Yesterday, while you guys were carrying on this intelligent debate (without the trolls... how lovely!), I was actually in a meeting with the CEO and CIO of a major consultancy here in Germany, which has contracts with more than a few top 50 German firms. Our discussion was just about this topic, after I brought it up to my CEO friend a while ago.
As I outlined to them, and as some people here already see, it's not about moving Win-centric business to Apple, it's about integrating what Apple does best with Windows and business.
Besides the fact that I'm an Apple Fan-atic, even I concede the fact that Windows and it's software (1st or 3rd party) is a better investment for most businesses, considering that it's already entrenched and will be for some time.
The big question is: how will, or can, a business make use of what Apple does better than anyone else (at the moment), and that is mobility devices and platforms with iOS. Whether iPhone or iPad, or even the strong competition to follow with Android and Chrome, and possibly WM7, businesses are getting excited about adding this layer to their business processes and workflow.
Apple needs to be there out of the gate this time, big-time. I think SJ long ago conceded the enterprise market for desktops. However he and Apple see this as the next big opportunity that won't and shouldn't go wasted.
The interesting observation I've had recently, is has anyone else noticed how much sleeker iPhone, and specifically a number of iPad Apps really are, as opposed to what's available on the desktop, regardless of platform? Within the next 3-5 years, I fully expect business-class apps and solutions on mobile devices will be FAR better and numerous than those for the desktop. Inject those with data from the cloud (hopefully secure!), and the desktop won't matter so much.
Now enable all of the consumers that have these devices, to do a boatload of the "computing" themselves (+1 @DickApplebaum!), and you're at a serious ROI on a small investment... which means in investing in Open Standard best practices.
In summary, "Win-centric" will slowly fall to the wayside, and Standard-centric will take it's place. Even more so "browser-centric".
This actually was Bill G's main idea way back when, which eventually got him into trouble and why many of today's businesses are still in the "dark-ages", but kudos to him for seeing that far out. This time around though, even MS is playing nice with standards (see IE9 development).
It's not about Macs or PC's anymore, it's about the platforms and standards for building out mobile Apps and specifically web-apps... which BTW, was also SJ's main focus with iPhone 1 if anyone cares to remember. I firmly believe it's STILL his #1 passion, and a huge reason why 3rd party plug-ins will not be allowed to sully "The Vision". Many would point to Object C and the iOS SDK to refute this, but when you dig down deep, and even on the surface, it's all classes, html, CSS and Java. A developer team that I work with already has platforms and workflows in place to move Apps to Android, BB, (possibly) Win7.
Thanks go out to all those here that posted intelligent replies rather than "troll-bait"... and if I might add, for confirming quite a few of my convictions
Good question. I notices 2 of the last three medical offices I visited were running Macs. At the oral surgeon, I started up a conversation with a secretary who said they had switched over all their record keeping and scheduling to Macs (using OSX) but that they kept one Dell for billing because there was no available software (or software that didn't involve changing everything).
The final word was that everyone was happy with the switch!
There is serious money to be made here...
Filemaker pro is great billing SW .And apple owns it .
You make a very good point. The big gotcha is in the cost of software liscense that ms nails you with. If you take the 4 pc's in your examample and run them 24 hours a day across 3 shifts ms says you need 12 licenses for those seats not 4, at least as far as office is concerned. If you add more email adresses the fees to go beyond the basic package adds up quick.
So I guesss Apple gets you on the upfront costs and Ms nails you on a long term basis with recuring and increasing liscense fees.
In the case of shift workers you would purchase "per device" vs "per user". Microsoft has both types just for this reason, to save the business money.
I know lots of small companies still running XP and Office 2003 and have not paid for new software for a long time. Their focus is usually on keeping their core business software up to date, usually some windows software specific to their type of business, and probably their accounting software. I think Windows 7 is changing that, but still it will be a few years before the move in mass happens.
I do small business support and you have described exactly the road blocks I have seen. Another example of software that excels on the PC, Dragon Naturally speeking. Lawyers and doctors use this all of the time, there is nothing on the Mac side that is close. Its these kinds of applications that are used daily by lots of people that make me laugh, when people say the iPad will replace computers.
Have you tried MacSpeech? Its made by the same people who make Dragon Naturally Speaking. There is a version of it for legal and medical. I haven't tried it myself but I was looking at it recently and it seems to get reasonably good reviews from what I have seen.
As a small business user myself I think one of the main problems is a lack of exposure. There are a lot of good business app's out there for the Mac but it's hard to find them. My local AppleStore has no business advisers instore at the weekend when I tend to visit most and they have hardly any business software available to purchase. If Apple is serious about expanding sales to small businesses they could start by creating an area within the AppleStore dedicated to business with a wide selection of business software and knowledgeable sales staff on hand.
It would also help if the AppleStore Business section had a more comprehensive list of software available. For example a search tool were you specify what type of business you run and it lists all the Mac software available for that type of business. That would be a great help.
Filemaker pro is great billing SW .And apple owns it .
9
Oh... Oh... Slaps self on forehead!
I remember looking at FileMaker on the early Macs when it was called Nutshell-- kind of a gp db in rolodex clothing.
Later, when it reemerged as FileMaker I played around some, but retired, and left the personal computer business behind-- didn't touch a computer from 1989-1996.
When I started playing around with web sites and relational databases, the hot "inexpensive" db was MS-Access. The hot real database was MS SQL Server (Sybase SQL).
FileMaker was kinda' out there... but it wasn't getting much attention. The Mac wasn't being used to host web sites and had no industrial class db (except, maybe 4D/SilverSurfer).
A friend asked if he could access his FileMaker databases using ColdFusion (a hot web application programming language, at the the time).
I said I'd give it a try. I downloaded free trial copies of FileMaker, and the ODBC interface. I fooled around for about an hour, then was up and running with ColdFusion/FileMaker. From the web programming (ColdFusion) perspective it appeared like any other SQL database-- so, no big deal.
I did notice, at the time that NutShell/Filemaker had evolved quite a bit from the "rolodex" system to a more generalized app development system-- similar, in many ways to MS-Access.
But, I was interested in the web, not the desktop-- so I moved on.
But, If, as you say "Filemaker pro is great billing SW"-- then I am quite interested.
If FileMaker has evolved into a db-centric, general-purpose Application Development System then the possibilities are fantastic!
I guess it's time for me to download and play with FileMaker!
As a small business user myself I think one of the main problems is a lack of exposure. There are a lot of good business app's out there for the Mac but it's hard to find them. My local AppleStore has no business advisers instore at the weekend when I tend to visit most and they have hardly any business software available to purchase. If Apple is serious about expanding sales to small businesses they could start by creating an area within the AppleStore dedicated to business with a wide selection of business software and knowledgeable sales staff on hand.
It would also help if the AppleStore Business section had a more comprehensive list of software available. For example a search tool were you specify what type of business you run and it lists all the Mac software available for that type of business. That would be a great help.
Filemaker has been around for a long time. I've been using it since well before it was owned by Apple. I think it's fair to call it a very mature (and cross platform) product with a large following. Consequently the number of templates available for a wide variety of tasks, business and otherwise, is huge. From my experience, it's ideal for small business database tasks because novices can become developers quite quickly. This is the appeal of Apple products for small business -- they can be used and supported in-house. Not having to pay outside consultants for that sort of thing is a very meaningful advantage that outweighs the fact that Apple hardware is not the cheapest you can buy.
I?m using Merlin, a PM app that just keeps getting better. It?s not cheap, however, its cost is a small fraction of Project. AEC?s cross-platform FastTrack Schedule was pretty kludgy until version 10, and the new version added effort-driven scheduling and now-excellent resource management. Both interchange with Project files. I?ve worked with Project for years, Merlin?s far easier to use and I get lots of complements on the layouts - and I?m the boss!
Have you tried MacSpeech? Its made by the same people who make Dragon Naturally Speaking. There is a version of it for legal and medical. I haven't tried it myself but I was looking at it recently and it seems to get reasonably good reviews from what I have seen.
A clarification - MacSpeech was very recently acquired by Nuance, a large company that’s been consolidating voice-driven applications for years (including VoiceSignal - which was the original developer of the two Nuance apps for the iPhone). Dragon was originally a Mac app selling for $5k (the legal and medical dictionaries were extra then, too). Dictate is also now using a different voice “engine” from the engine the app was using last year.
With the recent pickup of MacSpeech, Nuance will likely whip Dictate into a great application in short order, along with better integration into the MacOS. I hope.
Filemaker pro is great billing SW .And apple owns it .
That's news to me. Don't you have to write everything yourself? We use QuickBooks on Windows and it has everything all built in. Taxes, statement, receivables, payables, bank reconciliation, check printing, etc, etc. Does Filemaker do any of that out of the box? Maybe if you had lots of hours to write specific accounting scripts it might make sense. Is there a template or 3rd party Filemaker based solutions for accounting? If so please do explain. Our CPA prefers that we use QB but I'm interested in what you are talking about.
Filemaker has been around for a long time. I've been using it since well before it was owned by Apple. I think it's fair to call it a very mature (and cross platform) product with a large following. Consequently the number of templates available for a wide variety of tasks, business and otherwise, is huge. From my experience, it's ideal for small business database tasks because novices can become developers quite quickly. This is the appeal of Apple products for small business -- they can be used and supported in-house. Not having to pay outside consultants for that sort of thing is a very meaningful advantage that outweighs the fact that Apple hardware is not the cheapest you can buy.
I just downloaded a free 30-day trial of FileMaker Pro. It appears that with FMP you can:
-- interface [many] legacy desktop/server apps regardless of OS or application programming language
-- the interface is direct db connect or export/import via a variety of standard formats (XML, CSV, etc).
-- use with FileMaker Go to provide a bridge to mobile interaction to either FMP or non-FMP legacy apps
I just bought FM Go for the iPad $40. It, too, should have a free trial & I emailed them to build the case for a Free Trial Package.
I opened up FMP, imported a CSV file I got off the web. Bingo! I had a simple Inventory app.
In iTunes I moved the above FMP app/db to FMG on 2 iPads! Ca-Ching!
I can set the desktop FMP app to act as a server so that the iPads and the Mac or PC can share a common app/db. Game, Set Match.
Geez, in less than 1/2 hour, I've got a relational db custom app running on the iPad-- as a standalone iPad app or sharing data across a network with other iPads, Macs or PCs.
Apple must be planning to use FMP/FMG as a flagship for it's business/enterprise offerings.
Geez!
Let's see, A Mac Mini, AirPort Express FMP, FMG, several iPads and/or iPod Touches == one pretty damn powerful system for: inventory, billing....
Sounds like there should be a business package offering/discount in here somewhere!
That's news to me. Don't you have to write everything yourself? We use QuickBooks on Windows and it has everything all built in. Taxes, statement, receivables, payables, bank reconciliation, check printing, etc, etc. Does Filemaker do any of that out of the box? Maybe if you had lots of hours to write specific accounting scripts it might make sense. Is there a template or 3rd party Filemaker based solutions for accounting? If so please do explain. Our CPA prefers that we use QB but I'm interested in what you are talking about.
Apparently not! If you google filemaker templates you get lots of hits!
I downloaded the above and a free trial of FileMaker Pro.
It has been ages since I've paid any attention to QB or any accounting package for the Mac or PC. So, I don't know whether this is a comprehensive and competitive solution, or not.
If, you've got some time to look at these, I'd be interested in your opinion?
I am pretty excited about the possibilities and potential!
Right now, I am reconsidering some fairly difficult/comprehensive apps I was planning to develop for the iPad and iPhone/iPod Touch-- I may chose instead to offer apps that put a custom UI on FileMaker apps (AIR, there is a way to do that)..
Comments
As I outlined to them, and as some people here already see, it's not about moving Win-centric business to Apple, it's about integrating what Apple does best with Windows and business.
Besides the fact that I'm an Apple Fan-atic, even I concede the fact that Windows and it's software (1st or 3rd party) is a better investment for most businesses, considering that it's already entrenched and will be for some time.
The big question is: how will, or can, a business make use of what Apple does better than anyone else (at the moment), and that is mobility devices and platforms with iOS. Whether iPhone or iPad, or even the strong competition to follow with Android and Chrome, and possibly WM7, businesses are getting excited about adding this layer to their business processes and workflow.
Apple needs to be there out of the gate this time, big-time. I think SJ long ago conceded the enterprise market for desktops. However he and Apple see this as the next big opportunity that won't and shouldn't go wasted.
The interesting observation I've had recently, is has anyone else noticed how much sleeker iPhone, and specifically a number of iPad Apps really are, as opposed to what's available on the desktop, regardless of platform? Within the next 3-5 years, I fully expect business-class apps and solutions on mobile devices will be FAR better and numerous than those for the desktop. Inject those with data from the cloud (hopefully secure!), and the desktop won't matter so much.
Now enable all of the consumers that have these devices, to do a boatload of the "computing" themselves (+1 @DickApplebaum!), and you're at a serious ROI on a small investment... which means in investing in Open Standard best practices.
In summary, "Win-centric" will slowly fall to the wayside, and Standard-centric will take it's place. Even more so "browser-centric".
This actually was Bill G's main idea way back when, which eventually got him into trouble and why many of today's businesses are still in the "dark-ages", but kudos to him for seeing that far out. This time around though, even MS is playing nice with standards (see IE9 development).
It's not about Macs or PC's anymore, it's about the platforms and standards for building out mobile Apps and specifically web-apps... which BTW, was also SJ's main focus with iPhone 1 if anyone cares to remember. I firmly believe it's STILL his #1 passion, and a huge reason why 3rd party plug-ins will not be allowed to sully "The Vision". Many would point to Object C and the iOS SDK to refute this, but when you dig down deep, and even on the surface, it's all classes, html, CSS and Java. A developer team that I work with already has platforms and workflows in place to move Apps to Android, BB, (possibly) Win7.
Thanks go out to all those here that posted intelligent replies rather than "troll-bait"... and if I might add, for confirming quite a few of my convictions
Good question. I notices 2 of the last three medical offices I visited were running Macs. At the oral surgeon, I started up a conversation with a secretary who said they had switched over all their record keeping and scheduling to Macs (using OSX) but that they kept one Dell for billing because there was no available software (or software that didn't involve changing everything).
The final word was that everyone was happy with the switch!
There is serious money to be made here...
Filemaker pro is great billing SW .And apple owns it .
9
You make a very good point. The big gotcha is in the cost of software liscense that ms nails you with. If you take the 4 pc's in your examample and run them 24 hours a day across 3 shifts ms says you need 12 licenses for those seats not 4, at least as far as office is concerned. If you add more email adresses the fees to go beyond the basic package adds up quick.
So I guesss Apple gets you on the upfront costs and Ms nails you on a long term basis with recuring and increasing liscense fees.
In the case of shift workers you would purchase "per device" vs "per user". Microsoft has both types just for this reason, to save the business money.
I know lots of small companies still running XP and Office 2003 and have not paid for new software for a long time. Their focus is usually on keeping their core business software up to date, usually some windows software specific to their type of business, and probably their accounting software. I think Windows 7 is changing that, but still it will be a few years before the move in mass happens.
I do small business support and you have described exactly the road blocks I have seen. Another example of software that excels on the PC, Dragon Naturally speeking. Lawyers and doctors use this all of the time, there is nothing on the Mac side that is close. Its these kinds of applications that are used daily by lots of people that make me laugh, when people say the iPad will replace computers.
Have you tried MacSpeech? Its made by the same people who make Dragon Naturally Speaking. There is a version of it for legal and medical. I haven't tried it myself but I was looking at it recently and it seems to get reasonably good reviews from what I have seen.
It would also help if the AppleStore Business section had a more comprehensive list of software available. For example a search tool were you specify what type of business you run and it lists all the Mac software available for that type of business. That would be a great help.
Filemaker pro is great billing SW .And apple owns it .
9
Oh... Oh... Slaps self on forehead!
I remember looking at FileMaker on the early Macs when it was called Nutshell-- kind of a gp db in rolodex clothing.
Later, when it reemerged as FileMaker I played around some, but retired, and left the personal computer business behind-- didn't touch a computer from 1989-1996.
When I started playing around with web sites and relational databases, the hot "inexpensive" db was MS-Access. The hot real database was MS SQL Server (Sybase SQL).
FileMaker was kinda' out there... but it wasn't getting much attention. The Mac wasn't being used to host web sites and had no industrial class db (except, maybe 4D/SilverSurfer).
A friend asked if he could access his FileMaker databases using ColdFusion (a hot web application programming language, at the the time).
I said I'd give it a try. I downloaded free trial copies of FileMaker, and the ODBC interface. I fooled around for about an hour, then was up and running with ColdFusion/FileMaker. From the web programming (ColdFusion) perspective it appeared like any other SQL database-- so, no big deal.
I did notice, at the time that NutShell/Filemaker had evolved quite a bit from the "rolodex" system to a more generalized app development system-- similar, in many ways to MS-Access.
But, I was interested in the web, not the desktop-- so I moved on.
But, If, as you say "Filemaker pro is great billing SW"-- then I am quite interested.
If FileMaker has evolved into a db-centric, general-purpose Application Development System then the possibilities are fantastic!
I guess it's time for me to download and play with FileMaker!
Darn you, @brucep-- you just ruined my weekend!
.
As a small business user myself I think one of the main problems is a lack of exposure. There are a lot of good business app's out there for the Mac but it's hard to find them. My local AppleStore has no business advisers instore at the weekend when I tend to visit most and they have hardly any business software available to purchase. If Apple is serious about expanding sales to small businesses they could start by creating an area within the AppleStore dedicated to business with a wide selection of business software and knowledgeable sales staff on hand.
It would also help if the AppleStore Business section had a more comprehensive list of software available. For example a search tool were you specify what type of business you run and it lists all the Mac software available for that type of business. That would be a great help.
Have a look at this, for starters:
http://www.macsimumnews.com/index.ph..._migration/C11
The Apple "Business/Enterprise" organization could certainly build upon this.
.
I am not sure about project management software.
I?m using Merlin, a PM app that just keeps getting better. It?s not cheap, however, its cost is a small fraction of Project. AEC?s cross-platform FastTrack Schedule was pretty kludgy until version 10, and the new version added effort-driven scheduling and now-excellent resource management. Both interchange with Project files. I?ve worked with Project for years, Merlin?s far easier to use and I get lots of complements on the layouts - and I?m the boss!
Have you tried MacSpeech? Its made by the same people who make Dragon Naturally Speaking. There is a version of it for legal and medical. I haven't tried it myself but I was looking at it recently and it seems to get reasonably good reviews from what I have seen.
A clarification - MacSpeech was very recently acquired by Nuance, a large company that’s been consolidating voice-driven applications for years (including VoiceSignal - which was the original developer of the two Nuance apps for the iPhone). Dragon was originally a Mac app selling for $5k (the legal and medical dictionaries were extra then, too). Dictate is also now using a different voice “engine” from the engine the app was using last year.
With the recent pickup of MacSpeech, Nuance will likely whip Dictate into a great application in short order, along with better integration into the MacOS. I hope.
Filemaker pro is great billing SW .And apple owns it .
That's news to me. Don't you have to write everything yourself? We use QuickBooks on Windows and it has everything all built in. Taxes, statement, receivables, payables, bank reconciliation, check printing, etc, etc. Does Filemaker do any of that out of the box? Maybe if you had lots of hours to write specific accounting scripts it might make sense. Is there a template or 3rd party Filemaker based solutions for accounting? If so please do explain. Our CPA prefers that we use QB but I'm interested in what you are talking about.
Filemaker has been around for a long time. I've been using it since well before it was owned by Apple. I think it's fair to call it a very mature (and cross platform) product with a large following. Consequently the number of templates available for a wide variety of tasks, business and otherwise, is huge. From my experience, it's ideal for small business database tasks because novices can become developers quite quickly. This is the appeal of Apple products for small business -- they can be used and supported in-house. Not having to pay outside consultants for that sort of thing is a very meaningful advantage that outweighs the fact that Apple hardware is not the cheapest you can buy.
I just downloaded a free 30-day trial of FileMaker Pro. It appears that with FMP you can:
-- create self-contained db-centric custom desktop apps applications
-- interface [many] legacy desktop/server apps regardless of OS or application programming language
-- the interface is direct db connect or export/import via a variety of standard formats (XML, CSV, etc).
-- use with FileMaker Go to provide a bridge to mobile interaction to either FMP or non-FMP legacy apps
I just bought FM Go for the iPad $40. It, too, should have a free trial & I emailed them to build the case for a Free Trial Package.
I opened up FMP, imported a CSV file I got off the web. Bingo! I had a simple Inventory app.
In iTunes I moved the above FMP app/db to FMG on 2 iPads! Ca-Ching!
I can set the desktop FMP app to act as a server so that the iPads and the Mac or PC can share a common app/db. Game, Set Match.
Geez, in less than 1/2 hour, I've got a relational db custom app running on the iPad-- as a standalone iPad app or sharing data across a network with other iPads, Macs or PCs.
Apple must be planning to use FMP/FMG as a flagship for it's business/enterprise offerings.
Geez!
Let's see, A Mac Mini, AirPort Express FMP, FMG, several iPads and/or iPod Touches == one pretty damn powerful system for: inventory, billing....
Sounds like there should be a business package offering/discount in here somewhere!
.
That's news to me. Don't you have to write everything yourself? We use QuickBooks on Windows and it has everything all built in. Taxes, statement, receivables, payables, bank reconciliation, check printing, etc, etc. Does Filemaker do any of that out of the box? Maybe if you had lots of hours to write specific accounting scripts it might make sense. Is there a template or 3rd party Filemaker based solutions for accounting? If so please do explain. Our CPA prefers that we use QB but I'm interested in what you are talking about.
Apparently not! If you google filemaker templates you get lots of hits!
For example:
http://software.filestube.com/f/file...nting+template
This is a free trial (I guess).
I downloaded the above and a free trial of FileMaker Pro.
It has been ages since I've paid any attention to QB or any accounting package for the Mac or PC. So, I don't know whether this is a comprehensive and competitive solution, or not.
If, you've got some time to look at these, I'd be interested in your opinion?
I am pretty excited about the possibilities and potential!
Right now, I am reconsidering some fairly difficult/comprehensive apps I was planning to develop for the iPad and iPhone/iPod Touch-- I may chose instead to offer apps that put a custom UI on FileMaker apps (AIR, there is a way to do that)..
.
Have a look at this, for starters:
http://www.macsimumnews.com/index.ph..._migration/C11
The Apple "Business/Enterprise" organization could certainly build upon this.
.
What a great website. Thanks very much.