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February 07, 2006
iPod early warning?
While we're on the subject of complexity, a pretty grim 'early warning' appeared in the weekend's New York Times for Apple. The author recounted terrible service experiences he had had with the iconic iPod, which I can share. My beloved husband bought me a video iPod for Christmas and I can't get it to synchronize the way the manual says it should. I've called twice, been emailed, tried all the suggested remedies and am on the verge of sending it back.
Meanwhile, mp3 players are starting to catch up in functionality, creating a big opportunity.
Although nobody yet has cracked 'cool' the way Apple has, the battle is forming on two fronts. On the one hand, more and more of the attributes that gave Apple its wow factor can be replicated with more pedestrian players. On the other, Apple's failure to properly support a mass-market consumer product with excellent service is going to create rage, making an opening for an aggressive new entrant. This is problem when you have made your name on the basis of a superior customer experience. I mean, people expect poor service from many providers in the information business. We thought Apple was going to be different. A customer scorned will look elsewhere.
Posted by Rita at 01:10 PM | Comments (0)
Quickbooks down for the count
I promised to let you all know how I made out with "Quickbooks" accounting software from Intuit. Well, I tried it for all last year. I even bought the simple start edition. I am here to tell you that the whole thing is WAY too complicated for a pretty straightforward set of needs.
For starters, the program requires that you learn about its infrastructure before you can do anything -- general ledger entries, different types of accounts, impenetrable customer files, etc. Second, you have to do a lot of up front data entry work. Third, it simply isn't set up for a business like mine in which my personal checking account is not just for business, so all the cash flow stuff is pretty messed up. There is no intuitive way to find all the bits and pieces that make up a complete record (expenses are stored in one place, invoices in another, payments in another...) so its hard to track back.
Anyway, with some regret since I did make the investment of time, I'm going back to a simple excel spreadsheet.
I do use Intuit's Quicken offering for my checking account, and find that useful, but for business, too much complexity.
Posted by Rita at 01:05 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
