[Bookreader] Text to Speech readers for XO

[Gregor Kervina]

Dear Sayamindu Dasgupta, SJ Klein and other members of this list,

I'm a student of electrical engineering from Europe and would like to share
with you my very positive experience with text to speech technology that can
in my opinion significantly increase the educational potential of XO if used
in the right way.

For the past 12 years (since I was 15 years old) I'm daily learning from
e-books and internet using text to speech software. I know this software is
unpopular in developed world, many people don't even know that it exists. On
the other hand many people (including me) don't like reading long texts on
the LCD screens - that's why e-books are also not very popular.

But unlike my friends I read 50+ e-books every ear and also daily news on
the internet - I just select the text, copy it, and CoolSpeech software
(using Mary voice) reads me all the text with speeds 300 to 500 words per
minute. In this way I can browse other sites or look at photos or just lay
down and listen while my laptop is reading to me.
Other people don't understand what I'm reading because it is too fast for
them but it can be learned quickly with slower speeds at beginning.

I think XO laptops should definitely have such software pre-installed and a
video introduction how to use it and what reading speeds can they expect
after some time of practicing.
It is also ideal for children with poor eye sight.

Let me know if you need any more info and advice.

Warm regards,
Gregor
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