[bookport] Re: bookport suggestion
- From: "Shannon A. Reece" <shazza@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bookport@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 14 Nov 2005 11:46:20 -0800
What a delicious message Sarah, and oh so well said! Thanks for saying it
because this thread is getting rather old imho.
Shannon
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sarah Cranston" <cranston.sarah@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <bookport@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, November 14, 2005 8:57 AM
Subject: [bookport] Re: bookport suggestion
Josh,
I don't know why no one, especially from APH, hasn't addressed this.
Perhaps there is a good reason not to, so I apologize if I'm stepping out of
bounds here. I also apologize for expounding on this longwinded and
pointless thread, but I feel there is one point which has been neglected and
should be addressed.
The "1992/1993 Braille 'n Speak technology" of which you speak is completely
irrelevant to the BookPort. The two devices were designed entirely
differently, with different functionality in mind. I think the main reason
the BookPort isn't a Braille 'n Speak, or an equivalent thereof, is because
of it's very small amount of firmware. If I remember correctly, the
BookPort only has a few hundred K for storing and manipulating the firmware.
This is because it doesn't need a whole lot to handle text files and MP3s.
The BNS contains quite a bit more memory, and possibly a faster processor.
There simply isn't enough room to turn the BP into a BNS. Besides, the BNS,
while handy for reading, was originally designed as a notetaker, and does
its best work as a notetaker. The BookPort, on the other hand, was designed
to read books, hence the name, and the notetaker was a nice little add-on
which APH generously provided. I don't know how they got it in there, and
I'm very impresse
d that it works as well as it does. I'll feel the same about a calculator,
when and if it comes along.
In order to turn a Book Port into the equivalent of a BNS, you would need a
whole new board, with more storage space for firmware, and a faster
processor. We would all have to send our BookPorts back to APH for
upgrades--sounds like a certain PDA manufacturer, doesn't it?--and I won't
be doing that any time soon. For one thing, I can't imagine sending my BP
away and living without it for however long it would take to upgrade it, and
second, spending more money on top of what the unit already costs. Most BP
owners I know of found the current price just barely affordable, and a price
hike, like that which would become inevitable were the BP turned into a BNS
equivalent, would push it right out of a lot of peoples' budgets.
So, what I'm trying to say, is that you are taking a perfectly delicious
orange, and asking it to be a banana, or maybe even a cucumber. <Smile>
Both foods have there values and uses, they both have the right to exist,
and anything anyone can do to further perfect either should be appreciated,
but they can't be substituted for each other, unless someone has some very
interesting tastes. <Smile> Oranges make the best Orange Juliuses, and
cucumbers do great things for a green salad. But can you imagine a hybrid?
Yikes!
Just three and a half cents from a happy owner of a BP, and a former BNS
user.
Sarah
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