To that end, I would like to introduce you to a new product. We can either reward this so-called Enovation by continuing to pay for it or we can find another solution! I say, IT IS TIME TO SEND THE PAC MATE (and other devices like it: Braille & Voice Note M-Power, and Braille & Voice Sense, ETC.) PACKING! If I need Bluetooth and wi-fi at the same time, I’ll need external USB solutions for extra memory storage.To use Secure Digital cards, I’ll need an adapter.I will have to make a choice between wi-fi and Bluetooth if I want to use a storage card.
Think of the daily scenarios with which the hardware peripheral minded PAC Mate user is presented: (I will discuss the modular concept in greater detail later in this article.) PAC Mate BX420 and QX420 (with 20-cell Braille display): at a whopping $3,795 from: still only offers its users two antiquated compact flash slots, no on-board wi-fi or Bluetooth, no user replaceable battery, merely double its original memory specifications, a single USB client/host port and only one possible Braille device choice, causing any claims to it having any semblance of a “laptop replacement” or even being modular on any level not to be taken seriously by anyone doing an honest product comparison. Unfortunately however, as with many products of this type, upgrades are not inexpensive and Enovation is inexcusably lacking. I have watched from afar with interest as the project has continued with the introduction of the PAC Mate Omni which runs Windows Mobile 6. Let me explain: I had the privilege and irreplaceable life experience of working up close and personal with the PAC Mate project team at Freedom Scientific from its bitsy board inception and revision 1 cycle running Pocket PC 2002, right through the end of its revision 2 development cycles which took it through its Pocket PC 2003 versions ending at 4.1. An industry that has done so much for the blind has lost its vision - its way in the market place. It is however, my personal view that the adaptive technology industry has for the most part, lost its vision.
I am not exaggerating when I say, you changed my life. To all of them and more, I am personally grateful. Hundreds of thousands of blind people’s lives have been forever and profoundly altered all around the world because of folks like Dean Blazie, Ted Henter, Glen Gordon from the development end of things and others like Eric Damery, Jerry Bowman and Dan Clark who made the business and less geeky side of things happen. The success of the products like PAC Mate and others mentioned in this article would have never been made possible had it not been for pioneers both in the hardware and software industry. Before I begin the topic of this certainly provocative subject matter, let me say that I have absolutely no stake in any of the companies or products mentioned in this article.
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