[nfbmi-talk] FW: creative writing Kindle book reader for the blind

[David Andrews]

It isn't the publishers -- but the authors.  They consider TTS to be 
a separate performance of the book, one to which they want control and money.

Dave

I understand their desire to protect their copyright interests but 
TTS is very different from human-read books, or reading from a page 
or screen.  That could change some day -- which may be why they are 
taking a hard line.

Dave

At 08:26 PM 7/29/2010, you wrote:
>I really don't understand why publishers have to be so animent about this.
>Do they really think that a sighted person is going to enjoy listening to a
>synthesizer voice, since they seem to think that adding text to speech to
>these books is considered copyright infringement? Give me a break
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: nfbmi-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbmi-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
>On Behalf Of David Andrews
>Sent: Thursday, July 29, 2010 9:19 PM
>To: NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List
>Subject: Re: [nfbmi-talk] FW: creative writing Kindle book reader for the
>blind
>
>The answer to your questions is "probably."  Amazon has said they
>added speech to menus etc., so you can read etc.  It doesn't
>specifically say you can independently browse, choose, and order
>books.  Presumably you can, but until some blind guys try this thing
>out I would be guardedly optimistic.  They also have said that you
>need sighted assistance to turn on speech, and you can't
>independently turn it on in books where it is off.  Also, Amazon
>disables text to speech in some books, if the authors ask them to do
>so.  There was a Tweet on twitter today that said that TTS was
>disabled on about 50 percent of the books.
>
>So this may be a solution that isn't quite ready for prime time.
>
>Dave
>
>At 05:20 PM 7/29/2010, you wrote
> >Does this mean that we will be able to purchase ebooks through amazon and
> >then we would be able to use the kindal? Woot woot and that is a great
>price
> >this makes me very happy because I will no longer have to wait for books to
> >be uploaded on to bookshare or the NLS website. If this means that I will
>be
> >able to download and purchase any book I want even on the day of it
>release,
> >I'm most excited, and say its about time.
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: nfbmi-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbmi-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
> >On Behalf Of Fred Wurtzel
> >Sent: Thursday, July 29, 2010 5:21 PM
> >To: 'NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List'
> >Subject: [nfbmi-talk] FW: creative writing Kindle book reader for the blind
> >
> >
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: explorations-in-creative-writing at googlegroups.com
> >[mailto:explorations-in-creative-writing at googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of
>Phil
> >Vlasak
> >Sent: Thursday, July 29, 2010 1:32 PM
> >To: explorations-in-creative-writing at googlegroups.com
> >Subject: creative writing Kindle book reader for the blind
> >
> >Hi Folks,
> >The new Kindle will be more blind friendly than the current version.
> >Kindle Wireless Reading Device,
> >Price: $139.00
> >Our all-new Kindle will be released on August 27th 2010.
> >Read-to-Me
> >With the Text-to-Speech feature, Kindle can read English newspapers,
> >magazines, blogs, and books out loud to you, unless the book's rights
>holder
> >
> >made the feature unavailable.
> >You can switch back and forth between reading and listening, and your spot
> >is automatically saved. Pages automatically turn while the content is being
> >read, so you can listen hands-free. You can choose from both male and
>female
> >
> >voices which can be sped up or slowed down to suit your preference. In the
> >middle of a great book or article but have to jump in the car? Simply turn
> >on Text-to-Speech and listen on the go.
> >
> >Voice Guide
> >With Text-to-Speech, Kindle can read out loud to you. New Text-to-Speech
> >enabled menus allow customers to navigate Kindle without having to read
>menu
> >
> >options. In addition to listening to books aloud, users now have the option
> >of listening to content listings on the home screen, item descriptions, and
> >all menu options.
> >Other features:
> >Wi-Fi, 6 inch Display,
> >Eight adjustable text sizes for comfortable reading
> >Battery Life of Up to One Month with wireless off,
> >Double the Storage - Up to 3,500 Books,
> >Storage approximately 3GB available for user content,
> >
> >Massive Selection,
> >Over 630,000 books,
> >including 109 of 111 New York Times Best Sellers,
> >plus audiobooks, periodicals and blogs.
> >Over 510,000 books are $9.99 or less, including 80 current New York Times
> >Best Sellers.
> >
> >Free, Out-of-Copyright Books
> >Over 1.8 million free, out-of-copyright, pre-1923 books are available such
> >as Pride and Prejudice.
> >
> >Listen to Music & Podcasts
> >Transfer MP3 files to Kindle to play as background music while you read.
>You
> >
> >can quickly and easily transfer MP3 files via USB by connecting Kindle to
> >your computer.
> >
> >Audio 3.5 mm stereo audio jack, rear-mounted stereo speakers.
> >Content Formats Supported
> >Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, Audible (Audible Enhanced (AA, AAX)), MP3,
> >unprotected MOBI, PRC natively; HTML, DOC, JPEG, GIF, PNG,
> >BMP through conversion.
> >

                         David Andrews:  dandrews at visi.com
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