Book Review Graphic KAES II Software

Reviewed by R. Michel Jodoin
President of the Institut de Médicine Chinois du Québec


GOOD POINTS

I find this software to be very easy to install and to operate. The user's manual is relatively useless because the program is so easy and simple to use. A diagnosis can be made VERY quickly because each symptom can be selected rapidly and each choice of symptom is well defined avoiding any confusion.

Being in DOS mode, the program is pretty fast (I have installed the program on a 486 DX2 66 Mhz with windows 95 and on a 386 16Mhz with simple DOS) making the results (i.e. the choice of points) quick and accessible.

The selections of acupuncture points are great and very coherent. I have tried this program with almost every disease described, and I was never puzzled or confused with the choice of points. The drawings and pictures of every aspect of the acupuncture points are really well made and clear. It is a very clever idea to give all the necessary information about the points (location, needling etc) on the same screen.

The study section is probably one of the best sections of the program. It is so intuitive and well done that I imagine it can be a really enjoyable way of learning for acupuncture students.

For all the nice aspects of this program, the price is really low. I think it would still be a good price even if the program contained only the study part.

LOW POINTS

Of course, there are low points (who is perfect anyway?). For me, it seems evident that the authors of this program don't know the english language very well (maybe as bad as me!) Every description made with text in a window contains innappropriate line breaks in the middle of a word that makes the text barely readable (like a "t" at the end of a line followed with "hen" on the next line to denote the word "then.") But this is easy to fix. There are also many mistakes in the spelling.

Another low point is the music, I hope the makers of this program will do something to remove it soon. ( I know we can bypass the introduction, but the music is totally useless, and makes this fine program sound like an old Nintendo game).

The choice of 90 diseases are good but not excellent, some of them being very rare in the usual acupuncture practice.

Of course, it is a BA GANG (eight principles) level of diagnosis which is not detailed and refined enough for a deeper understanding, but at the same time, it is precise enough to describe a fairly good treatment.

The program is not "mouse-supported." I was not able to make it work with a mouse. I think that this is also relatively easy to change and would make use of this program more enjoyable.

The study section should include the point number each time we see the Korean name as well.

Yours truly,
R.Michel Jodoin


KAES II Software Home Page
Yin/Yang Symbol Acupuncture.com

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