[bookport] Re: only feature I don't like
- From: Steve Cutway <cutways@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: bookport@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 31 Aug 2004 09:20:28 -0400
Hi all:
Well, I may be in a minority on this list but I happen to appreciate the
"maximum" and "Minimum Volume" features of the Book Port. I use them
frequently because of working environments I find myself in and because I
sometimes use different speaker and/or headphone setups. While I appreciate
the inconvenience to some of having the volume raise or lower to its
maximum or minimum when the respective keys are pressed and held, how
inconvenient is it to quickly lower or raise the volume to a comfortable
level? So I for one would lament the loss of this feature. Perhaps it
should be made harder to access, ie. pressing multiple keys, for example,
but it should remain in the product.
Every time I read threads like this on lists like this, I wonder what
percentage of the product user community is represented? It may be higher
on this list given the dependency of the Book Port on a computer to receive
files but I hope that the product designers will weigh all points of view
when considering whether to remove a feature that has been in the product
since day 1. No one uses every feature in a product and the wonderful thing
about today's computer-based technology is the design flexibility that is
possible. The Book Port is a well designed, well thought out product with a
rich feature set. Please don't reduce that richness to satisfy some users'
inconvenience.
For the reasons already mentioned, I make a similar case for the help
system. Larry has indicated it's on the features list and some in this
group have argued against its implementation as less important than other
features. I happen to disagree. As I have said previously, it's the one
feature the Book Courier has that in my view gives it a possible advantage
over the Book Port.
There's an untapped market for the Book Port, the learning disabled
community, the very market the Book Courier is designed for. In Canada,
colleges and universities are quickly adopting the DAISY standard for
alternate format textbooks which are used by students with learning
disabilities as well as students who are blind. Unfortunately, we cannot
access the RFB&D DAISY collection so producers here are doing their own
DAISY materials. As far as I know, the Book Courier doesn't yet support
DAISY. I have shown my Book Port to LD students and service providers, all
of whom agree that they could use it, but all also say that it would be
more helpful to them with the kind of help structure available in the Book
Courier.
Cheers,
Steve
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