This is more of a comment than it is a question, but I just had to say my piece.
I recently went out and bought myself a new computer that uses Windows XP and can be upgraded to Vista. At any rate this caused me to start looking at the new office suite M$ is coming out with namely Office 2007.
Not all that long ago M$ came out with BCM (Business Contact Manager) for Outlook 2003 and I just read that starting with the Small Business version of office BCM will be included standard. BCM is M$ attempt to create their own CRM program for Outlook and after looking at it I have to say it sucks! Actually, in a sense it’s like the regular Outlook program with BCM addon built inside of it, in other words a program within a program. There is almost no way to customize anything and I couldn’t help be think of how customizable my Maximizer 9 was with user define fields, etc. For some reason it seems that the entire world are hooked on M$, and particularly Outlook, like a drug as though there was no other alternative.
I mean I just don’t get it, I still don’t really see the reason for why there needs to be so much Outlook integration in Maximizer outside of the extended Mapi feature, I mean who cares! Outlook to me, outside of email, is useless for anyone other than the average Joe who needs an address book. I picture all these people going out there an purchasing Outlook for $XXX.xx and then they have to go and by Maximizer or whatever to do what they “really” need done because Outlook can’t handle it and even though they can import their information into Maximizer they feel they have to stay with Outlook. Of course, I do realize that when the whole world seems to be using Outlook you sort of have to be able to integrate whether it make sense or not.
Then I see these other products that are for sale that to make Outlook really act like a CRM like http://www.teamscope.com/outlook/ or maybe http://www.avidian.com/ or something. The problem is cost, first you have to buy outlook and then the price of the licensing for these other products seems much higher than Maximizer and then if you want to back up your files, oh yeah, that’s another 3rd party product you’re going to have to buy. There seems to be this misconception that you cannot get by unless the product is Microsoft, but as Ernie Ball stated in Rockin On Without Microsoft: http://news.com.com/2008-1082_3-5065859.html?tag=lh
"I think it's great for me to be a technology influence. It shows how ridiculous it is that I can get press because I switched to OpenOffice. And the reason why is because the myth has been built so big that you can't survive without Microsoft, so that somebody who does get by without Microsoft is a story."
I know with Maximizer you still have to buy Outlook first if you want to use it, but at least you have the choice as Max will work with many free email programs! Integration with a Palm is talked about like Outlook is the only one that can do that seamlessly, but Max 9 sync’s with my TREO just fine thank you very much!
I just don’t get it.
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