Several Mac-oriented software developers have banded together to offer a collection of their wares in a back-to-school bundle called MacToSchool. For US$49.95, students, parents and teachers get over $300 worth of educational and scholarly programs from now until mid-September.
While most people buying for the new school year remember the standard technology fare: computers, printers, blank CDs/DVs and even iPods, most don’t even think about the software needed to make that technology cost-effective. “Most technology is bought in hopes of staying on the right side of the digital divide. We put together the package for students and educators to deepen that divide and be more productive with their computers,” said Alfonso Guerra, president of Apokalypse Software Corp., one of the developers participating in the program.
Geoff Pado, of Elgebar Studios put it this way, “Back to school is a tough time for teachers, too. But they don’t get a lot of the good deals that students do. A lot of the apps in MacToSchool can be used to teach as well as to study, but I entered Pencils Down as a gift specifically targeted at teachers.” Other developers participating in MacToSchool are AtomicBird LLC, Black Cat Systems, Hog Bay Software, Lucerne Systems, Saltatory Software and Seosoft Systems, Inc.
MacToSchool includes the full-screen word processor WriteRoom; Mori, the digital notebook; Horizon for financial-modelling, Pencils Down, for educators and others creating tests; and the periodic table oriented AtomicMac and units-converter iUnit for reference purposes.
The software making up the MacToSchool bundle aren’t just for schoolwork, either. There are also applications included in MacToSchool to be used for schoolwork, but are focused on personal management: nutritional database and log book Diet Sleuth, the genealogical/lineage-tracing Family, and alarm clock/timer Clockwork. In addition, the bundle gives computer users the tools to look after their data: Macaroni for system maintenance and data-encryption utility Exces. And finally, just for fun, SoundByte Lite keeps favorite music and sound effect files a click away for use in class presentations, theater productions, sporting events and tv and radio shows.
The MacToSchool bundle was organized and set up by the software developers themselves to solve two problems in the Mac market: how to bring the small, unknown developer and the end-user together, and how to provide a venue to showcase the talents of the small developer.
More info here.
This stuff is pretty nice, but really most software is moving online where it belongs. I teach Chemistry and Physics in Dallas, TX, and while I use the classroom computers regularly, I tend to drift toward online offerings by Curriculum writers. It is typically just as good as what you can do with computer based software. And it is typically cheaper and easier to implement.
Steve Jobs was right when he closed off the iPhone to developers. Keep software on servers, and use your hard drive for music.
Scratch that. This stuff sucks pretty bad. I just downloaded PencilsDown and frankly I can make tests much better and easier using Pages. There isn’t even a way to do Matching.
I respect the little software guy, but for $50 I expect something I couldn’t do with notepad.
I am not sure whether this random collection of goodies is a good thing.
Several of the titles seem to have free widget equivalents!
Besides, this is a move reminiscent of PCs that are preloaded with all kinds of software that may never get used. (On a Mac, however, this isn’t as objectionable as on a PC, in that uninstalling on the Mac is so much easier — just drag the application in the Trash; you won’t mess up your registry when something goes wrong, because Macs don’t have such a thing)
I wasn’t interested in any of the offerings there.
My money better spent on iLife’08.
f
Dallas,
As the developer of Pencils Down, I’d like to know how it can be made better. Contact me at pado -at- elgebar.com, and I’ll hook you up with a beta that can do Matching questions.
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