Braille e-books: Why can't you buy a budget e-reader?

[Ekaros]

Originally Posted by Cyberman tM

Outing my ignorance here, but why is it considered to be a problem to create a braile "display" ?

At the most basic level, isn't all you need basically a huge dot matrix printer that doesn't immediately retract the pins? (And, of course, not have sharp points.)

Dotmatrix printers had rather tiny area for the dotmatrix, it was just moved around a lot.

Problem is that such reader would need to be either mechanical or use some other deforming technique. Neither one which scales in cost and size like LCDs or E-inks do.

The real issue is that it's a real niche market. Making device only for blind readers. The non-blind audience for such is probably even smaller... Developing costs money and if you can spread that over large number of devices those costs can be prohibitive.

[faltradl]

Originally Posted by Cyberman tM

Outing my ignorance here, but why is it considered to be a problem to create a braile "display" ?

A lot of precision mechanics is needed. That is expensive. And the number of pieces is very low, so the development costs are a much bigger Part of the price then normally.

At the most basic level, isn't all you need basically a huge dot matrix printer that doesn't immediately retract the pins? (And, of course, not have sharp points.)

You don't know what are you talking off. Look at "Refreshable braille display" in the wikipedia. You will see it isn' like a huge dot matrix printer.

And look at "Braille e-book". There you see how an ebookreader must look like.

[pendragginp]

Yes, a Braille ereader is a good idea, but given the number of older people who have lost or greatly diminished sight I don't understand why Raised Print books or ebooks shouldn't be developed. The older people already know that alphabet.

(The argument in part has always been that Raised Print books would be too bulky, but HELLO! Braille books are HUGE, doncha know.)

A Raised Print ereader with a refreshable display would also be a niche market, but not quite as niche as a Braille ereader, and would certainly be of help both to those blind from birth (they already learn both braille and the regular alphabet) and to our older people who can no longer read even large print. My grandmother has macular degeneration and can't read even the largest print on my ereader, but I bought puffy paint to write on birthday and Christmas cards for her in homemade raised print.

I wish someone would think about this!

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by pendragginp

Yes, a Braille ereader is a good idea, but given the number of older people who have lost or greatly diminished sight I don't understand why Raised Print books or ebooks shouldn't be developed. The older people already know that alphabet.

(The argument in part has always been that Raised Print books would be too bulky, but HELLO! Braille books are HUGE, doncha know.)

A Raised Print ereader with a refreshable display would also be a niche market, but not quite as niche as a Braille ereader, and would certainly be of help both to those blind from birth (they already learn both braille and the regular alphabet) and to our older people who can no longer read even large print. My grandmother has macular degeneration and can't read even the largest print on my ereader, but I bought puffy paint to write on birthday and Christmas cards for her in homemade raised print.

I wish someone would think about this!

One thing to read a birthday card, but it seems too tedious to read pages and pages this way. I am an older person and in danger of going completely blind. Giant Cell Arteritus. I just can't see myself feeling out one letter at a time and I think that is how it is? It would be like listening to an audio book one letter at a time. Does your grandmother actually do this for books?

Helen

[pendragginp]

No, she can't do it for books because there are no Raised Print books anymore.

As far as being tedious and reading one letter at a time, I think it's like learning to read in the first place; at first you have to sound out every letter, but soon you're clipping along and not doing that at all anymore. This is the way it is with braille too; at first you have to learn each letter, but after you're proficient a bit you use Contracted Braille, which is a sort of shorthand. A lot like the way people text - u instead of you, etc.

My grandmother is also quite hard of hearing too, so audio books are not a possibility for her. I just think that a refreshable display using the alphabet one already knows is much easier that trying to learn the entirely new braille alphabet at an advanced age. A person would still have to develop sensitivity in their fingertips, but they would have to do that with braille too.

Shrug.

I think it's worth a thought.

I'm sorry about your sight!

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

. And how is the quality of the TTS. She is used to audio books which vary widely but would have to be as good as a mediocre audio book I think.

Helen

Check it out yourself:
http://www.ivona.com/us/

Different voices for different nationalities/accents.

Ivonna TTS is so good devil Bezos bought'em out so he wouldn't have to pay royalties to Nuance or ATT, the previous TTS champs.

[Cyberman tM]

Originally Posted by Ekaros

Dotmatrix printers had rather tiny area for the dotmatrix, it was just moved around a lot.

I realize that, I was just using it as an example.

Problem is that such reader would need to be either mechanical or use some other deforming technique. Neither one which scales in cost and size like LCDs or E-inks do.

True enough, but for mechanical it should at least be technically rather trivial.
It's going to be expensive either way.

Originally Posted by faltradl

You don't know what are you talking off.

Hence my starting with "Outing my ignorance here", to acknowledge I don't know much about the issue and am merely saying what's coming into my mind.

Look at "Refreshable braille display" in the wikipedia. You will see it isn' like a huge dot matrix printer.

I never claimed it is. I just said it could be.

And look at "Braille e-book". There you see how an ebookreader must look like.

MUST look like? Is there a (technical? legal?) requirement that all braille devices have to conform to a certain design? (Apart from the raised dots, obviously, since that is what makes braille braille.)
I'd think that those in need of a braile reader wouldn't mind even if it weighed 10 KG, if it meant they could read whatever they liked, instead of being forced to accept whatever crumbs of literature are made available to "them".

Anyway, I was just throwing in an idea and wondering aloud why this company was trying to create something completely new (albeit cool and very useful, not just for braille), instead of using last-century mechanics that is already established and well-known.

To re-iterate my thought and perhaps put it in better words: why not make the braille reader mechanical?
Yes, it'll be clunky and loud and probably prone to defects, but I don't see why it would be a technical problem to create such a device.
Instead of trying to invent the next-century tactile display, which though cool, probably costs more in development than production of a mechanical device.

[edit]Also, I don't think audio books or TTS could really replace Braille (or "normal" reading), unless you find a good way to speed it up and make it easier to navigate.