The end of dumb software

This article was orginally published at:

In the age of rapid cycles and connected data, how long are we going to have to settle for dumb software?

Here’s the detail screen from iCal. If I write a long text to go with an appointment, the only way to see the whole thing is to hit “edit.”¬† But I don’t want to edit it, I just want to see it.

If I try to schedule an appointment for 2 pm, it requires me to not only hit the 2, but also select pm. I have never once had a meeting at 2 am. Shouldn’t it know that?

When I type in someone’s name, how come it doesn’t know that this is someone I know, correspond with and meet with often? Why isn’t it connected?

I have tens of thousands of people in my address book. Some of these folks were put there ten years ago and, alas, are dead or long gone. Do I really have to go through and delete people manually? Why isn’t my address book smart enough to sort the list in reverse order of use, so I can see records I haven’t encountered in seven years first and start from there? Or, better, why doesn’t this address book hook up with other address books of trusted peers and automatically correct and update?

The people who make desktop software are making themselves obsolete. When you start developing on the web, your default is to be smart, to interact and to be open (with other software and with your users). Desktop software (like Word) is insanely unaware of what I do, why I do it and who I do it with. Right now, the desktop folks have the momentum of the incumbent. Not for long. Time to hurry.