‘Talking Friends’ goes digital
'Talking Friends' moves from cassette to digital recordings
‘Talking Friends’ after many years of producing recordings in cassette format, has gone digital to improve its service to their subscribers. Talking Friends (TF) is a registered charity, run by Quakers, to provide blind/visually impaired Friends and attenders in Britain Yearly Meeting with access to Quaker periodicals and books.
Alan Johnson, TF’s main contact person, said the move to digital has been prompted by a number of factors: ‘the combination of greater availability and accessibility of digital media, subscribers’ and readers’ increasing familiarity with electronic means of accessing information and the fact that the old and fairly faithful Marantz cassette tape recorders are no longer reliable.’
Talking Friends had been searching for some time for a simple, straightforward and effective software application for readers. ‘The Newsbridge Digital Recording Software, from Bridge Digital’, Alan explained, ‘has been chosen partly because for readers it imitates the style of tape recording – forward, record, pause and so on.’
Sovereign players were purchased for the subscribers – ‘boom boxes’ that can be used with memory sticks. The memory sticks are duplicated and distributed by Philip Iddon at Quaker Life in Friends House. The transition is going smoothly and subscribers’ reactions have been favourable. A subscriber commented that it was ‘a real pleasure to listen to recordings of such reliable standard’.
Alan said: ‘Talking Friends would like to encourage new subscribers and believe that among our longer-living Quaker population there may be more blind and/or visually impaired Friends who might enjoy a clear and friendly audio version of the Friend, not forgetting the other journals: Quaker Voices, Friends Quarterly, Quaker News and Towards Wholeness, which are also regularly recorded.’ He added: ‘Further information can be had by contacting me on email alan.johnson1@blueyonder.co.uk. The application form may be downloaded from: http://www.talkingfriends.org.uk’
