Re: Announcing the Orion Smart book

  • From: Alex Midence <alex.midence@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2011 08:32:09 -0600

There sure is a lot to be said for compactness.  I am a classic
example of this scenario.  I have a dell laptop for work which goes on
a docking station.  It's hooked up to a braille display and a flatbed
scanner and all sorts of things.  I can and do sometimes take it with
me to work but, for meetings, I use a braille sense note taker because
I like the six key input  (because I can, as ken put it, hammer out
text like mad on there) and I like the braille display right then and
there.  For textbooks, I use a victor reader stream because it will
play rfbd books and braille sense won't.  For the phone, I use an
Android with a qwerty keyboard because, until codefactory's Mobile
Access, you couldn't use a touch screen and so forth.  And, at home, I
use a desktop because I have linux and windows on there since they
sort of compliment each other's accessibility holes.  One device to
rule them all would be nice.  I'd love to be able to just carry around
something nice and compact like an Icon with a braille display.  It
could even double as a phone if it's android capable and such.  The
only obstacle is price.  I have a wife, a child and another on the
way.  I work so, government aid is out of the question.  I make a
decent wage so, noone is going to help me out with paying for anything
because I make too much to get help but not enough to cough up 1300
bucks at the drop of a hat because, well, dog gone it, I have bills to
pay.  Got house, car, light, gas, water, medical bills, credit card
bills, ... you know, the usual stuff.  I also have day care on top of
that all which is practically as much as a second mortgage.  All this
leaves me with enough for food, gas, incidentals, internet and the odd
treat now and again.  Where'm I going with this?  People like me who
are not in the system just can't afford the one device rule.  I wish I
could.  I'd love to have an Orion thingy.  Will I ever have one?
Probably not.  Will some of my friends who also work and have bills
and things get one?  One or two might, just might with a tax return or
something but probably not many.  Yeah, a netbook is bigger, clunkier
and doesn't have a nice braille six key keypad on there but, speakup
plus the stuff I mentioned before and Alpine for e-mail to boot for
$150 looks way way way more doable.  If I shell out an additional $50
and make it $200, I can get something with enough processor power to
handle Gnome.  Then, I get Orca.  Give me a machine that has Orca,
Speakup, Yasr and Emacspeak on it that I can tote in my backpack or
briefcase because it's the size of a paperback when folded up and I'm
a happy camper.  About the only thing I won't be able to do as nicely
is pdfs and web browsing.  And, even that will improve shortly with
Gnome 3 when Orca can read webkit gtk+ well.  Again, I am not by any
means knocking this product.  All I'm saying is that I most
unfortunately can't and may never be able to afford it and so, I must
sadly look to other options as must many in my boat.  When you can't
afford Chez François and Chateau La Trop Chère, you go get something
from the dollar menu at McDonald's.

Alex M

On 3/10/11, Ken Perry <whistler@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> I agree with you.  The one thing I hate in all the world and the thing that
> is only now changing in the sited world is that we have to carry multiple
> devices to do multiple things.  So for example a sited person who needs the
> computer for administrative tasks at work has to carry at the very least one
> cell phone and one net book.  To us that becomes right now an IPhone, and
> probably a netbook running windows if you run linux you can use speak up but
> you lose all the advanced stuff and if  you think you're not losing
> something just go ahead and talk to me about the stability of Linux as an
> access platform.  It got better with Vinux but there is a reason I have both
> a windows box and a Linux box.  Then there is the Mac book pro but the
> reason I didn't mention it before is cost so I am thinking at the least a
> sited person will grab their net book and their phone.  Now there is us.  We
> need a book reader because sorry IPhone sucks for book reading right now you
> can't lock the screen and read and stick it in your pocket.  You can't read
> nls books or for that matter Bookshare without work.   When I say work I
> want to push two keys and download a book and read it it so that means you
> need something like a book port + or a Braille+ if you want quick access to
> books. Slower access using a computer means something like book sense or
> victor stream.  Anyway let's throw the kendil into the mix for sited people
> so now you got your kindle your netbook and your phone that's three items.
>
> Ok I am rambling but I have rambled to say this.  The Motorola Atrix is the
> first step away from the insanity it's an Android phone that is a netbook.
> Not only that but there are several people on Android working for access to
> all document types, Google docs and much more.  This means you grab your
> netbook or not because your phone is the brains of your netbook and the only
> thing you gain carrying it is screen size and keyboard.  So if you're doing
> serious work you use the netbook if you're doing meetings and stuff you do
> the phone you have a kindil app on the Atrix and your done with multiple
> devices.  Especially if you get an app that can handle all book types some
> day.
>
> The one drawback to an android phone or an IPhone for that matter for the
> blind in the long run is the input. Tell me you want to carry around a blue
> tooth keyboard so you can type or that netbook shell for theATrix?  What if
> the Android phone had a keyboard you could type fast on like Oh I don't know
> a 6 key keyboard. I might suck at Braille reading but I can hammer text with
> a 6 key keyboard like mad and I would imagine most of you could.  So now
> take that Android operating system that will have all this cool stuff in the
> future or even take the stuff that is out for it now and make it accessible.
> What do you get?  The ability to ditch all your devices and carry one.  One
> to rule them all.  Sure there will be phones you can get cheaper but I go
> back to the input.  Find me one with input you can deal with easily.  I can
> smoke any of you using Nokia sembion if you have an IPhone that is because
> it has buttons and you can text like mad.  The problem is find me a smart
> phone with a easy keyboard.  I have 4 phones and they all suck here at work.
> I have an IPhone that I use for almost anything but when it comes to writing
> documents, doing serious web browsing and book reading the IPhone goes on
> the charger and the laptop and book reader come out.  I want one device to
> rule them all and that is the way the industry is going look at what they
> just added to the new LION operating system that is going to replace Snow
> leopard it is even moving to IPhone like.  Someday soon there will be a
> crash where desktops hit phones and all you will have on your desk is a
> monitor if you need it and a keyboard   everything will be on the phone and
> me personally I want easy input .
>
> Ken
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Homme, James
> Sent: Thursday, March 10, 2011 7:57 AM
> To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: RE: Announcing the Orion Smart book
>
> Hi,
> One of the ideas that keeps this whole thing going is that we have those of
> us who, for whatever reason, believe that we need products specifically
> designed for the blind, and we have people who work in the blindness field,
> who are sighted, who feel this way. Both groups could step back and realize
> that it's really the features we need, not just the specialized products.
> I'm definitely in favor of having specialized stuff such as screen readers
> and Braille displays. I'm less in favor of software that has screen reader
> features. Now that things like smart phones have gotten so powerful, I'm
> less in favor of specialized hardware than I used to be. At the same time,
> though, I like the Braille  and differently shaped buttons on my digital
> talking book player. So I guess I'm not totally sure what I want. :)
>
> Jim
>
> Besides that, there is the human nature factor that we like convenience. We
> may not want to put together our own mix of features by getting a piece of
> hardware here and downloading and installing software from this sight over
> there. We want stuff to just work, and we want to get it in one place.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Kerneels Roos
> Sent: Thursday, March 10, 2011 4:03 AM
> To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: Announcing the Orion Smart book
>
> Point taken Cina, point taken.
>
> I'm assuming you are referring to the blind community as being the most
> uneducated consumer base ever documented. Well, this is probably the
> key. From a local perspective I can definitely say that here in South
> Africa blind people seem to be very well informed about assistive
> technologies, and if compared to abled bodied individuals the blind
> community is on average way more tech savvy. The problem is, the AT
> space is so complicated and full of all sorts of options. I consider
> myself fairly well informed, yet every now and again Ihear about
> something I've never heard about ever before.    We should really strive
> to inform everyone better.
>
> So, I think any new AT device or software is a good thing in itself, the
> problem is with the system at large, the lobsided market, greedy
> companies, government interferance -- you named it. Imagine everyone
> would just back off and let the market sort itself out. I don't know, I
> just know things could be way better and benefit many more than are
> benefitting right now.
>
> The encouraging and amazing thing is, amidst all of the injustices
> individuals arise that break the vicious cycle by offering their second
> hand AT devices at fair prices,by contributing to efforts like Vinux,
> and some companies asking reasonable prices.
>
> I salute you / them!
>
> On 3/10/2011 8:42 AM, Sina Bahram wrote:
>> There's a market alright. Fed by world governments, insane trade
> agreements, blood sucking AT companies, and the documentedly most
>> uneducated consumer base ever to exist in the history of consumer bases.
>>
>> I so should not get involved in this thread.
>>
>> Signing off.
>>
>> Take care,
>> Sina
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Dale Leavens
>> Sent: Wednesday, March 09, 2011 8:10 PM
>> To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> Subject: Re: Announcing the Orion Smart book
>>
>> But so far we don't have the price for the braille display.
>>
>> What I quoted was the current hardware as shown on the LevelStar Site.
>>
>> Unless they have some new refreshable braille technology the Orion will be
> a
>> lot more than two grand and you can have braille on any number of devices
>> these days.
>>
>> I agree. A netbook and at least you have a fully compatible word
> processor,
>> one used by the rest of the world assuming one shares documents with the
>> rest of the world.
>>
>> for a hundred bucks you can buy a 32 GB card for your Stream. Modern SSD
>> drives are used these days maybe the Orion will upgrade to a solid state
>> drive. Even that on the Icon wouldn't justify $1,300.
>>
>> I will say that I approve the use of braille but for the speed of speech
> it
>> will have to get a bunch cheaper before I'll be buying int.
>>
>> I guess there is a market but I don't see it.
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Alex Midence"<alex.midence@xxxxxxxxx>
>> To:<programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> Sent: Wednesday, March 09, 2011 7:00 PM
>> Subject: Re: Announcing the Orion Smart book
>>
>>
>>> Well, if it does braille output, it's got my vote sight unseen.  At
>>> the price it's selling for, it looks like you can have a little
>>> braille display for under 2k.  That's really cool.  I still can't
>>> afford it, mind, but it's really cool.  I wonder if you can use it as
>>> an external speech synth and/or braille display for a screen reader on
>>> a laptop or desktop.  That would be really nifty.  The note taker
>>> stuff isn't really that exciting to me.  I can grab a $150 netbook off
>>> of craigslist and load up soemthing like Vinux on there and I have a
>>> powerful note taker right there and then.  You don't even need all the
>>> stuff Vinux comes with pre-installed really.  All you really need is
>>> Pico, abook, tudu, mplayer and Lynx running on something with speakup
>>> installed and you got a decent note taker.  Couple of megs more gets
>>> you emacspeak and you have something that is just as powerful as any
>>> word processor out there, imho.  Add a menu feature of some kind which
>>> launches what you want at the press of a key and you don't even need
>>> to have the command line come up to bring up your stuff.  That braille
>>> display and that speech synth though are very attention grabbing for
>>> me.  Don't get me wrong, I am not knocking all the nice apps featured
>>> on there.  I just can't see myself going into debt for them when I can
>>> get a comparable set of them for ffree on a much much cheaper machine.
>>>
>>> For daisy, I have a victor reader which also stores songs.  I don't
>>> need 40 gigs of songs.  IN fact, I have a 2 gig mini flash card for my
>>> music and an 8 gb one for my audio books.  Podcasts, I get through my
>>> android phone and stitcher but a braille display, that for under 2
>>> grand is not to be sneezed at.
>>>
>>> Alex M
>>>
>>> On 3/9/11, Dale Leavens<dleavens@xxxxxxx>  wrote:
>>>> Well, I don't get it.
>>>>
>>>> The LevelStar Site doesn't give much information on the Icon, look like
>>>> you
>>>> don't get any input other than audio without the docking station which
>>>> means
>>>> $1,300 for the Icon and $600 for the keyboard, $1,900 altogether. For
>>>> that
>>>> you get 8 more gigs of hard drive than you get on an iPhone.
>>>>
>>>> I presume you can do input in some way outside of the docking station
> but
>>>> they don't tell you anything about that.
>>>>
>>>> Having braille output albeit only 18 cells will add to the capability of
>>>> course but it seems redundant to me to have yet another isolated note
>>>> taker.
>>>>
>>>> The iPhone and come to that the iPod touch already does all that stuff
>>>> and
>>>> more for less.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>    ----- Original Message -----
>>>>    From: Littlefield, Tyler
>>>>    To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>>    Cc: Ken Perry
>>>>    Sent: Wednesday, March 09, 2011 5:36 PM
>>>>    Subject: Re: Announcing the Orion Smart book
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>    I seen that! And even with no price tag, it's already making my
> wallet
>>>> clench up in fear.
>>>>    On 3/9/2011 1:39 PM, Ken Perry wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>      I can now show you what I am helping to work on.  Here is the
>>>> announcement that was put out today.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
> //www.freelists.org/post/accesscomp/Fw-icondiscuss-A-Glimpse-Of-The-Lev
> elStar-Orion-SmartBooks-At-CSUN-2011
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>>
>>>> Thanks,
>>>> Ty
>>>>
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>
> --
> Kerneels Roos
> Cell: +27 (0)82 309 1998
> Skype: cornelis.roos
>
> "There are only two kinds of programming languages in the world; those
> everyone complains about, and those nobody uses."
>
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