Rodent Regatta

About a month ago, we discussed Order. Bringing order to life in an orderly way seems to get more challenging each day. I’ve never spent much time using Outlook Express, but I have been a long-time user of Outlook.

Because my life (and work) are about projects, I carry a Treo 650. Before that I carried a PDA of one type or another. For a Palm, palmtop or Treo, the synch between the device and Outlook has been flawless for a decade or more.

Weaknesses remain. These devices are too small to browse the Internet, research articles, write and do web design work. Weaker still are the techniques for managing projects at such a small scale. I have a rather finely tuned project management methodology that has served me well for a long time. Documents, spreadsheets, project management applications, email, contacts, calendars and prioritization tools are all part of the suite. Currently, a laptop is the only tool that really makes that suite mobile. When collaboration leading to a launch date is essential, the tools cannot be weak.

Alternatives to my trusted methods are creeping over the horizon, but what will they really permit? Will one of them emerge or will you still need a meshed suite of hardware and software? Here’s a glimpse of my radar screen:

• Joyent – can one web app do it all?
• Origami – is this a WinTel wifi viewer to web apps?
• 37Signals – is this where collaboration is headed?
• Google – Google this and Google that
• Strongspace – part of the suite or its foundation?

What do I really want? It may boil down to a lean, light Mac of some (upcoming design) with one or more web apps at the core.