[nfb-db] Communication Options and Technology

[Haben Girma]

John, wow. I was actually in St. Paul for four days to check out 
Macalester College. I hadn't noticed the skyways. They sound fantastic, 
it's great that you can go to so many places without crossing a street! 
I understand now why a SBC works great for you. You mentioned that some 
of them do have good keyboards, so I'll have to check them out again.

I hadn't even considered a USB cable possible, but it occurred to me 
that both the keyboard and the braille display have mini USB ports, so 
perhaps a USB cable might work. I'll find out.

Haben

John Lee Clark wrote:
> Haben:
>
> I understand your dilemma.  
>
> I've known different SBCs to have different qualities in the Qwerty keyboard
> part.  Mine happens to be good.  So if you get it and find that they
> keyboard isn't good, you should send it back and get another one.  
>
> I haven't noticed the keyboard being an obstacle, except when the other
> person cannot type or write in English.  
>
> Yes, most of the conversations I have on the SBC are brief.  That's the way
> I like it.  I don't want long conversations with anyone using any kind of
> device.  I prefer ASL for in-person conversations.  
>
> But often I'd be approached by strangers wanting to talk with me.  They'd
> seen me using it with the waiter, for example, and they'd come over, tap me
> on the shoulder, and gesture typing to indicate they want to talk with me
> via the SBC.  The other day, at Trattoria da Vinci, a man sat next to me and
> made the typing gesture.  I was annoyed because I was trying to eat and also
> was enjoying my Braille magazine on my lap.  He typed to say "You're hot."
> In my mind, I rolled my eyes.  Not again.  But I typed back "Thank you but
> I'm not gay."  This has happened quite a number of times, with both women
> and men.  One woman who did this was even the owner of the restaurant, and
> her hands were all over me and she was typing stuff that made me blush, but
> I told her to back off, and I've never went to her place again since.
>
> I guess it depends on your needs.  If you do want to meet new people, the
> SBC wouldn't be an obstacle, though it may be a bit slow, but at least you
> can read what they're typing at the same time, live, or you can use the
> buffer mode.  If you want longer, more social conversations, then maybe
> you'll need a better system.  I dunno.  But me, I don't want to meet new
> people who don't sign.  I have a full social life in the signing community
> and make new signing friends all the time, so when I go out I just want
> practical conversations to get things done or get what I want, nothing more.
> Maybe if I was single, I'd welcome others hitting on me . . .  Smile.
>
> Haben, your trips are also probably very different from mine.  I live din
> downtown St. Paul, and it has done of the world's three largest, most
> extensive skyway systems.  Minneapolis and Montreal are the other two.
> Skyways are enclosed bridges between buildings, on the second floord, so
> walking through one, you are going above the street under you.  Most of the
> buildings here leave their street and second levels for stores and stuff and
> the third floor on up would be apartments or officesd or the like.  Pretty
> much everything I need are accessible by skyway, meaning I don't need to
> cross a single street.  There are countless restaurants, delis,
> confectionaries, coffee shops . .  And Macy's, several food stores,
> convenience stores, chiropractors, dentists, hairstylists, Radio Shack,
> spaces that have different bazaars going on year round, art galleries,
> bookstores.  Banks, brokerages, relators, job search agencies.  YMCA,
> private fitness clubs, members-only spas and such.  Social Security
> Administration, the Department of Deaf, Hard of hearing, and Deaf Blind
> Services, and the Minnesota Commission Serving the Deaf, Hard of Hearing,
> and DeafBlind are also accessible by skyways.  In my own building, the
> Kellogg Market, a shoe repair place, a CPA firm, the Prada Café, Quiznos,
> and Senor Wong restaurant.  I just elevator down to the second floor, and
> I'm on the skyway level and can walk to any one of many locations without
> crossing a single street.  Yesterday, I took the boys to the Science Museum.
> Today, we'll go to the library.  Tomorrow, we're meeting up with friends at
> the Children's Museum.  All accessible by skyway.  
>
> So you understand, I have access to a great many things without even using
> the good bus system here.  I do use it, and it's easy to use, but my point
> is that I don't need it much.  I don't need to pack a lot of errands into
> one trip, and I don't wait much, because I can just get to where I want to
> and get right back home.  So I guess in this context, carrying nothing is
> often the way to go, or I'd just need the SBC.  I won't have the time to
> read books on the Wave or anything like that.
>
> Hey, I wonder if it'd work to use a USB cord and an adapter so that you can
> detach the Qwerty keyboard from your Braille display and they're still
> connected, so that you can turn the keyboard around to face the other
> person.  And you'd be able to navigate around the text the other person is
> typing by using the Wiz wheels.  Do you know if this will work?  I threw out
> my old Pac Mate some years ago, so I can't test that.
>
> John 
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfb-db-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-db-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Haben Girma
> Sent: Friday, May 15, 2009 11:17 AM
> To: NFB Deaf-Blind Division Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [nfb-db] Communication Options and Technology
>
>
> John, you've really drawn out the virtues of the SBC. It does really 
> seem like the best item out there so far.
>
> My dilemma is that I already have a PAC Mate and don't think I have the 
> shoulder strength to carry around both my PAC Mate and an SBC. I like to 
> take my PAC Mate everywhere so that I can read books while riding buses, 
> subways, planes, and when I'm waiting for a friend to arrive somewhere. 
> The PAC Mate's keyboard is comfortable to use and I could just instruct 
> people to type on it. Unlike the SBC, though, I wouldn't be able to read 
> what they were typing until after they finished, thereby prolonging the 
> interaction, which might not be desirable in certain settings (i.e. a 
> long line). I also feel like the SBC's small keyboard discourages 
> people, to a small extent, from communicating with the DB person. I've 
> heard that the keyboard is uncomfortable to use, making it a sort of 
> obstacle people desiring to communicate with a DB person would have to 
> overcome. You mention that you primarily use it for brief and quick 
> encounters.
>
> It would be great if Freedom Scientific would create a device like the 
> PAC Mate where the braille keyboard could be optionally maneuvered from 
> in front of the keyboard to behind the keyboard. The brailel display on 
> the PAC Mate is detachable, so another option would be to have the 
> braille display communicate with the main part of the PAC Mate 
> wirelessly, or through a reasonably lengthed cord.
>
> So, I'm wondering whether most people in the public would rather 
> communicate with me on my PAC Mate or on a cell phone connected to my 
> PAC Mate. Typing on the cell phone has the disadvantage that such 
> conversations could only be slow. There's also the risk you mention of 
> someone wanting to steal the cell phone. My PAC Mate, on the other hand, 
> has a nice keyboard that would be easy to type on. The question is: 
> Would people feel comfortable not seeing what they were typing (the PAC 
> Mate doesn't have a visual screen), and would it really be faster with 
> the PAC Mate when I wouldn't be able to read what they typed until after 
> they finished and passed the machine back to me?
>
> Haben
>
>
> John Lee Clark wrote:
>   
>> Haben:
>>
>> There are three other options I know of.  
>>
>> One is to use a cell phone and a Braille display that connects wirelessly
>>     
> to
>   
>> it via Bluetooth.  You hand the other person the cell phone, which you've
>> already set to the notes program.  I've done this before with my Nokia
>>     
> cell
>   
>> phone and my Braille Wave.  There are two disadvantages to this, however:
>> One, the cell phone may be a desirable, famililar item the other person
>> would be tempted to steal from you; and two, it requires some time to set
>> things up--turning on both devices, waiting for the cell phone to boot up,
>> then setting up the notes program . . .  Whereas with the Screen Braille
>> Communicator, you can just turn it on and it's ready to go right away.
>>
>> Another option is the Tabli, which you can connect to a HandyTech device
>> such as the Braille Wave.  The Tabli has a Qwerty board that connects to
>>     
> the
>   
>> Braille Wave through one cord, and a screen, which is separate, connecting
>> to it through another cord.  The screen will show in text whatever is
>>     
> going
>   
>> on in Braille.  Turning on the Wave, you go to File, then New File.  Then
>> whatever you type on the Wave will show.  Whatever the other person types
>>     
> on
>   
>> the Qwerty board will show up both on the screen and on your Braille
>> display.  However, you have four separate things to assemble here: Wave,
>> Qwerty board, a cord, and the screen.  Worse still, the screen has two
>> triangles on its back that makes sit stand up on an angle.  This makes
>> packing it hard, with these two large triangles pointing, and they cannot
>>     
> be
>   
>> removed.  This requires a surface, on which everything can rest.  The
>>     
> Screen
>   
>> Braille Communicator has a huge advantage over this because it's just one
>> piece--I know it has different parts, but still it's functionally one
>> piece--and you don't need a surface, and you can use it while standing on
>> the middle of a sidewalk, asking someone for directions or whatever.
>>
>> Finally, there is the DeafBlind Communicator.  This option is almost like
>> the first one I listed, with the cell phone replaced by a small pager-like
>> device with a keyboard and a screen.  Since this item is not a cell phone
>> and is not a familiar commercial object, I don't think it'd be a target
>>     
> for
>   
>> theft.  And I believe it turns on right away, leaving only your setting
>> things up on the mPower display.  However, the DBC is far more expensive
>> than the SBC.
>>
>> What I use depends on the situation.  I use the SBC most often for
>> communicating with waiters, cashiers, salespersons, et al.  Most of the
>> conversations are brief, often only one turn, in which I order something
>>     
> or
>   
>> ask for something, and that's all that's needed.  For others, the SBC is
>> mainly an opportunity to communicate with me if they want to or need
>> to--such as letting me know that they're out of something or to let me
>>     
> know
>   
>> what time tomorrow the barber has an opening.  So the Qwerty keyboard
>> doesn't get much use.  It's nice that I can just turn it on, anywhere, and
>> it doesn't require a table or anything.  It's easy to pack or just carry
>> alone.
>>
>> On more extended trips on which I want the Wave with me anyway, for
>>     
> reading
>   
>> and texting with my wife or others, I don't need the SBC.  But the main
>> reason I am bringing the Wave and the cell phone is not to communicate
>>     
> with
>   
>> people, though that is a bonus.  
>>
>> Traveling out of the state, I usually bring both Wave/cell and SBC.  
>>
>> I often go out with nothing but my cane.  I can just ask for a pen and
>>     
> paper
>   
>> and write.  That works most of the time.  If the other person needs to
>>     
> tell
>   
>> me something or ask something, it's easy to do print on palm.  The
>>     
> alphabet
>   
>> glove is also extremely reliable.  
>>
>> Around here, I am well known, and often Ii just walk in the place and
>> everything will be ready for me without my writing anything at all.  At
>>     
> some
>   
>> places, it's a simple gesture that will do.  For example, at D. Bryan's, I
>> always get either a cheeseburger or a chicken cranberry almond wrap.  I
>>     
> sign
>   
>> hamburger for the one and sign chicken for the other.  Most places here
>>     
> have
>   
>> Braille menus, and sosme of them have print alongside the Braille, so you
>> just point to the item and the waiter can see what it is.  At several
>> restaurants and stores here, people can sign or at least fingerspell.
>>
>> Yes, I wish there was a better version of the SBC--one piece, just switch
>>     
> on
>   
>> and go.  It's nice that some companies are adding stuff to their existing
>> displays, but I really want a device like the SBC with just one purpose.
>> But for now, the SBC is better than a lot of stuff for many kinds of
>> situations.
>>
>> John
>>
>>
>>  
>>
>> Internal Virus Database is out-of-date.
>> Checked by AVG. 
>> Version: 7.5.557 / Virus Database: 270.12.11/2089 - Release Date:
>>     
> 4/30/2009
>   
>> 5:53 PM
>>  
>>
>>
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>>     
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> Internal Virus Database is out-of-date.
> Checked by AVG. 
> Version: 7.5.557 / Virus Database: 270.12.11/2089 - Release Date: 4/30/2009
> 5:53 PM
>  
>
> Internal Virus Database is out-of-date.
> Checked by AVG. 
> Version: 7.5.557 / Virus Database: 270.12.11/2089 - Release Date: 4/30/2009
> 5:53 PM
>  
>
>
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