KEY POINTS:
Often you want to make a list and most of us just will bang it out in word processor. Those of us a little more tooled-up might make it in a spreadsheet, but convenient as that may be, a spreadsheet is overkill for just making lists.
Switched on Mac users will make 'To Dos' in Mail and iCal (they talk to each other anyway, so put one in one and it appears in the other). You can tick these To Dos off when they're done, for that little sense of achievement.
Very few of us would boot up FileMaker, even if we had it, though, just to make a list. FileMaker is a wholly owned subsidiary of Apple and it's solely concerned with database solutions.
FileMaker the software may be approachable and not that daunting to learn, but as a powerful and sophisticated tool that can tailor hooks in and out of various platforms, people make whole careers out of developing and tailoring FileMaker-based solutions. There are two award-winning FileMaker developers in Christchurch, for example (one is Particle Systems, which sells across New Zealand, the UK and US).
When Apple put out the iWork suite, it contained Pages, which does word processing and layout, Keynote (like Microsoft's PowerPoint) and recently Apple added Numbers, a slightly more approachable, if less sophisticated, spreadsheet answer to Excel. But unlike the AppleWorks suite of old (it's fondly remembered) there is still no pared-down database in iWork.
FileMaker perceived a need for a simpler Mac database application, leading to Bento surfacing nine months ago. I reviewed it then, finding it good looking and easy to use and kinda useless in that I had no use for it, myself, with my integrated use of Apple iCal, Mail and Address Book fulfilling all my organisational and scheduling needs.
However, plenty of people did see a need for Bento, a personal database rather than a workgroup database, so Bento was well received. And if you think about it, there's more to making lists as organisational tools.
There are lists of collection, lists associated with work and research projects, and lists of contacts. There are schedules, taking into account dates, times and availability of key people. Bento will happily pick up any lists you started anyway, so you can develop them into proper databases.
Lists associated with work and research projects become extra powerful when the lists can draw together different types of data and links, so that everything you need to keep track of can be overseen from a central point. Bento does that too.
FileMaker's developers were listening to feedback, and only nine months after Bento 1 came out, here's Bento 2.
It's not often a company brings out a v2 less than a year after a v1, especially when the first version has exceeded sales expectations, so I asked Steve McManus, FileMaker Pacific's General Manager, what was behind it.
He said that being able to develop for only one platform (ie the Mac) meant FileMaker staff could get things done quickly, and feedback from users was pretty clear, acting as a potent driving force for a new version for Mac users.
There are no immediate plans to make a Windows version of Bento.
"We leveraged some of the things that are on the Mac - Address Book, iCal, Apple Mail, QuickLook - the way you link documents together is unique to the Apple platform. To try and do the same thing on Windows - you couldn't do it. In my view. And there are a lot of competitive products [out there for Windows already] so it's a more risky thing to try."
The support across the 'iApps' consists of drag-and-drop data entry and synchronisation. It looks slick too - FileMaker's Bento team received assistance from Apple Inc, using Mac artists and interface specialist assistance so, as McManus says, "it looks as a Mac app should."
He pointed out that not many people walk into an Apple reseller and say 'Can I have a database application?' Usually they say 'do you have something that will track this and handle that, and get me organised?' The salesperson will soon figure out whether they need FileMaker, a spreadsheet or - increasingly - Bento.
I pointed out that Bento could actually be seen as a data collator, and Steve agreed with this, pointing out that you still need to put the data in, but prebuilt templates really help users get going.
As McManus puts it, "People are exchanging a lot of data these days." Bento also synchronises with the iPhone and iPod touch.
At the moment the hook-up is with Address Book and iCal. These, of course, flawlessly sync from the Mac to the iPhone and iPod touch. The common fields do, anyway - customised fields in Bento won't synchronise. The integration also works with Apple's MobileMe subscriber service.
(McManus didn't rule out the possibility of Bento for iPhone in the future; independent developers could possibly design iPhone apps leveraging Bento features.)
Macworld has posted a review, giving the software 4.5/5; my own review is in the works.
Like Photoshop Elements, Adobe's consumer image editing software, some great features that debuted in Elements made their way back into the full, professional Adobe Photoshop. It's possible the same will happen with FileMaker - some Bento innovations may well cross over.
Check out the Bento videos here, if you're interested, or fill out the online form to download the 30-day trial. The trial (just 80MB) ships in seven languages.
Note that there is no upgrade path for existing Bento users; they have to buy and install the new version. At least FileMaker has kept the retail price the same as it was for Bento 1: NZ$89 and the Family Pack $149 from Apple Resellers and online
- Mark Webster mac.nz
