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Ok, so Apple has announced it's annual Apple Design Awards contest, wherein they give awards for application software that they feel shows programming genius. But the geniuses at Apple (whom I mostly love), are just so clueless about helping Mac's succeed among business users.

Technorati Tags: Apple, Microsoft, Software

I mean, look at the categories they created for awards:

• Best Mac OS X Developer Tool: development tools that increase programmer or interface designer productivity
• Best Use of Mac OS X Graphics: innovative uses of Max OS X Quartz, OpenGL, and QuickTime
• Best Mac OS X Dashboard Widget: widgets that bring relevant, innovative functionality to Dashboard
• Best Mac OS X Automator Workflow: innovative, efficient workflows that eliminate repetitive manual tasks
• Best Mac OS X User Experience: products that deliver the functional elegance characteristic of Mac OS X
• Best Mac OS X Game: games that take full advantage of Mac OS X to offer compelling entertainment
• Best Mac OS X Scientific Computing Solution: scientific software that enables researchers quickly and easily push the limits of knowledge and understanding
• Best Mac OS X Student Product: Mac OS X products developed exclusively by student developers

Where in that list is Best application for business? I mean, Microsoft would have 10 different categories for business software of all different types.

It's so bizzare. Apple is so good at communications in the general case. Is this just simply that they don't give a rats patootie about the business users they have? I mean, they don't have to focus on the business market; just don't exclude it!

Sigh.... Mistaken strategy? Or just bad communication? We'll never know. The ADC page listing all the entry stuff doesn't even give a contact point for the people running the contest.

Apple. A company you can love, and hate, at the same time.

Posted by Jay Batson at 05:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I started Plum Canary for a fairly ordinary reason: I couldn't find any software that would help me with what I was doing. I wanted a product that helped me keep a team of people on track executing work that needs done. So I built Chirp to do this.

However, task status, etc., isn't all there is to communications. The sharing of ideas and information is just as important.

Which is the reason for me to start a blog. While the Internet (or you) may not need yet-another-blog, I hope that I can:

• Raise issues that you consider thought provoking and important.
• Help you know how I, and therefore, Plum Canary thinks about how people can do more, better, faster.

I've been building software, and IP networking equipment for over 20 years. I've been an industry analyst, an entrepreneuer / pioneer, and front-line manager. This gives me what I hope is an interesting perspective.

In the end, the thoughts, and this blog, can will give you some idea about the direction Chirp's product development will take over time, and how it will (hopefully) be useful to you.

Posted by Jay Batson at 02:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)