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Filemaker Introduces Bento for Mac
- Thread starter marco114
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I agree completely. At work, I like Mail, Addressbook and Calendar functions to be integrated, but at home I prefer them to separate, as I use Yahoo's Mail and Calendar through their web interface. When I need Addressbook at home, I need just Addressbook.
As I use a Windows machine at work and a Mac at home, I am OK for now.
Bento Baddie
Wanna see why corporations hire professional actors?
Listen to how horrible this is:
http://fmdl.filemaker.com/MISC/bento/bento_ed_preview_sm.mov
Pretty amazing!
Wanna see why corporations hire professional actors?
Listen to how horrible this is:
http://fmdl.filemaker.com/MISC/bento/bento_ed_preview_sm.mov
Pretty amazing!
Anybody know how the Filemaker group is handled within Apple? Does this now preclude this kind of interface being added to the iWork apps? Forms would be a welcome additional front end to Numbers tables, and Numbers would let me plot data that's been entered.
I don't want to have to open all my email and appointments just so I can call for a pizza. I don't want my calendars stored on our IMAP server like mail.
I like how things are. All of these are (were...) independent data sources with open APIs for querying them and sharing the data not just within the given application but throughout the system. Much, much nicer, IMO.
Yeah, and it's not much more than that.
Oh God, please no! I'm already disgruntled that notes and to-do's and RSS got integrated into Mail. Leave the poor program alone! I hated Outlook with a passion. I don't want to see it recreated.
I don't want to have to open all my email and appointments just so I can call for a pizza. I don't want my calendars stored on our IMAP server like mail.
I like how things are. All of these are (were...) independent data sources with open APIs for querying them and sharing the data not just within the given application but throughout the system. Much, much nicer, IMO.
Look at Journaler (someone linked to it above). I never got much use out of it, but it sounds like what you're looking for. I started with it and realized my lack of organization isn't due to a lack of tools.
Maybe not, but it's par for the course when dealing with beta software. I do beta testing for other software, and we're always cautioned that the file format is not set in stone early on.
If you want to ensure your data will move from this version to the final, just export the data. You'll have to recreate the layouts (sorry if I'm speaking in filemaker mode here), and then re-import the data, but you don't lose all of your data.
As far as integrating Mail, Address Book and iCal, I feel as if they've already been adequately integrated. In Mail, I'm usually querying my Address Book, and I don't use iCal too much with mail, but the new features seem to work just fine.
When I manage a calendar, I want a calendar app. When I manage contacts, I want some sort of contact database. Apple has made these things accessible through Mail, which is all you really need.
As far as integrating Mail, Address Book and iCal, I feel as if they've already been adequately integrated. In Mail, I'm usually querying my Address Book, and I don't use iCal too much with mail, but the new features seem to work just fine.
When I manage a calendar, I want a calendar app. When I manage contacts, I want some sort of contact database. Apple has made these things accessible through Mail, which is all you really need.
The responses posted here to Bento are all over the map. A few things are very clear:
1) a number of people really have no idea how big Bento is going to be.
2) Bento is going to be really big.
1) a number of people really have no idea how big Bento is going to be.
2) Bento is going to be really big.
Wait... They're owned by Digidesign? ha! Sorry, may be a little vague, but I liked it...
Funny observation... We move to Leopard, and finally the iCal icon updates to the proper day without having to open... Along comes Bento, with its icon... This little drawer of things... And sure enough, there's an iCal icon that reads "JUL 17"... How appropriate... Somehow I found a little humor in that.
Okay, so now I'm gonna go play with the actual program...
Well, I'm not sure where you are getting your info, but it does look good initially. And I have surely blown $50 on many other things - come good and some bad. I think I'll have to try this out, and watch what changes are made before it releases.
BTW - this release claims that it's good until Feb 14, 2008.
This looks good for keeping track of things that are to obscure to have their own dedicated app. (This doesn't include recipes by the way -- there are already a couple of apps dedicated to that).
Plenty of people have things -- small-time event planning, club activities, etc. -- that are too esoteric for Apple or any other developer to come out with a dedicated solution. If Bento makes databases simple enough to create (and at first look I'd say it does), then this is a kind of catch-all solution for those kinds of things.
The iCal and Address Book integration is cool, not because you would use this application to manage your calendars and contacts, but because you can create data tables that cross-reference the system's built-in databases. So if you add somebody to the list of contacts in your project database, that person automatically shows up in your address book and their addresses auto-complete in Apple Mail. When you add a task to a project, it automatically shows up as a to-do in iCal.
That said, the market for a generic database app is a lot smaller than the market for, say, a word processor. But if you happen to need a database platform that even the poor non-geeks can use, this might fit the bill.
Plenty of people have things -- small-time event planning, club activities, etc. -- that are too esoteric for Apple or any other developer to come out with a dedicated solution. If Bento makes databases simple enough to create (and at first look I'd say it does), then this is a kind of catch-all solution for those kinds of things.
The iCal and Address Book integration is cool, not because you would use this application to manage your calendars and contacts, but because you can create data tables that cross-reference the system's built-in databases. So if you add somebody to the list of contacts in your project database, that person automatically shows up in your address book and their addresses auto-complete in Apple Mail. When you add a task to a project, it automatically shows up as a to-do in iCal.
That said, the market for a generic database app is a lot smaller than the market for, say, a word processor. But if you happen to need a database platform that even the poor non-geeks can use, this might fit the bill.
Yeah, that's a good point. I've been looking at this a little too myopically. I don't have much use for it. The things that I'd use it for, I think I could do better with mysql and some hacking-- but that's not a fair judgement. Most people aren't going to look to that option.
You're right-- there's a lot of things out there that people would want to build a database of and this will make it easy and pretty all at the same time.
I was kind of disappointed that it wasn't better integrated with iLife/iWork (give access to photo/music libraries, integrate with iWeb for data driven websites, let me pass data back and forth to Numbers and do merges to Pages). I'd need to play with it more to see how it handles mixing of data from different tables, but I think what bothers me is there isn't a good reporting mechanism.
The SOHO Organizer Suite does more or less what you're asking for here. It does use a DB, but provides various ways of getting access to what's stored in it. The Notes app is ( for me ) particularly useful, as I can store booksmarks, files, web archives in it.
Pulled it back out of the trash
I am glad to hear that it has some unique value to some users. I'd like to hear more about how people are finding it useful. I suppose I just don't have a specific use for it in my work.
I could use it to clean up my address book, but I can also do that by import/export csv and excel/numbers. It is a nicer way to view your todos than ical but I can use iGTD for that. I'm just not sure what the use of having those 2 features is unless it is for project management or PIM.
It would have a lot more value as PIM or project management related software if it had email integrated and a way to catalog and preview files better (i.e. quicklook and/or tagging/spotlight comments). That can't be too difficult to add.
Otherwise I think it is not much more than a glorified rolodex.
I am glad to hear that it has some unique value to some users. I'd like to hear more about how people are finding it useful. I suppose I just don't have a specific use for it in my work.
I could use it to clean up my address book, but I can also do that by import/export csv and excel/numbers. It is a nicer way to view your todos than ical but I can use iGTD for that. I'm just not sure what the use of having those 2 features is unless it is for project management or PIM.
It would have a lot more value as PIM or project management related software if it had email integrated and a way to catalog and preview files better (i.e. quicklook and/or tagging/spotlight comments). That can't be too difficult to add.
Otherwise I think it is not much more than a glorified rolodex.
Why would you ever want to have an integrated PIM? That isn't the "Apple Way".
Seriously though iCal and Address book need to die and be integrated into mail. Having multiple apps you need to switch back and forth on simply because Apple is clinging to an archaic design model IS NOT an excuse.
That's dumb. what we need are apps that do some thing REALLY well, but also play well together. Cramming all the functionality in to one app is stupid. If address book (for example) was inside mail, you would STILL have to "switch back and forth". Addresses would not be constantly visible, you would still have to go to a specific address-area of the app. Is it REALLY that hard to switch to a different app, as opposed to switching different view inside the app?
Since the addressbook plays seamlessly with mail, what exactly is the problem here?
Interesting, but not worth $49 to me. It would be a nice addition to iWork, and help that suite's sales, as others have said, but as a stand-alone it really doesn't seem to have much "meat" for the price.
Can't Download File
I've tried twice to download this demo but I still have never received an e-mail link to the download page. Has anybody else experienced this? I am filling out the form that has all the asterisks and leaving the other info fields blank. I'd like to test drive this but can't get any response.
I've tried twice to download this demo but I still have never received an e-mail link to the download page. Has anybody else experienced this? I am filling out the form that has all the asterisks and leaving the other info fields blank. I'd like to test drive this but can't get any response.
I think Bento looks really promising. Get it added to iWork 09 and it would be even better. It certainly looks like it will integrate very nicely into the rest of the whole Mac experience nicely.
I have tried Filemaker on a number of occasions but it is just too complicated and hard work for a lite user with simple needs like me.
I have tried Filemaker on a number of occasions but it is just too complicated and hard work for a lite user with simple needs like me.
Remember Sticky Notes? now it's called SOHO Notes, and let me tell you it is more useful and more complete than any other like it including this new copycat from File Maker, I mean I can do everything that this new app offer on my SOHO Notes plus more. Sorry. SOHO Notes it's the best.
You might try DEVONthink Pro, which doesn't offer all of what you are asking for... but they keep saying they'll release v2.0 at some point. At any rate, check it out. It's what I'm using right now for my "iTunes for data." http://www.devon-technologies.com/
Same thing here. Maybe I'll just see if there's a torrent somewhere...
That's a good point; so if I am in charge of, for example, a First Aid team, I can keep track of volunteers and the contact info, who's signed the waiver, when the recertification events are, when and where the parties are, who's done the optional extra training, and keep an inventory of AEDs and backboards. And I assume I can access that info in multiple ways, for example, see to it that the keener geeks who did the optional extra training are excluded from the party invite list, because they'll probably think it's a good idea to do extra incident simulations AT the party.
I am actually really looking forward to this program, but of course, I'll need a Leopard-capable mac first.
For the record, I no longer organize a first aid response team, and I'm enjoying the fact that the only thing better than being in charge is being formerly in charge.
I'm in the same boat. 12 hours later and still no e-mail with a link to download the demo even though I provided legit personal info, including a functioning dot mac e-mail address.
So much for "a few minutes."