Category: Let's talk
I thought that we should talk about our notetakers.
What kinds of notetakers we have? how we use them? what kinds of features they have? what we like about them?? what we don't like about them? What we would like to see in future notetakers??
Tell me what you think.
Kolby
I have a pac-mate.
I think that it is essential to have a Braille Display.
I like the fact that the braille display on the pac-mate is detachable.
I use my pac-mate to:
1. read books.
2. Read/write e-mails.
3. Surf the internet.
5. Listen to music.
6. Record my classes for school.
7. Instant message Friends.
8. Talk to my friends on skype.
10. Doing all school related work.
I love having my pac-mate, because it gets the job done for me.
Kolby
I have a BrailleNote with a braille keyboard and 18-cell braille display. It is inordinately useful in that I can word-process, use a planner, read book,s keep an address book, use the calculator, schedule alarms fo appointments, check the time and date, write files and other things for fun, do schoolwork, print and emboss, check E-Mail, surf the net and do many things. I think all notetakers are great! Caitlin
I have a braille n speak2000. I like it because I can store phone numbers and anything else I need to store. It is a nice handy device. I would like to see the braille n speak have an internet browser but I doubt that will happen as I think the updates for them have been discontinued. I have also played with the other notetakers as well and like them. Braille displays rule! Oh and I also have an external disk drive. I like it because I can store stuff on disk and it can go where ever I go.
Troy
Yeah, all notetakers are great for storing things. I love the storageness. And also you can use floppy disk drives with the BrailleNote, although my experience with them has been very negative, I've gone through about four in six months! They break for no apparent reason. So now Ij sut use Flahs Cards, and I've got a reader rigged to my computer so I can transfer files to and from the BrailleNote via Flash Cards. Books, documents, texts and worksheets fo school,k anything.
Caitlin
Um doesn't our friend the Tech Girl run a list for this?
And isn't there another topic on this subject, kinda sorta?
And storageness is the best word ever!~!!!! lol
OK well here I go anyway, so I don't totally rain on the party.
I have a PacMate and a Braille Lite and I MUST have a Braille display or I go nuts, although it would be nice if they scrolled. (nudge nudge to FS) I love the fact that if the wireless network doesn't have stupid security issues I can hook up my PM and have access to the Internet and most of my messengers and things. I can play music while doing my work!! grin Oh and I can have this huge massive library of books on tiny little flash cards, very nice.
I thought the braille lite did scroll? I think if you move the little wheels it will. I could be wrong?
Troy
Yes, there is anotehr notetaker topic, I made it lol. Ah well. And yep I think TechGirl does have a group, either she mentioned it here or om some other topic. And yup storageness is a fun word. And if I didnt' have a brailel display I would die. But I'dl ove to have wireless internet, IMing, E-Mail and surfing any site all wirelessly on a little portable computer, i.e., the Pack Mate. But I love my BN too, so woot woot! Caitlin
I use a laptop as a note taker and a braille note, at least with the laptop I can talk to people in programming on aim rather then listening to the mans insufferible lectures.
Lol I'd love to use AIM wirelessly. I'm practically glued to it! Caitlin
It doesn't seem as though your varied plethora of notetakers has done much for your spelling guys! That's why I agree with the correspondent above who stated that it is essential to have a braille display, especially if you're younger. I don't think that increasing technology, and indeed its increasing portability, should jeopardise the ability of young people to learn to read, write and spell properly. The only way that blind people will compete on the job market is by being able to do those essential things, as well as wordprocess and use the internet. For the record, I have a voicenote which is obviously without a braille display. The data storage capabilities of the voicenote are invaluable to me as they enable me to take vary large trial bundles into hearings and trials, and flick through the relevant documents faster than counsel with sight. All right, at the moment they are mock trials only as I'm still training, but I envisage the same principle being applicable this time next year when I am taking my own cases. The pacmate is all very well, but as Jim Halliday from PulseData says, it endeavours to do too much rather than concentrating on customised applications which are able to interface with mainstream off-the-shelf packages. I've often heard it complained of that the BrailleNote family of products doesn't allow you to put things like MSN messenger on your machine, but who wants messenger on a notetaker anyway? In addition, what PulseData have done in Keysoft 6 i.e. wireless internet connections, is excellent.
Hi all,
In what little bit I have looked at Braille displays, I think/know that they are essential. I for one, am an avid Braille reader, and usually prefer it over anything else. So I am all for the displays.
If I were to get any piece of technology right now, I'd want/get a Packmate 40-cell ideally.
Whiz wheels are very nice, and so are cursor routing keys...
I am of the belief, that reading braille, and using a braille display, could definitely help someone who is blind with spelling. So I agree with lawlord, smile.
Yall take care,
Dixie
The trouble with braille displays is that they are tremendously expensive and I, for one, know that I coculd not afford one, which has a great deal to do with why I did not opt for one. Aparty from that I agree with the post above in that they really dod help blind people to read and spell properly as well as write better english. There is more and more literature generated by, for instance, the mass media, available to blind people now, so there is less and less of an excuse to fall short in core skills such as basic literacy.
I like braille displays because if people are around you, they can't tell what you are doing, plus waring headphones after a while can be annoying.
Troy
This begs the question of why you're so keen to not have people know what you're doing of course. The FBI will be monitoring the zone, and doubtless Tony Blair will soon confidently claim that you and your braille display are just 45 minutes away from launching an attack on Britain.
Lol I probably make so many type-o's, because I don't have a braille display. Just speech. But I can read and write and spell okay. It's just when I get typing really fast, I get messy lol. It's something I really should work on, slowing down and being more careful. Plus, for some reason, my screen reader is sluggish in forms mode for no apparent reason! Lol! So yeah, LL, you have a point. Caitlin
Yes, in my opinion, and I can speak from personal experience here, reading braille is essential to any blind person who wants to improve on their spelling skills. If you can't aford a braille display, why not order some of those free braille books threw your local library? The excuse that you can't spell because of your using grade 2 is also a load of crap since you can begin typing on a regular keyboard, or, if u do have a braille display, why not read some plain text files that will come out in grade 1? Typing things on the traditional PC is also a good way to do this, since you are forced to write out everything. On the topic of notetakers themselves, I think FS made a mistake in coming out with the m20. I think they should have waited and just produced the pak mate. I mean, the some of the technology in the m20 is 1980's technology.
Well, KC, books from national libraries are essential, I would agree with you, to help a blind person discover the pleasures of reading from a very young age. WE should never lose the idea of braille books. I've always thought we were unfortunate in this country, however, in that the copyright laws prevent bookshare.org being used. In fact, I think it's the same the world over, with the exception of the United States. REferring specifically to spelling, I think it's a problem with blind people but not exclusively with blind people. In fact, it's my opinion that the quality of written English is generally very poor thanks to many people in the popular media appearing unable to grasp the fundamentals of good English such as, for instance, the rules relating to accusative pronouns and the rule against ending sentences with prepositions. In addition, why people have to abbreviate their English on MSN is a mystery to me: it doesn't cost you to write long words on MsN, does it? whatever the reason, the worrying fact of the matter is that so-called 'text messaging English' is making its appearance in exam answers now, and it has to be stopped.