The way we distribute AudiBibles requires SEVERAL steps:
1 - the audio has to be recorded
2 - the audio has to be edited (remove mistakes and check grammar and Scripture accuracy)
3 - the audio has to be post produced (remove lip smacks, make sure volume and EQ are at good levels for our players)
4 - the audio has to be organized (placed into the proper order by filename so that it the chapters play in the right order)
5 - the audio has to be converted and compiled (into the proprietary format for the player)
6 - the compiled audio has to be placed onto a Micro SD card
7 - the Audio player has to be charged (power), and the SD card has to be put into it, tested, and then a small plastic door has to be screwed into place to prevent SD card theft.
Step 1 takes the longest
2 - the second longest
3 - the third longest
4,5,6,7 all relatively short periods of time.
But.. step 6, can take a LONG time.
The way we WERE doing it, until today, was to have a 10 port USB hub, on a linux machine running a script that would copy files from a CIFS share.
It took 15 minutes for every 10 SD cards and it was a huge pain to put them into those USB to MicroSD adaptors, plus the Linux script would fail and we wouldn't know which card was the issue... etc.
So, I proposed we purchase an SD card replicator. It was an idea that another technician had as well, but he hadn't the time to pursue it.
We got it yesterday, a translator came in an said 'we have to get 96 Audio Bibles into the village by May 4'.
It was time to use our new replicator.
WOW is this easy and fast.
It takes 2 minutes to do 15 with NO errors and NO hassle now. No USB adaptors, it is soooo amazingly simple and fast. We're on cloud 9.
Today we may actually get a lot of Audio Bibles into the hands of PNGians, faster and easier than we ever have before! I'm pretty excited about that, as I'm constantly trying to find ways to improve our productivity.
Doing MORE with LESS is preferred over doing LESS with LESS but that's the reality of our situation. We have 1 technician here (me) for the time being... so tools like this, are super helpful!
