Well, a Windows user might say that they can purchase a computer, far more powerful than your Mac, and for less money, so why waste money on a Mac? Or many people wonder why people bother buying iPhones, when the new Android phones far outclass the iPhone in terms of specs and open operation? Cost isn't always the point, though.
I don't want to sound like I'm down on them making this program. I might buy it. Actually, I wonder why I'm arguing this on a listserv, anyway. I know that many blind tech people are rightly down on some of the over-priced specialized blindness gadgets. But, seriously, this isn't a $5,000 note taker. Most of the book readers aren't much more than $300. That is damn cheap for a device that is optimized to be controlled with buttons and speech feedback, rather than using touch-screen gestures to review and control a visually-optimized interface. You're waiting for NLS support, which they may never provide. Meanwhile, the Stream works with NLS, RFB&D, newsline, practically all other major talking book libraries in the world, DVS movies from places like SamNet, plays Daisy audio books in both MP3 and 3GP audio formats (which this probably won't ever play, so probably no NLS support), plays commercial audio books (including Audible), plays books that you rip from CD yourself as books with all book features (bookmarks, notes, highlighting, etc) still in effect (not just loading MP3s in to a media player), reads Daisy books in text format, reads HTML and plane text with full book navigation and note taking features, plays MP3, OGG, and uncompressed music, and a bunch of other stuff, for 15+ hours at a stretch (no add-on battery pack required), for $300. And it operates so simply that you don't need hardly any sort of instruction to use it, and, without even using this app, I can state with certainty that no iPhone app is ever going to allow me to zip through menus like I can on a dedicated device. I can work it half asleep, which I often do. These little devices are really something for $300. So, just like getting a Mac instead of Windows, or an iPhone instead of a Droid, you're buying it not because it's the rock-bottom option in terms of cost, but because of the optimized user experience, and the fact that it just works. Anyway, all this to make the point that, regardless of software, my prediction is that, with no dedicated hardware for decrypting books, and no hardware support for decoding the audio formats that some of them use, all of that will be running in software, constantly running the CPU at max, sucking down battery power, and you'll be lucky to get 4 hours out of a stock battery before the phone goes from full charge to fully dead. Maybe a battery pack could stretch it to 8. Even so, it will support far less content, and the interface will be far slower to operate. I don't think that translates in to a good book player. I hope that they can prove me wrong. I'd probably be willing to trade off some of the stream's long run-time and sacrifice its great interface, if the iPhone app would actually do more than a digital book player. Right now it does less in every regard. What I'd like to see is this app become a blind version of Netflix, offering content on demand. If you could start this reader app, and browse/stream content from various providers like the talking book libraries, Bookshare, etc, then I'd consider it superior. That would also get rid of the whole overhead of having to make sure your phone and computer are on the same Wi-Fi network (this isn't always possible), and upload books to your phone over FTP. Basically, these guys should stop trying to think about how to port a desktop Daisy book reader to the iPhone, which is what they've done so far, and start thinking of this like a rich client, which is how most all of the other media apps on the iPhone operate. Just imagine how not fun Netflix would be if you had to log on from your PC, find and download a movie, get your phone and PC on the same hotspot, and upload the movie to your phone. There is no way most people would bother with that. They want to have an impulse like "hey, I'd sure like to watch an episode of Family Guy or see what new documentaries are out from the Discovery Channel", bring up the app, type in a search query, and tap play. All of that stuff with using a PC and re-uploading files takes all of the spontaneousness out of finding something entertaining to enjoy while you have some down time, and turns it in to a project. Anyway, here's hoping we get a BlindFlix, or AudioZone, or something for audio what Netflix is for video and the general population. The person that makes that will have my money for sure! Bryan -----Original Message----- From: macvisionaries@googlegroups.com [mailto:macvisionar...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Scott Howell Sent: Saturday, June 26, 2010 5:34 AM To: macvisionaries@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Answering a few questions about Daisy Bookworm for iPhone Personally I would not spend the money on a Victor Stream or any other product, if I can get an app for the iPhone. I still have hope that something may be done to play NLS content for example on the iPhone and it is still a possibility. The point is I could purchase the best possible battery pack and still spend less money then if I purchased one of the accessible book reading devices. Sure you would not one to drain your communications device down since having it always ready to communicate is important, but there are always at least two solutions to every problem. On Jun 26, 2010, at 3:39 AM, Chris Moore wrote: > What reader do you have? Well this may be a good app for the iPod Touch > which still works out cheaper then the Victor Stream. > On 26 Jun 2010, at 07:47, Bryan Smart wrote: > >> Maybe it's how you read books. >> >> I read the most when I'm traveling. A book is a great way to pass the time >> on a plane, in a terminal, or on a bus. I like the entertainment of a book, >> but would not want to risk draining down my phone, which I'd certainly need >> during, and more importantly toward the end, of my trip. Some days I spend 8 >> to 10 hours traveling. Even with a battery pack I seriously doubt that an >> iPhone could read books for that long, and still have enough charge left for >> important calls, GPS, and e-mail. If you only occasionally read books, and >> for short periods of time, the app would probably work out great. I read a >> lot! While traveling, while doing laundry, sometimes when eating, when going >> to sleep, etc. I'd kill an iPhone battery. >> >> Bryan >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: macvisionaries@googlegroups.com >> [mailto:macvisionar...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Ricardo Walker >> Sent: Friday, June 25, 2010 2:59 PM >> To: macvisionaries@googlegroups.com >> Subject: Re: Answering a few questions about Daisy Bookworm for >> iPhone >> >> Hi, >> >> I personally would find that of little concern. It would just be 1 less >> thing to carry and 1 less thing to spend money on. Those things out way a >> 15 hour battery life in my opinion. It's kind of silly to compare. The >> iPhone does more so should have lower battery time. And the IOS 4 update >> has fixed the standby bug so many people are having more than double the >> battery life than they had pre update. >> On Jun 25, 2010, at 2:13 PM, Bryan Smart wrote: >> >>> Well, nice as it is, a Victor stream will play for 15 hours or more on a >>> single charge. How long do you think that your iPhone will play? >>> >>> Bryan >>> >>> -----Original Message----- >>> From: macvisionaries@googlegroups.com >>> [mailto:macvisionar...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Chris Moore >>> Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2010 7:40 AM >>> To: macvisionaries@googlegroups.com >>> Cc: macvoiceover >>> Subject: Re: Answering a few questions about Daisy Bookworm for >>> iPhone >>> >>> Sounds great and at such a low price too (don't think I will be buying a >>> victor stream now). tHIS ftp thing, is there no way you could add support >>> for iDisk for those of us who have it? That might be much easier then >>> establishing a FTP connection. >>> >>> Seems like this year might be the start of many good accessible apps >>> for the iPhone >>> >>> Is there anything on the iPhone that reads MS Word documents via VoiceOver? >>> On 24 Jun 2010, at 09:38, Greg Kearney wrote: >>> >>>> I'll try and answer a few questions that have come up about Daisy >>>> Bookworm for iPhone >>>> >>>> Loading Books >>>> Loading books is done via an FTP connection between your computer and the >>>> iPhone Daisy Bookworm has a built in FTP server which you connect to and >>>> then upload the book's directory to the phone using any FTP client on any >>>> computer. Needless to say you need a wireless network to connect the phone >>>> to. You do not need your own FTP server, Daisy Bookworm has a built in FTP >>>> server. >>>> >>>> Book compatibility >>>> Daisy Bookworm for iPhone will read any audio only and full text full >>>> audio unencrypted DAISY book. This includes books from Association for the >>>> Blind of Western Australia, Vision Australia, RNZFB, CNIB, RNIB, TPB and >>>> most other world talking book libraries. It will not read NLS encrypted >>>> books. We have asked the NLS about how to have these devices authorised >>>> but have yet to receive any reply. We are working on RFB&D playback and >>>> text only DAISY playback (Bookshare) in the next release. >>>> >>>> Accessibility >>>> Daisy Bookworm for iPhone is fully accessible with VoiceOver screen reader. >>>> >>>> iPad >>>> Daisy Bookworm is compatible with the Apple iPad. >>>> >>>> Where do you get Daisy Bookworm >>>> Daisy Bookworm will be available this summer from the iTunes App Store. It >>>> will cost less than $5 when released. >>>> >>>> Is this Voice of Daisy >>>> No. Voice of Daisy or VOD is a different program from a different >>>> developer in Japan. >>>> >>>> Hope this clears things up. >>>> >>>> >>>> Gregory Kearney | Manager Accessible Media Association for the >>>> Blind of WA - Guide Dogs WA PO Box 101, Victoria Park WA 6979 | 61 >>>> Kitchener Ave, Victoria Park WA 6100 >>>> Tel: 08 9311 8246 | Fax: 08 9361 8696 | www.guidedogswa.com.au >>>> Tel: 307-224-4022 (North America) >>>> Email: greg.kear...@guidedogswa.com.au >>>> Email: gkear...@gmail.com >>>> >>>> -- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>>> "MacVisionaries" group. >>>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@googlegroups.com. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>>> macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>> For more options, visit this group at >>>> http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. >>>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>> "MacVisionaries" group. >>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@googlegroups.com. >>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>> macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>> For more options, visit this group at >>> http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>> "MacVisionaries" group. >>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@googlegroups.com. >>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>> macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>> For more options, visit this group at >>> http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. >>> >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "MacVisionaries" group. >> To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@googlegroups.com. >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "MacVisionaries" group. >> To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@googlegroups.com. >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. >> > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "MacVisionaries" group. > To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en.
