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

[T. Joseph Carter]

I used a BrailleNote PK for awhile.  A bit heavy but it got the job 
done.  The KeySoft 7.5 thing really kinda irritated me, and as time 
went along I found that my MacBook Air was no less convenient, 
weighed only a few ounces more, and did a lot more for me.  Now I 
have an iPad and I couldn’t imagine the limitations of either a 
KeySoft-based device or a PAC mate, not even to get an integrated 
Braille display out of it!

Joseph - KF7QZC


On Mon, Jul 25, 2011 at 05:47:29AM -0700, Gloria Whipple wrote:
>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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