Technology is a great enabler when it works. We can accomplish more with good technology than we can without it. However, when the manufacturers of technology think they have a better way and try to force it upon the rest of us, the rest of us have a way of responding that is not always good for sellers of technology.
I had the opportunity, recently, to review some new technology that I use a lot in my business. There are good and not-so-good features pertaining to each, which I will share with you in this article. I welcome your comments.
MS Office 2008 for Mac
I used Microsoft Office a lot on my Dell Windows computer. Office 2003 was a staple to get the job done. When I moved over to Mac I was able to make the transition relatively smoothly — after a few calls to some wonderful people in support.
When the 2008 Mac version of Office was released, I was eager to try it out. Initially, I had trouble getting my own copy and couldn’t get it directly from Microsoft, in spite of sending a few emails requesting the promised upgrade. I was delighted to finally hear from them and to receive my copy of Microsoft Office Mac 2008 to review for this article.
The complete package loaded in about 50 minutes. At first, I was concerned about the length of installation time, until I realized (after installation) that the technology assessed what I already had with Office 2003 and brought those elements into the new software. That was nice. No hassle, and it did it on its own. That being said, it would have been nice to see a screen message saying something like, “We notice that you already have Office 2003 installed and can see that you have associated files. We’ll now import your old data and incorporate it into the new features so that you can readily access it.”
Something like that would have been a nice touch, but I’m not complaining. Not yet anyway.
I particularly liked the improved speed of Entourage, the Mac version of Outlook (kinda). I noticed that I could look up contact information much faster (about 3 seconds vs. 50 seconds — big difference!). I also liked the new feature called “My Day.” It gives you a snapshot of your scheduled meetings, a list of the tasks that you need to complete, and more. This is a really nice feature and worth the upgrade by itself.
However, I did have a major complaint with a particular feature that has caused aggravation for many. The Office 2008 version does not recognize or support macros from the Office 2003 settings. Major bummer!
Looking at it from a technical standpoint, Microsoft dropped Visual Basic because (and I’m quoting from their website here), “Office 2008 was built to be a universal application since Apple moved to Intel processors. The Macintosh VBA compiler was originally designed for a much earlier PowerPC-based Macintosh and will not work (without significant modifications) on the Intel-based Macintosh. VBA macro code is compiled at runtime — the compiler code, VB editor code and VB forms code could not be converted for the Intel-based Macintosh without extensive programming work that… blah, blah, blah.” (Okay, I made up the “blah, blah, blah” part!)
Macros basically provide users a way to save hours of time when working from document to document. Apparently Microsoft felt that they didn’t have enough time to properly program it and bring it into the new Office version. Personally, I didn’t notice much in Word that needed to be changed. Word 2003 is a fine program, thank you, and we really didn’t need a lot of changes. However, we certainly needed to keep what was already working (like macros!). Ugh!
Space doesn’t allow for a more comprehensive evaluation (see my blog for more info) but here’s a quick summary of my assessment. I found Microsoft Office Mac 2008 really good on the Entourage side, fair on Excel, merely okay with PowerPoint (I still prefer Apple’s Keynote), and a sad disappointment on Word.
With increased competition from really good online options like Google Docs, ZoHo and more each day, this could be the beginning of the end for computing as we knew it in the old days (back in the ‘90s).
Neat Receipt Scanner for Mac
On another note, I received the NeatReceipt scanner for Mac. This has been a venerable sheetfed scanner on the Windows side. The version that I got is called “An Advance Release,” meaning that it doesn’t have everything from the Windows side — not yet anyway.
I used it for some scanning of magazine articles and handwritten notes and was frustrated for a while as it always assumed it needed numbers (receipts). However, a couple of quick calls to their technical support eliminated the problems in about 120 seconds. These people are good!
I’ve now been using my NeatReceipts scanner on my MacBook Pro and it is a very good experience. Their support is outstanding. Their hardware is rugged and seems very dependable (more on that after I’ve taken it on a few trips). The software is good. The best part — it utilizes really good technology which can increase your productivity!
Moral of the Story
Listen to your customers and respond to their needs — don’t just do what you think is nice. Software developers need to get out from behind their desks, stop pecking on keyboards, and find out what end-users are saying. Listening and responding to customers remains the best way to succeed in business. True relationship marketing is built on this principle. We can all learn from it.
