When this review was first issued, it impressed me with its thoroughness.
It helped me to understand the players and their differences. I have sat on
a few lists where the players have been discussed and own the victor reader
pro which is enjoyable. I await a device that utillies several media types
such as cards, cds and has good recording capability and an affordable
price.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Lori Bell" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, February 15, 2004 3:14 PM
Subject: Re: Report on current digital talking book players on the market
Hi,
Thank you for the suggestion. Project Hal Final Report
is now available on the web at
http://www.mitbc.org/projecthalfinal.htm
Your point about the difference between the two
reports and those testing them is true. The Project
Hal was an attempt to take a quick look at what was
available and compare the players. After the initial
report is finished with the Plextor added, the
Mid-Illinois Talking Book Center will make these
players available to our readers to test and see what
they think. We were up front in the qualifications of
who was doing the testing (a sighted person who has
written other books and articles on ebook reading
devices). This is no reason to criticize the report,
but it does allow readers to know up front where the
person or persons doing the testing in each report
were coming from.
In evaluating products or services of any kind, for
sighted or visually impaired, each person brings a
different perspective and set of skills to the
evaluation or use. As long as these are not mistated,
I see all the information as useful. Perhaps we
should have other users who are eligible for the
talking book program evaluate the readers also besides
the visually impaired - someone who cannot hold a book
with physical challenges and maybe someone who has a
learning disability.
Lori
--- Kelly Pierce <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Does anyone else wish that this report was available
> in non-proprietary
> technology? When offering something on the web, it
> is best to provide it in
> html format in addition to MS Word.
>
> I also read the Access World article in addition to
> this report. The big
> difference between the two reports is that
> AFB/Access World used blind end
> users of talking and accessible books to review the
> units while the library,
> with thousands of blind patrons, apparently utilized
> no one with a visual
> impairment to review, use, evaluate, or comment upon
> the units. The quality
> and substance of the reports extends from this fact.
>
> Kelly
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Lori Bell" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Monday, February 02, 2004 8:57 PM
> Subject: Report on current digital talking book
> players on the market
>
>
> > TAP Information Services and Mid-Illinois Talking
> Book
> > Center have completed a critical analysis and
> > evaluation of portable audio devices intended
> > primarily for use by the print-impaired to access
> and
> > enjoy digital talking books.
> >
> > Five devices were examined and reviewed: The
> Victor
> > Reader Classic Plus and the Victor Reader Vibe
> from
> > Visuaide, the Scholar from Telex Communications,
> the
> > BookCourier from Springer Design, and the Book
> Port
> > from the American Printing House for the Blind.
> >
> > Among the five devices reviewed at least three
> > lineages are discernable. The Victor Reader Vibe
> and
> > the Telex Scholar are descendants of portable CD
> > players that have been on the consumer market for
> > years. Their hardware and software designs have
> been
> > enhanced to make them more accessible by and
> useful to
> > print-impaired users. The Book Port and
> BookCourier
> > are siblings in the large, raucous family of
> digital
> > playback devices that contain no moving parts and
> use
> > flash memory. The Victor Classic Plus, on the
> other
> > hand, seems to be designedly descended from the
> analog
> > audiocassette playback device used by
> print-impaired
> > users in the U.S. for decades.
> >
> > All five devices were fairly easy to install and
> begin
> > using. Overall, the Book Port seemed to be a
> better
> > device than the BookCourier, and the Victor Vibe
> > seemed to be better than the Telex Scholar.
> Because
> > of the various design lineages, however, it is
> very
> > difficult to select a best device from the three
> > finalists: Victor Classic Plus, Victor Vibe, and
> Book
> > Port.
> >
> > Recommendations include: the need to intermingle
> the
> > three design paradigms, perhaps incorporating more
> PDA
> > functionality as well; the need to standardize the
> > design of the keys a bit; and the need for greater
> > accessibility to more file formats on a single
> device,
> > including proprietary file formats.
> >
> > The complete text of the report is available on
> the
> > MITBC website at
> > http://www.mitbc.org/projecthalfinal.doc.
> >
> > The Mid-Illinois Talking Book Center
> (www.mitbc.org)
> > is a sub-regional library serving the blind and
> > physically challenged in central and northwest
> > Illinois. A talking book center provides library
> > services via toll-free telephone and U.S. mail.
> Books
> > and magazines in Braille and audiocassette formats
> are
> > available to readers enrolled in the program.
> MITBC
> > is part of a statewide network administered by the
> > Illinois State Library, a division of the Office
> of
> > the Illinois Secretary of State. The statewide
> > network is tied to a national network under the
> > administration of the National Library Service for
> the
> > Blind and Physically Handicapped, a division of
> the
> > Library of Congress.
> >
> > TAP Information Services provides a wide variety
> of
> > services supporting libraries, consortia,
> government
> > agencies, museums, publishers, and other
> organizations
> > in the information industry. Services include:
> > support for projects, research reports, strategic
> > planning, workshops, writing and editing,
> conference
> > services, consortial negotiations and agreements,
> and
> > speeches.
> >
> > For more information about this report, please
> contact
> > either Tom Peters at [log in to unmask] or
> Lori
> > Bell at [log in to unmask]
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > __________________________________
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> >
> >
> > VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User
> Group List.
> > To join or leave the list, send a message to
> > [log in to unmask] In the body of
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> > "subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l"
> without the quotations.
> > VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at
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> >
>
>
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VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
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[log in to unmask] In the body of the message, simply type
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VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
To join or leave the list, send a message to
[log in to unmask] In the body of the message, simply type
"subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations.
VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at
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