So I have this freshly installed Windows XP virtual machine and I needed to install a PDF reader. I used to use Foxit Reader, but I always have problems with the toolbars staying arranged in the right places, so that’s out.  So I headed to Adobe’s site to get their reader.  Immediately, I noticed that the installer package contains Acrobat.com running on top of Adobe AIR (which I don’t have installed, so it’s nice enough to do that for me, too).  Seriously?  I just want the damn PDF reader.  So I suck it up and click “OK”.

What happens next is what really blew my mind. I get prompted by Firefox to install the “Adobe Download Manager”. Download Manager?  Seriously? I’ve already got a download manager…it’s called Firefox.  So I dig a little deeper to see why they’re using this.  In their FAQ, they say they’re using to “allow you to pause and resume large downloads”.  Large downloads, huh?  Like a 40mb PDF reader? Bottom line here, is whatever happened to just clicking a link that says “download”?

I guess it was inevitable, given how their install processes for the Creative Suite programs have gotten out-of-hand.  But seriously, all those hoops to just get a PDF reader?  On my Mac at work, I can use Quick Look by hitting Space on a PDF icon and instantly  see the PDF.  Instantly, no splash screen for the reader, just the PDF, open right in front of me in a fraction of a second.  Just sayin’…

Oh well, Adobe’s slowly going the Microsoft route, and I guess there’s nothing that can be done about it.

This doesn’t mean I’m leaving PHP in the dust – I still use it extensively at work, with no plans of stopping anytime soon – but I just have a feeling this is a language I would like to work in. Python’s syntax is similar to Ruby’s (at least at first glance), and from what I’ve read it outperforms Rails by quite a bit.

The project that I’m going to cut my Django teeth on is my wife and I’s blog: www.rustyandben.com. I talked briefly about overhauling the site a few months ago, but some other higher priority projects came up. I’m getting to the point now, however, where I can start working on it again. I’ll be re-designing and developing from scratch (obviously maintaining all data), so it makes the perfect opportunity to try out Django. I’ll be upgrading my Media Temple hosting to a virtual dedicated server so that I can have root-level access in order to install whatever software I want. This, in turn, will allow me to try out a couple other technologies I’ve been wanting to check out: SQLite (a lightweight flat-file database system) and Lighttpd (a lightweight and fast HTTP server). More on those as I assess their feasibility.

I’ll be posting about all this again soon, as I’m planning on writing a series of posts about the creation of the site.

Ubuntu Linux is, in my opinion, the most accessible and usable version of Linux out there. I’ve been dual-booting with Ubuntu for about a year now, and I started out by trying the previous version of Wubi. I had so much fun with Ubuntu that I decided to go ahead and get another hard drive and install the OS the proper way. Not that Wubi is a lesser version of the OS – it isn’t – but since it installs to your Windows hard disk, it’s not a “real” install. There have been some minor bugs with Wubi (it is a beta product), but I’ve encountered none of them personally.

Moral of the story, if you’ve wanted to try Linux but were afraid to, there’s no longer a reason to be afraid. A nice bonus to using Linux: It’s uber-secure, and worrying about viruses and spyware is a thing of the past. I don’t even have any anti-virus or anti-spyware installed on my installation of Linux.

Enjoy.

Update: I should’ve mentioned that Wubi is a Windows only app. Not sure if there are any alternatives for OS X or not.

Ryan Carson wrote a post recently about PR people, and he quoted Robert Stephens (founder of Geek Squad):

“Marketing is the price you pay for being unremarkable.”

I love sayings like that. Simple, true, and inspirational. I had never really thought about it, but it’s true. You only need to market yourself if you don’t otherwise stand out in the crowd. He references another small team, 37signals, who are also uniquely remarkable. They create simple, useful apps for small businesses. They’re not for everybody, but for the people that use them they’re a godsend (most of them anyway).

I think we need more companies like Carsonified and 37signals. We need to move away from larger market-dominating companies that try to please everybody with overly complex software, and move towards smaller companies that meet the needs of smaller groups. If there are enough of these small companies going after certain market segments, people will end up being happier in the long run. At least I think so.

I know it’s just a pipe-dream, but I think we’d truly be better off with fewer big companies, and more smaller companies.

That is all.

The problem as I see it, is in the design of the software itself – and by the way, when I say design, I mean more than just the look and feel. Design is so much more, but that’s a topic for another post. There are two parts to the design problem: the visual design, and what is commonly known as “feature creep”, and they’re very closely related. The visual design part of the problem is a direct result of being low on the totem pole. The top priority is almost always new features.

One of the most basic principles of good design is to keep simple things simple, and to not over-complicate already complex systems. Enterprise software packages seem to typically over-complicate things by integrating as many new features as possible in order to please the customer base and get them to upgrade and continue paying for support. This feature creep is what makes the design completely secondary. I’m sure the manufacturers have good intentions at first, thinking that they’ll upgrade and tweak the design, but inevitably people will just want more features, and those trump the design in order to keep the money coming in. Some of you might be asking, why do you care so much about the design, all that matters are the features, and if it works? Well, here’s my opinion on the design: some people get it and some don’t. Intuitive, visually appealing software is going to make me enjoy using your product a little more, hopefully making me more productive and relying on your product. Some companies get this right, like 37signals. They make simple, easy-to-use software that’s a joy to use because of its slick visual design and intuitive functionality. I use a couple of their products and I love them. (Side note: We’re a little too large an organization to be able to use the 37signals products at work, and they don’t quite meet all our requirements). Anyway, I think the long term benefits of designing your product better are greater than just throwing every possible feature into your product that you can.

Another aspect of enterprise software that is slightly annoying to me is how a lot of them seem to try and make their product look like a Microsoft product. Yes, yes, I understand that making it look like this way will make most business users a little more comfortable, because they are likely already using products that look similar to it. But damn if it’s not annoying.

So, at the end of the day, you’ve got software that you can live with, but you don’t really enjoy using it. It seems like it shouldn’t have to be this way. Why can’t you spend the time to make your product a joy to use, testing it with real users, and then concentrate on adding more features.

Meh, it makes sense in my head, at least.