Mr. Paul James uses the internet to check his finances for his home business and his own account so he doesn’t have to go to the bank all the time. He uses email to contact his clients for a chat or for another order. Like all of us, he uses his email for his own personal use. Mr. Paul James uses the internet to order his food from Sainsbury’s and Tesco. The bad thing about that is you get what you want, but usually when you’re shopping, you get more than you need, and want more! And you can’t do that. Also, it might not come on the day, so you’re waiting for the food, when you need it. He also uses it to buy electrical goods and books. This saves him going out of the house and has it delivered to the door but he can’t sample the products before hand.
Mr. Paul James taught himself to play the keyboard, and composes music on his PC. He enjoys putting his own music on other existing songs. He now burns his own music onto CDs. This passes spare time that he has and he can do it without a struggle. He enjoys editing existing music and adding his own music to it. Mr. Paul James and his wife started to make and edit their own videos on a pc using a camera and a camcorder; also they are hoping to create a DVD instead of using analogue video tapes. Using their computer in their home is a lot easier than going down to a studio and ask them to edit it for them. Mr. Paul James also has to be careful that he doesn’t break any copyright laws when he creates music.
Mr. Paul James has Sky + which he uses to record his programs, while his wife watches her programs. This is useful as he doesn’t have to risk missing his programmes while finishing off his work. He uses sky to watch movies, and his sports. He played football and cricket before the accident, but now he just has to watch them. He doesn’t like going to the cinemas, because he can’t choose where to sit, so he has to either go, and go with all the trouble, or just wait for it to come on DVD or sky. At his house, he has a 32” plasma screen so he can watch videos and DVDs which saves him going to the cinema. It is easier than going to the cinema. Even though some are good for disability access, they have to sit at the back in case of a fire. So instead, he has to wait for the DVD to come out either onto TV or DVD. He used to play a lot of football and cricket, which obviously, he can’t do anymore. He sometimes went to Worcester cricket to watch, but he found it less enjoyable because it was harder to access, and he couldn’t just go pop to get a drink or a snack. With this technology he can still watch films but he can pause the games when he likes and then watch them live. It meets Mr James needs by allowing him to watch his sporting events and not miss out on them.
Paul James is dependant on his wife to take him everywhere, because he can’t drive. If he wants to go anywhere, he has to ask his wife to take him there. I think they should be able to make it be able to drive for people who are disabled. It isn’t fair that they have to be dependant on other people, when some of them want to be independent.
Paul James uses the internet to look up places he wants to go, to see if they are wheelchair friendly, he is a member of a group with similar disabled people who email each other about different places to see if they are wheelchair user friendly. This helps him because he is then able to look at a place before he gets there, to see if he is actually able to go there without any trouble.
Mr. Paul James has a home cinema with a 32inch plasma screen, so he can watch DVDs or videos easier than going to the cinema. The bad thing is that he can’t go watch new movies, so he’d have to either go, or wait a few months for it to come out on DVD. He can’t sit anywhere he wants to sit either; he has to sit at the back of the cinema, where people enter in case of a fire, he can be easily wheeled out. It meets his needs because he can watch movies on a big screen or he can invite his friends over to watch a football game on the big screen. This meets his needs by allowing him to arrange his social life with his friends. Mr James can still go to the cinema with his friends but he does not like going as he has to sit at the rear of the cinema by the exit and his friends with him. Mr James feels that he is a weight on his friends. As he can do this at home he and his friends can sit where they like and still are able to watch the latest films on his home cinema system.
Mr. Paul James is now thinking of making a website to expand his business but he doesn’t know how to yet, so he is going to have to learn how to do it. He is also thinking of getting a webcam so he can contact his parents and friends who are in different parts of the country.
Overall, Mr. Paul James uses his ICT at home really well. It saves his a high amount of time and is a lot easier than going out the house and having to sort out the transport. He can’t get the joy out of a lot of activities that he used to do, but he is still able to do some of the things he enjoys. He also has to be careful with his company as well that he doesn’t release any information about his staff or his costumers. He must be registered under the D.P.A (data protection act) as this is personal data.
I think that ICT is very effective to meet his needs. He is able to get in contact with his family and friends who live in different parts of the country. He is able to send out newsletters out by email via the internet.
