Questions More General Than Speakup

[Tait Hoyem]

Hello Speakup members,

I have a few questions about braille displays, what they run, and some other miscellaneous questions related to them.

When looking into options for a Linux-based notetaker, I was directed towards this project. I'm not 100% sure this is the right place or not, but would love to hear from you guys.

As part of a personal side project, I am interested in getting a Linux (or *BSD) system running on a notetaker. Are there any commercial options for this?
Commercial options are good for stability, but I'm also interested in what's inside these things?
What kind of hardware do these systems run these days? ARM, Intel?
If so, can I just install a standard Linux to it and have something running? Or will some obscure drivers be needed to make sure it is compatible with this notetaker or that notetaker?
Are they generally running on Windows? Or some modified Linux/BSD variant to accommodate their users?
Also, do they have some kind of video out for optional viewing of what's being written? Or is that not needed because they are meant specifically for very visually impaired people?

The last time I used one was back in like 2010, so from what I remember they were very limited in usage. This was also before smartphones and widespread accessibility in mainstream operating systems like Windows and Mac without expensive software packages.

Has the smartphone revolution caused a disturbance in the notetaker market?
If so, what is it being replaced with? Just a phone with accessibility turned on? Or are there dongled, adapters, specialized cases or any of these things to add on to the basic hardware?

I apologize for all the questions in a haphazard format, here they are in list form:
1. Are there commercial Linux based notetakers?
2. What kind of hardware is running on notetakers these days?
3. Could you install Linux on any old notetaker and have it work, or is there more involved?
3.5 Is there a video out on alot of these devices so if something goes wrong (bum drivers, etc.) I can fix it?
4. Are notetakers even really used anymore given the advance of smartphones?
4.1 What accessories or lack-thereof are visually impaired people using with their phones, if there is a move away from the more traditional notetaker?
5. Are any of you aware of any *BSD project dealing with braille/speech output specifically?

Thanks for the work y'all have put into speakup!
On the off chance that notetakers are being phased out, run Windows anyway, don't have a video out, and run specialized CPUs incompatible with major versions of Linux—then I may need more time at the drawing board.

I want to help command-line tech to be accessible by more people, if that means helping you guys with the speakup project: I'm in! If it means looking more towards BSD as you guys have this covered: I'll do that.
I want to help. With more information I can decide where to go.

Thanks in advance for reading the slightly off-topic ramble and answering any questions you might have answers to.

—Tait Hoyem
Website: https://tait.tech
Email: tait at tait.tech

"Live until you die; learn until you die."