The Washington Times reviews Filemaker’s Bento: ‘Simple, uncomplicated and really, really useful’

“Long ago and far away — about 1982 or 1983 — there was a database called Nutshell which used the simple metaphor of index cards to let you store and use information. I remember Nutshell fondly even if it and the MS-DOS platform that supported it are only fit for computer museums,” Mark Kellner reports for The Washington Times.

“A Macintosh version of Nutshell evolved into the successful software program FileMaker, which I think is one of the better database programs around, available for both Macs and Windows-based PCs. However, the sheer force of power that today’s FileMaker Pro represents may be too much for some users who — like those long ago Nutshell fans — want to keep it simple,” Kellner reports.

“What goes around in computing may indeed come around: Not long ago, FileMaker Inc., the Apple software unit that publishes the eponymous database, released what could be called the 21st-century version of Nutshell, only this time for Macs running the latest OS X version and with some very spiffy graphics. Called Bento, the $49.95 program harkens back to what software once was: simple, uncomplicated and really, really useful,” Kellner reports.

Full review here.