I would like to see a simple spell-checker,
similar to a spellchecker you might see or have seen 15 years ago when
working in DOS. or on a braille 'n speak. I would also like to see a
calculator, and more clipboard functionality. Such as the ability to paste
in the date and time into a file, or the result of a calculation into a
file. The braille 'n speaks are fast becoming outdated with the arrival of
usb ports. And I do think with some firmware upgrades the bookport can
become a really nice book-reader, text-based braille notetaker, mp3
player, and audio recorder. Even though I don't have a bookport myself
yet, I've seen my fiance use hers for taking notes in class, and writing
articles for magazines all on the bookport. She then synchronises her
notes with the pc and formats them further on the pc side. I took a look
at the braille 'n speak scholar manual and yes it is a really nice device.
But quite frankly it's connectivity and printing capabilities are fast
becoming or have become outdated especially with the integration of usb
ports within the past 5 or six years. Because a lot of printers now are
using their own special drivers for windows-xp and are dependent on those
drivers to work correctly. Also, the bookport is the most cost-effective
device that I've seen on the market that can take compact flash cards,
play mp3s, take text notes, read books in a variety of formats and more.
The further betterment of the notetaker would be an added bonus. For
example, the ability to write either grade 1 or 2 braille text notes in
the bookport edit them in either computer braille or grade two braille if
you wish, and then when you synchronise them with the pc, those notes
would then be back-translated upon synchronization. I'm assuming the
bookport has a back-translator for reading brf books. Would it be hard to
port that translator into the notetaker? I really don't expect the
bookport to become a pda. But rather I can see its potential to become a
sort of small braille 'n speak type device, with the ability to read books
as it's main purpose, and also text and braille notetaking with copy cut
and paste commands and a simple spellchecker and calculator. I also hope
to get my bookport soon for over the holidays. I plan to write emails in
the bookport's notetaker, and then when I get back to school where my pc
is, synchronise those notes paste them into emails, and then send them
off. And yet also taking a nice collection of books, music, and audio
books home with me on 1gig cards. I would also like to see a pronunciation
dictionary where you could change the pronunciation of a word in a book if
you don't like it. It would also be helpful to have a global find command.
This would allow you to search through all files on bookport's flash card
and look for a particular word or phrase you typed in using computer
braille. I'd also like to see an option in the notetaker where the
bookport would automatically insert a new line command every 80 characters
or so perhaps for better formatting and easier saving to word once back on
the pc.
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.
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