PointBase Helps Attainment Company Increase Mobility
of Special Needs Customers
Private ISV uses PointBase Micro to access large databases
created as part of customized learning tools
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – July 28, 2003 – PointBase® Micro,
the award-winning Java database, is being used to mobilize more than just enterprise
data. The Attainment Company, an ISV that specializes in developing software
and materials for people with special needs, has integrated the PointBase Micro
database into its new "Life in Focus" software tool. “Life
in Focus” allows teachers to create individualized step-by-step guides
to help students improve their independent-living life skills and become more "mobile."
The initial “Life in Focus” application uses the PointBase-enabled
database program to help teachers rapidly search through hundreds of image
titles to find the right one for a given purpose, view a thumbnail image to
confirm their selection and then enlarge and print the images into topic-specific
guidebooks for students who need visual images for comprehension. Fast access
to image collections and other forms of visual information using PointBase
technology is the key, enabling special-needs students to communicate with
or navigate through an impatient, verbal language-oriented world.
The images, often in the form of a picture sequence with simple captions as
a reference, are selected to explain particular tasks or directions. The sequence
may describe a job, meal preparation steps or other simple, day-to-day matters
most people take for granted. It is also used to provide transportation directions
to and from a job or other destination, and can be printed out to provide a
familiar, hard-copy reference guide for the special needs person.
The initial application locates thumbnail images quickly on a CD, finds the
ones needed and saves them to a local device. PointBase Micro is able to keep
track of the images and provide fast, easy searches, while providing great
resource efficiency and ease of implementation and use. All were key factors
in the application design, making PointBase Micro the database of choice.
"We started out intending to create an embedded data management tool
ourselves, but we were looking to provide an all-Java solution. We found PointBase
Micro and were very impressed and pleased by both its price tag and its resource
efficiency," said Attainment Company President and Founder Don Bastianis. "We
discovered that we got better results with PointBase than with other solutions
we considered. It was faster, easier to use and it fit our needs perfectly.”
“The Attainment Company showcases the ability of specialized ISVs and
vendors of all sizes to provide products that represent truly ingenious uses
of today’s Java technology,” said Bruce Scott, CEO of PointBase. “The
Attainment Company is helping people reach the ultimate goal of enhanced personal
freedom through specialized information access. That’s an important achievement.”
The Attainment Company’s “Life In Focus” software will be
available for teaching use in Fall 2003.
For more information on PointBase and its award-winning, 100% Java products,
PointBase Embedded, PointBase Micro and PointBase UniSync, go to http://www.pointbase.com/prAttain.
About Attainment Company
Since 1979, the Wisconsin-based Attainment Company has met the special needs
of children and adults by producing materials designed to improve living
and learning conditions. For more about Attainment Company and its products,
visit the company's website at www.attainmentcompany.com.
About PointBase
Inc.
PointBase is the leading provider of Java data management and synchronization
products for the embedded database and data mobility markets. PointBase products
are used in Java server applications and are also embedded within Java applications.
The company’s products are the preferred solution for Java mobile data
applications found on laptops, PDA’s, cell phones and other mobile devices,
and have received such highly respected industry accolades as the 2003 Crossroads
A-List Award and the 2003 JDJ Reader’s Choice Awards. Bruce Scott, part
of the Oracle Corporation founding team and co-founder of Gupta/Centura Software,
founded PointBase in 1998 with a management team that includes industry veterans
from IBM, Hyperion and Oracle.
Note to Editors—PointBase and the PointBase logo are registered trademarks
of PointBase Java, 100% Pure Java, all Java-based trademarks are trademarks
or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and
other countries. All other products and services mentioned are trademarks of
their respective companies.
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