[nabs-l] Question about technology

Mike Freeman k7uij at panix.com
Sun Apr 24 17:04:44 UTC 2011


Right.

I suspect it was a conscious decision not to put in built-in wi-fi etc.  I'm
not necessarily defending the PacMate; after all, I own a Braillesense Plus
B32.  But I think we have to distinguish between the "latest" in electronic
technology and "what's in fashion" in electronic technology.  By the former
standard, every bit of technology we own is out-of-date virtually as soon as
it's manufactured.  Yet some of it isn't all *that* out-of-date unless one
judges by the latter standard.  If one does this, was the Braillesense Plus
B32 ahead of its time with built-in wi-fi and the BrailleNote MPower behind
the eight ball or is the BrailleNote Apex ahead of the pack because it has
slightly more advanced hardware?  Or are *both* behind the times because
they aren't iPhones?

In other words, Dave is right:  the best technology for a person is what
he/she prefers. (grin)

Mike


-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of David Andrews
Sent: Sunday, April 24, 2011 9:14 AM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Question about technology

The Omni doesn't have a built-in wifi card.  The external hardware is the
same as older pac mate.  There are two compact flash slots for adding stuff,
memory cards, wifi, network cards etc.

Dave

At 11:04 PM 4/23/2011, you wrote:
>There's now the PacMate Omni.  Dunno if it has a built-in wi-fi card as 
>does the Apex but it's much newer than five years old.
>
>Mike
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On 
>Behalf Of Kirt Manwaring
>Sent: Saturday, April 23, 2011 8:23 PM
>To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Question about technology
>
>Joshua,
>   The PAC Mate is a little bit behind the Apex in terms of the latest 
>up-to-date technology.  That, however, shouldn't stop you if you are 
>more comfortable with it.
>   However, I will say that if you liked the Braillenote you saw, it's 
>a fair bet you'll like the Apex.  The design's the same, basically 
>everything you could do on the old braillenote you do the same way on 
>the Apex, the Apex just has more bells and whistles.
>   Personally, if it were me, I'd get the Apex because the PAC Mate is 
>no longer being updated by Freedom Scientific and it's a bulkier 
>machine.  I used a PAC Mate for like 5 years, I loved it, and I still 
>miss it sometimes.  But my Apex can do more, the braille display is 
>just as good as it was on the PAC mate, and it's easier to carry 
>around.  But, as I said, if you really like the PAC mate better after 
>looking at both machines, get the Pac Mate.
>   All the best,
>Kirt
>
>On 4/23/11, trising <trising at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> > I absolutely love my Pacmate BX440. If I could only have one piece 
> > of technology, this is the one i would have. I can take minutes as 
> > the Secretary for the NFB of Michigan. I can also read books. I can
>also
> > edit minutes and other documents. I am very partial to having 
> > Braille under my fingertips for accuracy as a Secretary, so I very 
> > much prefer having Braille rather than just Jaws. This all depends 
> > on what you are used to and what you are familiar with.
> >
> > Terri Wilcox

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