[nabs-l] The technology in specialized notetakers

[Kaiti Shelton]

Unless they've also bought you a braille display to go along with the
laptop, I don't see why they can't get you something with a
refreshable braille display.  In addition to that a notetaker has
different functionality than a laptop; it's more like a PDA and a
device specific to notetaking then a "braille computer" as some call
it.  You can try using that argument, and anyone else pitch in with
their justifications too.  As someone who has gone through the
majority of their schooling, (upwards of fourth grade) with access to
a notetaker and a computer for work, I can definitely say that both
devices come in handy at different times and sometimes the
circumstances warrant the use of one device over the other.

Antonio, you're right.  I've showed the On-Hand to a few people who
have Humanware products and they've all seemed to like it.  I jokingly
said to someone that it was the real "Lightest and smallest notetaker
on the market," which of course is what Humanware claimed about the
Apex for a while, and they were shocked both at how little it was and
how quiet and well-oiled the keys seemed to be.  It was like the best
of both worlds; small size without the buttons getting stuck or the
really loud noise given off when typing a document.

On 7/13/13, Joseph C. Lininger <devnull-nabs-l at pcdesk.net> wrote:
> Antonio,
> I agree with you that note takers should have more features and probably
> that they
> should be cheaper as well. The trouble as I understand it has to do with
> economics.
> Specifically, market size. Let me provide the analysis that "officially"
> is used,
> then at the end I'll provide a couple of my thoughts.
> First, let's address new features. The reason the development of
> technology is so
> fast paced in the non-adaptive world is because it quite literally has
> to be. There
> are several companies, all of which are competing for business in a
> particular field
> (web sites, phones, laptops, etc.). There are also tons of consumers who
> want to
> purchase and/or use those products. They're going to purchase and/or use
> what ever
> has the most market appeal, of course. The companies, in consequence,
> must continually
> create new products and update existing ones to keep them relevant to
> the community.
> When looking at adaptive technology, note takers specifically, the same
> situation
> doesn't really hold. There are only a few products, and not a large
> market of people
> who want them. If you want to purchase a note taker, you only have the
> option of
> purchasing one of the two or three currently on the market. The
> manufacturers, then,
> only have to compete against one or two others for your business. This
> problem is
> further compounded by the fact that they probably don't have large teams
> of software
> developers to add new features and such.
> As far as price, it's a similar problem. The cost of main stream
> products drops because
> as a product becomes better known in the market, more people purchase
> it. As more
> people purchase it, the cost per unit drops and the company lowers the
> price in order
> to bring in yet more people. This does not apply with technology which
> is only designed
> to work for the blind community. There is a fixed market size, which is
> considerably
> smaller than the main stream community. If the price is lowered to far
> under those
> conditions, you end up with a situation where it costs more to design
> and build the
> technology than you make selling it.
> All of that being said, I think there is also the "this is always how
> it's been"
> factor. It's always been the case that adaptive technology has developed
> slower,
> and the technology costs over 10 times that of mainstream technology
> with similar
> functionality. There is a hesitancy to move from a slower development
> cycle with
> higher costs to one where development happens faster and you have to pay
> more often,
> but the costs are lower. I also think there's a factor I refer to as the
> "agency"
> factor. that is, the manufacturers feel that most of the time, this
> technology is
> purchased by voke rehab or some other agency. Therefore, the price is
> not as big
> a factor as it otherwise might be since the agency is likely to go ahead
> and pay
> it without too much protest. I'm not saying voke rehab doesn't protest,
> but I am
> saying that the manufacturers feel that eventually they will probably
> just go ahead
> and pay so they can set the prices how they like.
> I'm not sure how much of each factor plays into it; I'd have to collect
> market data
> to figure that out and I'm a computer Scientist, not an economist.
> However, these
> are the factors which I believe cause and sustain the problem.
> Joe
>
> _______________________________________________
> nabs-l mailing list
> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> nabs-l:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/crazy4clarinet104%40gmail.com
>


-- 
Kaiti