[Blindtlk] [nabs-l] note takers: are they worth buying anymore?

Mon Jul 25 12:57:38 UTC 2011

I have a braille lite meleneum 40, and a lap top. I also of course have a 
cell phone, but that's it as far as technology goes. I also still have my 
perkins brailler and my slate, I need to get a new stylus. I also have a 
braille embosser, but no way at the moment to hook it up to my computer. so 
at this point it's pretty much useless. I also have no where to set it up 
either. but when I'm at my dad's or my sister's house, or at a friend's 
house, I love to use my computer for file sharing, email, and internet, 
since I can't use my braille lite for that stuff. but when I'm out in 
public, like at a gathering at a resturant with Vision Loss resources, or 
something like that where I'm going to meet new people I like to have my 
braille lite with so I can get their information in an easy to read format.
Nikki Wunderlich
face book, my space, and MSN as well as email nikki0222 at gmail.com
yahoo and AIM nikkiwunderlich
skype and twitter nikki022285
cell 763-248-0106
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gloria Whipple" <ladygloria at webband.com>
To: "'Blind Talk Mailing List'" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, July 25, 2011 7:47 AM
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] [nabs-l] note takers: are they worth buying anymore?


> Do you have one?
>
> I don't have any trouble with it.
>
> That is why so many note takers are on the market so everyone can have 
> their preference.
>
> I also have a Type 'N Speak and also very pleased with it.
>
>
> Gloria Whipple
> Corresponding Secretary
> Inland Empire chapter
> nfb of WA
>
> Cell: 509-475-4993
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On 
> Behalf Of T. Joseph Carter
> Sent: Monday, July 25, 2011 00:05
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> Cc: Blind Talk list
> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] [nabs-l] notetakers: are they worth buying 
> anymore?
>
> I don’t think they do, or at least I think their lifespan is limited.
>
> First, there’s very little that can justify the cost of an Apex these
> days.  It just costs too much.  Second, I don’t know how many times I
> have heard the excuse from our chapter secretary that his BN crashed
> and he needs someone else to get him a recording or produce minutes
> or something.  Both it and the PAC mate have a solid reputation for
> being about as stable as a house of cards in a tornado.  During an
> earthquake.  While a volcano is erupting.
>
> And while the PAC mate is supposed to be so great because it can run
> "standard" software for the platform, most of the software doesn’t
> actually work with it properly and the platform has pretty much taken
> a back seat to iOS and Android at this point.
>
> At the beginning of the PDA revolution, there was Palm.  (Actually,
> there was Apple with the Newton, but I’m talking successful PDA
> revolution here…)  Then Handspring came along and produced a Palm
> that was better than the Palm.  There were accessories the people who
> made it never intended, including a folding laptop-style keyboard
> called the Stowaray, and suddenly there was no need to lug a laptop
> in to a meeting to take notes.  Plus the thing was SO COOL, and it
> cost a small fraction of what a laptop did that wasn’t as fast or as
> convenient to the task!
>
> Of course, none of this is accessible.
>
> Fast forward about 15 years or so and today sighted people likely use
> an iPad or Android-based wannabe tablet for the same purpose.  They
> may or may not use an external Bluetooth keyboard.  They could use an
> iPhone (or wannabe) for the same purpose, but the sighted like having
> big screens that are easy to see, so the preference is the iPad.
>
> But the blind can tell you that the iPhone is just as useful, and
> perhaps more so because you can’t stuff an iPad into a pocket (unless
> you’re wearing a Scott-E-Vest which is just comical and not really
> the point.)  There are flip-out keyboard cases for the iPhone 4
> (which are a great idea for any blind user) and small Braille I/O
> devices that are much more comfortable to ear than the brick-like
> note taker of yesteryear.
>
> And accessibility is improving, in general, on the iPhone.  Even the
> Android platform is starting to see some movement in that direction.
> At some point either platform will be viable to the blind, at least
> as effective as a PAC mate, probably as easy to use as a BrailleNote,
> and cheaper than any of the above.
>
> If anybody has a future with the form factor of the traditional note
> taker, it’s LevelStar, which figured out that having their own custom
> software just doesn’t make sense anymore.  They’re building on the
> proven interface of the Icon (their own software) and putting it into
> Android itself giving you the ease of a BrailleNote and the function
> of an Android device.  And if the guys at LevelStar stay true to
> form, they’re going to bring it to you for a lot less than HumanWare
> does.
>
> Neither iOS nor Android is ready to replace KeySoft IMO, but KeySoft
> is still the same program HumanWare has been schlepping for decades
> now with big ticket upgrade fees for small, incremental feature
> additions.  In fact, I remember the "major" upgrade (with SMA usage
> or paid outright) for KeySoft 7.5 to add RFB&D book support to my
> little PK less than six months after I bought the thing!  More than a
> year ago, I read a blog article from the CEO of Serotek about the
> "blind ghetto" technology.
>
> He was talking about Freedom Scientific and HumanWare specifically,
> and how neither company seems to truly innovate.  Why should they?
> So far they’ve been able to foist minor evolutions of products that
> are becoming less and less stable for exorbitant upgrade fees, or
> make minor revisions to a product while maintaining an existing price
> point.  The exceptions for HumanWare were the Apex and the Victor
> Reader Stream, the former of which saw a massive cost increase that
> isn’t going down anytime soon, and the latter was made some five
> years ago.
>
> Meanwhile new players are filling the market with devices that are
> better than anything any of the big players has to offer at a
> fraction of the cost.  Companies like LevelStar, HIMS, SeroTek, and
> even GW Micro has dipped its toes in the water here and there.  They
> are still making blindness-specific products, but they’re taking a
> fresh look and realizing that if they can’t deliver products that are
> better or cheaper or both than the legacy dinosaurs (and each other),
> they will die out.
>
> The BrailleNote will die off because people will move on.  There are
> still people out there using Braille 'n' Speaks, but not many these
> days.  The BrailleNote will follow suit.  The PAC mate is halfway
> there already, if you ask me.
>
> Joseph - KF7QZC
>
>
> On Sun, Jul 24, 2011 at 10:01:57PM -0400, Chris Nusbaum wrote:
>>Hi all,
>>
>>I don't have a set opinion on this matter as of yet, but I'd like to
>>initiate the discussion.  I'm noticing a trend in the blindness
>>technology field: PC's can do most everything a notetaker
>>(BrailleNote, BrailleSense, PacMate, etc.) can do, with some obvious
>>changes and differences, and in some cases can do and support more
>>than the notetaker.  This is also true with the ever-improving
>>accessible smartphones and tablets: the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch,
>>(the semiaccessible) Android phones, the KNFB Reader, etc.  Yes, the
>>notetakers have built-in Braille displays, but you can also install a
>>stand-alone Braille display on a computer to display what's on the
>>screen, or you could just buy a screen reader (text-to-speech, not
>>text-to-Braille) as a replacement for the Braille display...  that
>>is, if you think it is in fact a replacement for refreshable Braille.
>>That's another question for all of you in this discussion.  So,
>>here's the question: with all the advancements and capabilities of a
>>computer and screen readers or stand-alone refreshable Braille
>>displays, is it worth it, in your opinion, to buy a notetaker
>>anymore? What, given all the things a PC can do, is the real purpose
>>of the notetakers now? I'd love to hear your thoughts!
>>
>>Chris
>>
>>"A loss of sight, never a loss of vision!" (Camp Abilities motto)
>>
>>The I C.A.N.  Foundation helps visually impaired youth in Maryland
>>have the ability to confidently say "I can!" How? Click on this link
>>to learn more and to contribute: www.icanfoundation.info or like us
>>on Facebook at I C.A.N.  Foundation.
>>
>>Sent from my BrailleNote
>>
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>
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