Registered: Dec 2000
Location: Silicon Valley, California
Posts: 173

Re: Re: To EricG

quote:

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Originally posted by Gameboy70
Any policy that starts with the presumption of guilt is anti-consumer. As a humanist, I would add that it's antisocial. There are spiritual implications, which unfortunately never get discussed in IP debates, for a society founded on mistrust.

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I am not a humanist but a Christian. The spiritual implication is this: Free will means men have the freedom to do wrong (or illegal) or the freedom to do right (or legal). Since everyone has this choice, it only makes sense for people to protect themselves against those who choose to do wrong (or illegal).

Individuals can choose to learn from past dealing with those who choose to do wrong (or illegal) or not...

Just my 2 cents...

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: NJ
Posts: 517

Card Access-

Like someone else suggested: What about putting a memory slot in the module? This would be the perfect "add your own memory" MP3 player if it worked well.

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Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Champaign, IL
Posts: 200

Re: talking print module for visor

quote:

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Originally posted by gcowan
Thank you!!! The Audible Advisor claims to be able to read the newspaper and, presumably, other print entities. It will be available this May according to the Web Site.

Thanks again, George

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Registered: Jan 2001
Location:
Posts: 11

Re: Re: To EricG

quote:

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Originally posted by Gameboy70

Any policy that starts with the presumption of guilt is anti-consumer. As a humanist, I would add that it's antisocial. There are spiritual implications, which unfortunately never get discussed in IP debates, for a society founded on mistrust.

But if content providers want to restrict control of what they call intellectual property, that's fine -- as long as it doesn't interfere with the use of my physical property: i.e. the media I paid for. If violating my property rights is the way content providers avoid getting a day job, it just means they have one less customer. I can stomach proprietary software for the most part, since most handheld software is proprietary. But I draw the line a so-called "digital rights management" aimed at recordable media.

Just another thought.

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Truth matters

Registered: Mar 2001
Location:
Posts: 7

Text Reader or Reader Player?

Dear Dalamar 70:
I got the material off of their web site, no where else. Obviously, thought it said what I said or I wouldn't have said it. However, on re-reading, there is room for an alternative interpretation as you have suggested. If so, perhaps the manufacturer could be queried on this. How would/could we go about this? Or, are you absolutely certain that my impression is mistaken? This would/could be a "killer" product if it could read text directly from "printed" source while driving, etc.
Thanks, George

Registered: Dec 2000
Location: Silicon Valley, California
Posts: 173

There is software which will (on a PC) allow text to be "read" aloud.

I would guess that it could be saved and converted into some format which is compatible with something (like MP3 or wav)

Now the files might be large, but you might be able to "read" the WSJ into MP3 then play it.

Does this sound do-able? Likely? Worthwhile?

Registered: Mar 2001
Location:
Posts: 7

Dear PurpleMD:
Thanks for your kind suggestion.

Going to trouble of multiple conversions is neither efficient nor useful. If it can't be simple like hot synching with, say, Avantgo and then listen to text, it is of no value to me.

When Apple first started, they had a text to voice reader, with only a few kilobytes which read reasonably well. Can't understand why this apparently simple technology cannot be translated here without all the problem(s)--the commercial value of such a product seems obvious.

Thanks again. George MD

Registered: Jan 2000
Location:
Posts: 19

Audible

I use audible all the time with an MP3 Player and a Pocket PC. It is not synthisized speach - it is really just an audiobook converted to a highly compressed MP3 type format that can only be heard through Audible software. The book collection available is quite extenisive and the latest introduction of higher quality output (at the cost of higher file size) has been a wonderful improvement. You can try samples through your desktop on their site : www.audible.com

The book industry, unlike the music industry, has been very open to experimenting with new media formats. Audible and Peanut Press should be applauded for their efforts to give us access to books in these exciting new forms.

Registered: Jul 2000
Location:
Posts: 3034

quote:

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Originally posted by EricG
As a very good friend of mine says:

"Locks are for honest people..."

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Registered: Jan 2001
Location:
Posts: 11

There's nothin' wrong with protectin' yourself so long as you don't intentionally try and hurt others.

The whole problem with all of this is 'intent'. That is where responsibility lies.

i know that i rip off artists by downloading MP3s for free but also am not afraid to admit it or that i have a lock because my intent is to protect the family (and myself). A lock is a cheap way to protect yourself and others and so is the Digital Rights Movement. I try to pick that lock by downloading MP3s and though i know it's illegal i do it and am willing to take the consequences. In a way I'm a hipocrit just like all of you since we all twist our values to suit our needs.

Just try not to hurt anyone else and you're ahead of the game. If you do it, then apologize sincerely and move on. I guess since i don't see the artist it's ok to rip them off but if i knew them personally i probably wouldn't do it.

Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Alive and well on VisorCentral.com
Posts: 861

quote:

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Originally posted by Toby


Ya know, I've never understood the "logic" of that sentiment. Locks are not for honest people. Locks are for lazy, dishonest people. Motivated and dishonest people will attempt to find a way to get around locks. Lazy and dishonest people will give up if there's a lock there. Honest people wouldn't make the attempt in the first place.

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Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Alive and well on VisorCentral.com
Posts: 861

quote:

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Originally posted by visor mania
There's nothin' wrong with protectin' yourself so long as you don't intentionally try and hurt others.

The whole problem with all of this is 'intent'. That is where responsibility lies.

i know that i rip off artists by downloading MP3s for free but also am not afraid to admit it or that i have a lock because my intent is to protect the family (and myself). A lock is a cheap way to protect yourself and others and so is the Digital Rights Movement. I try to pick that lock by downloading MP3s and though i know it's illegal i do it and am willing to take the consequences. In a way I'm a hipocrit just like all of you since we all twist our values to suit our needs.

Just try not to hurt anyone else and you're ahead of the game. If you do it, then apologize sincerely and move on. I guess since i don't see the artist it's ok to rip them off but if i knew them personally i probably wouldn't do it.

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Last edited by EricG on 03-26-2001 at 05:32 PM

Registered: Jul 2000
Location:
Posts: 3034

quote:

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Originally posted by EricG
Unless it's by accident (i.e. trying to open an unmarked locked door - {in reference to honest people})

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Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1683

Hmm. Where is this topic going?

I think a few of you are confusing intelluctual property rights and copy protection methods.

They work well in moderation, just as the locks on a store do. When the store is open, they do not hinder the consumer's experience in any way.

Copy protection, taken to the extreme, however, is an unfair burden on the user. For instance, Macromedia has a really nasty habit now of making you enter the serial number of the old product that you are upgrading to. So, when I upgrade my copy of Flash, I now need to go and dig for the old serial number. I can sorta live with that, but...oops...macromedia forgot to support SOME flash serial numbers. So, after the 5th try, I figure this out. Go to their web site, search for 10 mintues, find some information and then I need call them. I call them. They point me at a web site form to fill out. The form doesn't work. I call back, get transferred to a different department. They acknowlege the problems and then give me a fake serial number that I can use.

So, they've tried to prevent someone from stealing the software, and, in turn, passed the burden onto me. I wasted about an hour and a half TRYING TO INSTALL SOFTWARE I PAID FOR.

Ugh.

And, going back to the locks are for honest people, quote, this copy protection does NOTHING to prevent people from copying their software. Go on Hotline or Gnutella and in a matter of minutes you can download your own, cracked copy of the software.

So, I think the point that several people were making is that copy-protection methods are a burden on the honest consumer and are meaningless to the dishonest consumer. People steal. It happens. Live with it. Don't punish the honest people because of some dishonest people. I always like how the software industry claims that they lost x billion dollars last year because of piracy. No they didn't. The people that pirated their software would never pay for ANY of their software in the first place. Meanwhile, I'm sitting here having to schedule an hour of my time to install a program.

Which really has nothing to do with the topic at hand, but I just thought I'd throw my cents in...

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Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Alive and well on VisorCentral.com
Posts: 861

Well put Homer..!

Toby - at the end of the day, I essentially agree with you...

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location:
Posts: 3034

quote:

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Originally posted by homer
Hmm. Where is this topic going?

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Like pretty much everything else on the internet...it's going off the deep end.

quote:

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So, I think the point that several people were making is that copy-protection methods are a burden on the honest consumer and are meaningless to the dishonest consumer. People steal. It happens. Live with it. Don't punish the honest people because of some dishonest people.

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Do you lock your doors? Why? They're a burden on the honest people that come to visit you and are meaningless to the dishonest people that would like to rob you. ;>

quote:

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I always like how the software industry claims that they lost x billion dollars last year because of piracy. No they didn't. The people that pirated their software would never pay for ANY of their software in the first place. Meanwhile, I'm sitting here having to schedule an hour of my time to install a program.

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This is simply not true. There are businesses all over the place which use software without paying for it that only do so only because they can get away with it (for a time anyway). If there weren't, the SPA wouldn't have such a successful time with disgruntled employees turning in their deadbeat employers. I work for a fairly small company (only a couple hundred computers), and when I recently ran a licensing audit, various software companies wound up getting close to $100,000 for us to be legal. Extrapolate that even nation-wide, and a few billion might be easy to reach.

Registered: Sep 2000
Location:
Posts: 33

Wow, this thread has grown a few sets of legs...

As for a few questions that have managed to creep in between the lines:

1. What about adding a memory slot and making it a MP3 player...?

This is something we have considered, but currently the goal for *this* product is to keep it from feature-creep (something engineers like us tend to do) and get a device targeted to the Audible.com consumer to market. Also, to this end, the device will be targeted to monaural output, which isn't really suited to MP3 listening enjoyment.

2. What formats will it support?

Initially, the device will target support for Audible.com formats (Acelp-net, specifically). Since it contains a programmable DSP, however, we have the option to add support for others as the need arises.

3. What about synthesizing speech...?

The AudibleAdvisor is technically capable of this, but this is really not an engineering question... I'll turn the question around to you consumers: The basic speech synthesis algorithm which has floated around since the likes of the Commodore 64 still sounds the same today. There are better algorithms, but they require a lot of memory and special heuristics and most importantly, lots of licensing $$$. You've probably heard the 'basic' algorithm when you had your first Bound Blaster, etc (sbtalk, I think). So, the question is, if you had a book/e-mail read to you with such a synthesizer, would you use it or find it a novelty in the end?

Card Access

Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Alive and well on VisorCentral.com
Posts: 861

quote:

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Originally posted by Card Access

3. What about synthesizing speech...?

The AudibleAdvisor is technically capable of this, but this is really not an engineering question... I'll turn the question around to you consumers: The basic speech synthesis algorithm which has floated around since the likes of the Commodore 64 still sounds the same today. There are better algorithms, but they require a lot of memory and special heuristics and most importantly, lots of licensing $$$. You've probably heard the 'basic' algorithm when you had your first Bound Blaster, etc (sbtalk, I think). So, the question is, if you had a book/e-mail read to you with such a synthesizer, would you use it or find it a novelty in the end?

Card Access

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location:
Posts: 3034

quote:

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Originally posted by Card Access
{...} 3. What about synthesizing speech...?

The AudibleAdvisor is technically capable of this, but this is really not an engineering question... I'll turn the question around to you consumers: The basic speech synthesis algorithm which has floated around since the likes of the Commodore 64 still sounds the same today. There are better algorithms, but they require a lot of memory and special heuristics and most importantly, lots of licensing $$$. You've probably heard the 'basic' algorithm when you had your first Bound Blaster, etc (sbtalk, I think). So, the question is, if you had a book/e-mail read to you with such a synthesizer, would you use it or find it a novelty in the end?

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No thanks. I've no use for the guys from the "All Your Base" cartoons reading my email to me.

Registered: Sep 2000
Location:
Posts: 107

quote:

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Originally posted by Card Access
3. What about synthesizing speech...?

The AudibleAdvisor is technically capable of this, but this is really not an engineering question... I'll turn the question around to you consumers: The basic speech synthesis algorithm which has floated around since the likes of the Commodore 64 still sounds the same today. There are better algorithms, but they require a lot of memory and special heuristics and most importantly, lots of licensing $$$. You've probably heard the 'basic' algorithm when you had your first Bound Blaster, etc (sbtalk, I think). So, the question is, if you had a book/e-mail read to you with such a synthesizer, would you use it or find it a novelty in the end?

Card Access

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