In Wednesday’s installment of his “Byte of the Apple” column in Business Week Online, columnist Charles Haddad takes a look at personal information management software for the Macintosh.
While not dismissing Microsoft’s Entourage software outright — Entourage is included as part of Office 2001 — Haddad notes that “Entourage has hardly become the standard,” leaving the market open to smaller, scrappier contenders.
Haddad focuses his attention on three personal information management tools for the Mac OS — InfoManger, StickyBrain, and Boswell.
Developed by Steve Becker, InfoManager is “small, always on, unobtrusive, and easy to figure out and use,” according to Haddad. He compares infomanager to a supercharged clipboard.
StickyBrain, published by Chronos, incorporates features like a Rolodex or to-do list, following the metaphor used by Apple’s “Stickies” application. “It’s really a standard personal information manager, minus the datebook,” said Haddad.
The most ambitious of the three programs is Boswell from Copernican Technologies Inc., said Haddad. It’s daunting and requires some examination of the documentation before getting started, said Haddad, but it’s organized like a library, tracking saved info with an electronic card catalog.
Haddad notes that the developer who’s able to create a surefire info management app is likely to become the Bill Gates of the early 21st century. Which contender does he think will blaze that trail? “My bet is that the way InfoManager works — its speed, small footprint, and ease of use — will become the template for any future winner.”