Last call for 29$ (price will go up), the 5-Pack offer, a not-so-flattering review, software becoming a commodity and several neat tips and interesting updates
Table of Contents:
Mellel News:
What's going on:
Mellel Tips:
Mellel News
Get on the M Train -- This is it, folks. With version 1.8, Mellel's price is going to be raised to 39$. The reason for the raise is simple: Mellel 1.8 will be worth it. To be totally honest with, it's already worth it, and with 1.8 including such exciting features as Outline, OpenType support, improved typography and more, Mellel will remain the best bargain in word-processing town.
I don't want to sound as if I'm prodding you to buy Mellel now (OK, just a little bit) but now does seem like a very good time if you wish to save 35 per cent when purchasing Mellel. To be sure, those of you who will buy Mellel now, before the release of version 1.8, will be able to enjoy free updates until the summer of 2007. In other words, three years.
The 5-Pack -- Which bring us, naturally enough, to point yet again to our special 5-Pack offer. A special Mellel license for 49$ which entitle you to 5 licensed copies of Mellel. A quick calculation: That's 4 times cheaper than what 5 licenses will cost once 1.8 is around.
OK, I've been the model marketing guy up to now (Marketing pros -- cease laughing at once!) so now seems like a good time for some self-beating (see below).
We're not that great... -- We didn't particularly like it, but we report them as they are, not as we would like them to be. Univers Mac, a French Mac Magazine, reviewed four word processors and gave Mellel only 3 stars (a first for us...). We're not sure why, exactly, but if you come across the review, maybe you'll be able to tell. The final verdict on Mellel stated: "Mellel will interest you if you need to write long documents, structured and complex, because of its relative simplicity, and rich advanced options."
What's Going On
Software as Commodity -- There's a new buzzword in town: Software Commodification. Key software products, claim the propagators of the Commodification buzz, will become "commodities." That is, office software, email clients, browsers, and so on will gradually become identical in their core functioning across all products and manufacturers. In other words, all the office standard software will become interchangeable, just as office clips, staplers and light bulbs are now.
There are two essential arguments supporting the claim that software is quickly becoming a commodity: one is based on financial circumstantial evidence; the other on recent developments in the software market.
The "financial" argument is based on the fact that the growth in software sales have stalled in recent years, especially when operating systems and office software are concerned. Nicholas G. Carr, for example, argues in a recent New York Times article that the slowdown in software sales growth and the fact that some companies -- and especially Microsoft -- are having a hard time convincing users to upgrade, is a sure sign that the industry is maturing. This maturing will be accompanied by an even longer update cycle and a tendency for even more standardising of office products and operating systems to the point where they are indeed interchangeable. Microsoft's decision to return $32 billion to its shareholders seem to epitomise the realisation on its part (and on the part of the industry as a whole) that there is no growth-rich path in which the industry might wish to invest its cash reserves. According to Carr, "[a]fter decades of spectacular growth, the world's most famous software company seems resigned to a more sedate middle age."
The recent development argument seem to be based on the proliferation of Microsoft Office look-alike products such as OpenOffice, NeoOffice, ThinkFree Office, and so on; as well as the growing popularity of the Linux operating system which usually mimics the appearance and "interface logic" of MS Windows. Once Open source software really mature and catch on, goes the argument, people will be able to transparently replace MS Office and Windows with Linux and OpenOffice without much of a hassle. When this happens, Microsoft will be hard pressed to convince people they ought to fill its coffers with several hundreds of dollars annually and will eventually be forced to give MS Office and Windows for free or close to that, making the operating system and core office applications part of the computer, just like the keyboard or the screen. In other words, they will become commodities.
The commodification process has already begun, of course. It can be validly argued that as far as computer hardware is concerned, it is pretty much a fait accompli. There is no significant difference between the computers churned out by Dell, HP, or Gateway. They all work with the same software and connect to the same hardware using the same ports and protocols. Much the same can be claimed regarding some of the most commonly used software products. Almost all the email clients and internet browsers allow us to send and receive files and messages or browse sites with almost identical results. Specific products may have their special advantages and shortcomings, but the core functionality is almost identical. It is not surprising to discover that most of the products here are free.
Although the commodification argument seem to make a lot of sense, there are several flows in its logic. To start, contrary to popular belief, the necessary "standardisation" basis for software is rather narrow, and do not always necessitates making software products interchangeable. Commodification is necessary where standardisation is part of the core functionality of the products. For example, a light bulb it must be of a certain size, fit into sockets of a certain type and consume a certain amount of electrical energy to be useful for home consumers. If the light bulb is to have a 3 inch wide base, for example, it would not fit into standard sockets, so standardisation of core functionality is necessary.
With many software products, such core-functionality standardisation is not needed. Image processing or drawing software products, for example, need to have a common file format with export, but their inner workings and functionality need not be similar.
Another chink in the commodification armour appears when remembering that core-functionality standardisation -- and thus commodification -- isn't necessary for many people. In word processing, for example, transparent flowing of information between co-workers is necessary for some, but much less for many others. For example, most professional writers, whether technical or creative, need to co-operate with others as part of their work process, but have a much more pressing need to have a word processor that fits their writing needs and requirements. Naturally enough, such needs cannot be met in a standard "commodity" product. Much the same can be said about other people who make their living writing, each with their unique needs and 5 inches wide light bulb.
The above arguments do not mean, of course, that a software commodification process will not take place. It will. As a matter of fact, it already does. But this process will not be as complete as the one we can see with paper clips or light bulbs mainly because of the "professionalism factor." Many software products serve a large consumer base that is only interested in a small fraction of their features, but at the same time cater for many people who use the product as their primary work tool and have a need for many other features.
In the word processing arena -- which for some obscure reason continually attracts our attention -- we can certainly expect to see a "standard" word processing application that will look and work more-or-less the same on all platforms. AppleWorks, which basically comes free with every new Mac, may give us some indication as to what level of options and power we can expect from such a commodity word processor. It is doubtful if once this commodification process is through we will have many office-copy-cats not produced by Apple, Microsoft and their ilk still running around. The outlook for specialised products that offer unique options and are tailored to the needs of professional writers seem to be much brighter.
The birth of the iPod -- A nice article in Wired about the birth of the iPod. Apparently, some people who were there from the start did not believe it will be successful and abandoned the development group just before the iPod was released. One such person, Ben Knauss, now says "[i]t was probably a mistake." Was it ever.
Mellel Tips
Three tips for using Mellel -- This month we've added several new tips to the list of tips on our site (we now have 12!). One new tip offers neat little tricks to printing small booklets, another explains how to change the date and time format inserted, and a third explains how to create envelope templates. The last is useful for learning how to use variables too.
We've also updated the fonts section quite significantly. It's a rather useful little thing.
Accordance 6.3 -- Another update to the Bible software by OakTree. See the links below for details.
Mac Sword 1.1 -- Another update to the Bible(s) browser. Read all about it in the links below.
