June 20, 2011
When I wrote reviews for MacWEEK magazine in the mid-‘90s, some of my favorite productivity applications (not apps, thank you) included QuicKeys, Now Up-to-Date, PopupFolder, PopChar, TypeIt4Me, FreeHand, TypeStyler, Typestry, ClarisImpact, ClarisWorks, Stacker, PageMill, SendExpress, SttuffIt (for which I paid the original shareware fee in person), Common Ground, Arrange and a number of utilities from Now Software, AlSoft and Connectix.
But perhaps the one that was my favorite was In Control by Attain. (A competitor, Fair Witness by also-defunct Chena Software, had more features, but for some reason I liked In Control better.) In Control was a multi-columned outliner, kind of a cross between an outliner and a spreadsheet, and I found it an incredibly helpful tool for organizing a wide range of personal and professional projects.
For those exclusively on Apple platforms, OmniOutliner is the heir apparent to In Control and has taken the concept to the next level while preserving the elegance of that classic Mac program. Unfortunately for those who use multiple platforms,, the software – like other Omni Group products – is staying on Apple platforms. Developer Ken Case cites his devotion to producing the best software possible as a justification for not moving onto other platforms, and yet the company has had great success with its iPad app, selling 100,000 copies in the first three weeks (which is particularly impressive given its $20 price tag, about the same as, for example, Pages and Numbers combined).
I find it hard to believe that Omni Group couldn’t scale up to produce high-quality software on multiple platforms. Apple, for example, has cited the excellent, cross-platform Evernote (not a bad modern-day substitute for Arrange) as an example of a product that has had great success in its Mac App Store. Also, if Omni Group’s idea is to service Apple users, it should keep in mind that, increasingly, more of them – particularly iPad owners – are living in a cross-platform world. But it is certainly the company’s prerogative to stay on the Apple platform, which has rewarded it greatly for its support since the days it was one of a handful of NeXT developers.
So, my search continues for a cross-platform, cloud-synced alternative to OmniOutliner. It is the One Mac App I would most like to see on Android and particularly on Windows although I realize I probably won’t find anything as elegant or capable. (The One Windows App I would most like to see on the Mac is Live Writer.) I would certainly be elated to see multi-columned outlines supported as an Evernote note type. Until then, suggestions via comments or Twitter are of course welcome.
Tags: attain, fair witness, in control, multi-columned outline, omni group, omnioutliner, pims, porting
June 21st, 2011 at 1:03 am
Actually, I submit Evernote as a great example in favor of Omni’s point. It’s a good service, and I’m a premium member. But it’s iOS app for iPhone (not the iPad version) is the only one I would consider calling great or–more key to Omni’s point–a great, native app to the platform. Evernote doesn’t feel at home on almost any other platform I use it on, including Mac and Windows 7. They’ve made some good efforts to build UIs that fit into each platform and yet stay true to the core Evernote experience, and I commend them for that.
But the entire point of creating a separate platform is to provide a unique and superior experience that you believe a competitor cannot match. By nature, platform providers are creating robust roadblocks to keep good experiences in, and other experiences out.
That’s a tough challenge for software makers these days. Just look at any app that isn’t Adobe CS to see how well the experience holds up between platforms (and Adobe only has to worry about two platforms which, by comparison, are rather slow in their pace of growth and change). Even Microsoft Office doesn’t hold up well between OS X and Windows–it seems that most people prefer one, and don’t have many nice things to say about the other.
And once you get into the complexity of Omni’s apps, the rich functionality they pack, and the polished experience they provide, I’m not at all surprised that the company had to draw the line where it did. They’re probably the most feature-packed apps outside Adobe and Microsoft suites, and I doubt Omni has anywhere near the manpower of either.
June 21st, 2011 at 1:38 am
Great points, David, but Apple cited Evernote’s entry in the Mac app store so it can’t be too much of an embarrassment. I agree the Windows version has a somewhat eccentric UI, but it gets better once you switch to the “traditional” Windows look, i.e., separate menu bar. I’d say it’s no more out-of-place than, say, IE9, and that lives only on Windows.
Also, with all due credit to OmniOutliner, it’s no Photoshop or Excel in terms of scope.