This is a rant. It comes from a place of frustration obviously, so take it in that context.
Okay, so I bought the BT Speak, on an installment plan of course cause I ain't fucking rich, and I have no clue what to use it for. So first of all, I probably have adult ADHD even though my doctor, who is supposed to know things, says adult ADHD isn't a thing. And we're supposed to trust our healthcare provider, and they know everything right? /s So maybe it was an impulse buy, just a little, although I really was curious about it.
It's a Raspberry Pi 5 compute module with a battery pack and Braille input, tiny stereo speakers, a microphone, a USB C port, Mini-HDMI or some esoteric bullshit, and Micro-SD card slot. It comes with 32-GB internal storage, with like 5 GB in your /home partition cause why the fuck not, and no headphone jack. Cause WTFN.
So honestly, there's no magic here. Hell, there's barely any of the sort of "Assistive Tech Assurances and niceities" that other products have. And I know, it's a year old, but I mean couldn't they have put a beta tag on it? Cause that's what it feels like. Like it honestly feels like they just released it and *then* worked on it.
So it's got an editor, where everything is supposed to happen for some reason, and how is it used? Not through BRLTTY cause screen readers are so last decade. No, it's self-voicing cause Linux sucks so badly that that's what they have to do to have a solid experience where things happen consistently.
Except oh hey I went into the options menu and no speech. Granted, a reboot fixed that, but it leaves me unsure if I can trust it. Oh and the battery. So it died once, and I plugged it in and turned it on. Battery was immediately around 10%. I leave it there for a good 10 minutes, and it's at about 38%. I find that hard to believe, so I take it off, and it's at 15%. So, meh.
Also you primarily type in computer Braille. Oh you can type in Grade 2 Braille in the editor, but everywhere else? Desktop-mode, all computer Braille. Cause BRLTTY just can't make shit work cause its that one person scratching his own itch, lol, not a team of people with different requirements. And for those who don't know Braille, computer Braille feels like drawing each word out on the screen with a pencil. So writing an email, or a document in LibreOffice? It'd take a while. No other Braille device has this issue. None. Android? Nope, I can type in Grade 2 Braille all day long on it.
Also, maybe there's a command I'm missing. Maybe there's a part of the manual I've not read. Spoiler, I read the whole thing. But when they say the editor is the heart of the BT Speak, they ain't lying. It's literally the program you live in. Oh sure, you can take a detour to the file manager or contact manager or YouTube search, but there's no switching between those programs. Why? Cause you can't open the options menu from within them. Oh no. You go back to the editor, which may not even be the thing you're using on that occasion. But you go back to it and *then* go to whatever else. Cause Linux isn't a multitasking OS /s. Oh and it doesn't have a book reader. And if you open an EPUB, it turns it into a TXT file cause, again, why not. No heading navigation, nothing. And if you convert it to Markdown, lol Pandoc adds the stupid heading links which link back to the table of contents or whatever. And you have to hear that. Cause, again, why not.
Oh and desktop mode is sluggish. It feels like you're using Linux in a virtual machine cause why the fuck not? I mean it's not like the Raspberry Pi 5 has 8 GB of RAM right? Like what the actual fucking fuck! And it ain't even the BT Speak folks' fault either, Linux #a11y fucking bullshit is just that inefficient on anything but a powerful Intel or AMD machine. Cause, again, why the fuck not. So I *could* do email, Internet, LibreOffice, all that nice shit on the thing, but I don't because it's a drag and there ain't shit anyone can do about it cause not enough resources /s.
Lol people on the list are all like "Why do you want a traditional mode program when this desktop mode one can do it and more?" and I don't blame the people that want traditional mode to be used to its limits, desktop mode is just that laggy and so soul-suckingly disappointing to use.
Like I *know* it's not just me. I'm fucking done thinking it's just me that notices shit. Cause I beat myself up enough already for practically being an alien compared to all these normal people, I'm fucking done feeling like my feelings are overblown, or I'm being too much, nah fuck that bullshit. And I shouldn't have to fucking learn to code to do free labor for a company I paid $1000 to. Fuck that shit too. So, I'm probably not the right person for that thing. And that's fine. I'll leave it to the actually smart blind people that can make an OS in their fucking sleep. Fuck this bullshit.
Oh also, Bookshare now wants their money too. And rent. Cause, again, why the fuck not?
