[access-uk] Re: Talking books: two questions and a reader's thoughts
- From: "James O'Dell" <jamesodell@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 24 Dec 2005 14:20:48 +0100
Hi Darren and Ray
Even without the new firmware you should be able to rewind and fast-forward
by pressing and holding the navigation keys immediately to the right/left of
the play/stop key. Admittedly this movement is rather slow - something else
that was fixed in the new firmware. I have the new firmware on my machine,
but a word of warning: RNIB have requested us not to download it, and have
said that we will have to pay for any repairs/replacements that are
necessary as a result of such "unauthorised modifications" to the player.
Regarding the Stephen Fry Harry Potter books, it's certainly great to be
able to buy them for such reasonable prices. Unfortunately the
"remastering" on the first two books is far from great, and although I'm not
a sound editing expert I think they have over-used Noise Reduction, leaving
a sort of squelchy reverberating sound in the background. I would rather
put up with a bit of tape hiss than that, and why couldn't they have asked
for a CD/digital copy from the publishers to convert to Daisy anyway? I
haven't had similar problems with the other books.
Regarding Ray's point about the books falling into the hands of
non-print-disabled people with portable mp3 players:
1. As far as I am aware the daisy structure allows files to be presented in
any order on the disk, since the playback is controlled by the html and smil
files. This means that books can be structured in such a way that, if
played on a portable device without the ability to interpret the daisy
structure correctly, the files will play in the wrong order. This is not to
say that such methods have been used, but they would be one way of helping
to protect copyright.
2. I think we as blind people have to remember that, although *we* are
aware of the range of services that are provided by the likes of RNIB, your
average person in the street probably has no interest/idea.
3. I think Copy Protection would require the existing VRCs to be replaced,
as they don't support it. And considering all the complaining that went
with the digital switchover...
4. It wouldn't surprise me to see many audio books, especially those
published on CD like the HP books, on illegal file sharing networks. This
would provide a far easier and more convenient access route for those
wishing to pirate/steal the material.
Merry Christmas
James
----- Original Message -----
From: "Darran Ross" <darran.ross@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, December 24, 2005 2:18 PM
Subject: [access-uk] Re: Talking books: two questions and a reader's
thoughts
Ray, the answer to your first question is yes, an upgrade is out there
that
will help alleviate this problem.
I understand from the Talking Book e-mail list that the disk to update the
original Victors will not be sent out until the Spring of 2006 - even
though
as I write its been available on the Visuade website for about six months
so
far! Yes, more snappy work from the RNIB. Anyway, the upgrade will allow
you
to skip back or forward in minute intervals.
I'm dragging this up from the depths of my memory, but I'm sure others
will
correct me if I've got this completely wrong!
Darran
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