August 28, 2008 For Everything PAC Mate

User Stories

PAC Mate User Stories

Below you will find a sample of the user stories we here almost everyday. Many people write to the PAC Mate Gear Team explaining how the PAC Mate has done this or that for them. At the same time the topic was raised on the PAC Mate User Mailing List to provide a place on PAC Mate Gear for each proud PAC Mate owner to tell their stories. If you have a story you want to submit please contact us.

PAC Mate User Stories

PAC Mate Remote Saved the day twice

November 15, 2005
Since I have a Pac Mate BX 440 and JAWS, I have been working with the Pac Mate Remote Desktop feature, quite a bit. Recently, using the Pac Mate remote desktop sure helped me out in two situations. First, I must have accidentally muted my sound card on my PC. When I turned it on and nothing happened, I decided to use the Pac Mate remote desktop to see if I could find out if I had the mute checkbox checked. Good old Pac Mate kicked in and, indeed I found that the checkbox was checked and of course I unchecked it. When I took remote mode off, started JAWS again on my PC, Eloquents on the PC was talking. Then later that day, , my cousin came over and she is very new to computers. She will be working at a new job in January if she learns to use Word. So, I put her on the PC keyboard and I was on thePac Mate with Remote Desktop. It was great because I could read on the Braille display what she was doing, and when she had problems, because she isn't used to using the mouse, , I could get her out of trouble without having her give the keyboard to me. What a cool teaching method!

The freedom I have acquired with the pacmate

October 16, 2005
I am a 19 year old college student. I began using a Braille 'n speak, followed by a braille lite 18 and then a millennium 40. All of these were great products for what they were worth. I wanted a brailleNote at one time, but it's to cumbersome to use because the user has to instruct it almost every step of the way. Then I got a pacmate for Christmas last year. IT was the qx model, which means it has a laptop style keyboard. I chose to add a 40 cell braille display to it later on. I had no idea how the pacmate would change my level of independence and how it would help me manage my life. As I became more familiar with it, I realized the numerous possibilities. I could set appointments to remind me when I was scheduled for a meeting with someone, or to remind me that certain things needed to be done. I could download books from WebBraille and load them onto my pacmate. I could instant message friends and family while away from my desktop. With StreetTalk, which is Freedomscientific's gps interface to Destinator, I can give someone directions to a place they want to go, even though I have never been there. I can look at what restaurants are around me, or take a relaxing stroll around my city on a cool evening. I can scan in barcodes to see what each item is that I have purchased from a grocery store or pharmacy. And the possibilities keep expanding. I would recommend that the pacmate be given considerable thought for someone who likes pda's, and if a person is comfortable using Jaws with the Windows operating system, they'll be up and running in no time with this outstanding piece of equipment.

How the PAC Mate has changed my life

July 18, 2004

I am a 15 year old high school student. I started out using a Braille N Speak, and then a Braille Lite. I began to hear developments about this new product called the PAC Mate in mid to late 2002. I had just gotten my Braille lite, and then all the buzz about the PAC Mate started. "WOW!" I really wanted one of these PAC Mates. I decided to wait until the model with the Braille Display came out, and when I thought it was safe to approach my parents to ask them to get one, I would do so. I aproached them with the question of getting this new device. It took some convincing, but they gave in. I was so excited, I could hardly wait until my new PAC Mate arrived. Now that I have become more familliar with my PAC Mate, I love it dearly. I use it to check my e-mail, instant message friends and family on-the-go, surf the internet, listen to music, read books, and much more. I think that the PAC Mate is a wonderful thing for a high school student to have. I have the BX version of the PAC Mate, this means that it has a braille keyboard, I also chose the option to add a 20-cell Braille display. I would recommend that a high school student have a Braille Display, if they are able too, because, they can turn speech off in class, and not distract their classmates. I am excited, because this year, I will be able to send my work directly to the teachers VIA E-mail! The PAC Mate has truly changed my life, and I would recommend it for anybody who is able to get one.

A User Story

July 29, 2004

I'm 28 years old, blind and epileptic as well. My form of epilepsy often messes with my memory, and I often hire a Personal Assistant to keep the more important aspects of my life together. I was using a Braille 'N Speak, followed by a Braille Lite and a Classic Braille Note, but the 2 flaws in all of them are: 1. They are completely proprietary and have costly and limited expandability, and 2. They don't give you access to information unless you specifically go looking for it. Then came the glorious day of my Pac Mate and everything changed. The only way to illustrate this is to briefly take you through a day I would be unable to survive without it. I groggily open my eyes to the annoying sound of of South Park's Eric Kartman telling me to wake up, which is my PM'S alarm telling me that it's time for my 9:00 AM seizure pills. After I finish with that, I stumble up to get coffee, and while it's brewing, I play some music on my Pac Mate to get my brain going. (If I'm really lucky, I've recently bought new music online and transferred it to my PM for listening.) While I listen or drink coffee, I read the newspapers that were auto-downloaded from the net early that morning and stored on the PM for me, and then I review my Today screen, which shows my entire schedule for the day. It tells me that I have to call in a couple perscriptions at 10 AM, have a housing appointment at 1:30 PM, and then head back to the hospital for an appointment with a new physician at 3. And my list of tasks remind me that I need to take care of an overdue library book today, and that it'smy exercise day as well. When the coffee starts to hit, I run in and plug my PM into my desktop computer for a moment, while my email is transferred and all other material is updated on my desktop and my PM. If I'm in a hurry, I find a coffee shop or other place where there is a WIFI internet connection and check my mail on the go. Best of all, if I need to do paperwork that day, such as writing letters or paying bills, I do it all on my Pac Mate, and it automatically goes instantly on to my PC next time I plug in, allowing me to do work on the go, even write checks, pay bills, and bank online. Finally, after a long day, I settle down with a good book at night. I either listen to a book I purchased at http://www.audible.com or I pull up a book I got from Web Braiile or Book Share if I want to read Braille instead of hearing the book. This is only the tip of the iceberg, but it shows 2 important things: First, memory is no longer an issue for me with the PM reminding me every step of the way, and second, whatever I don't have, I can buy at a regular store instead of waiting for the company to (maybe) come out with the features I need. I'd say that makes it worthwhile for anybody who likes PDA's.

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