A Database for humans (even creative ones)
Databases are one of those things most often shrouded in arcane technical mystery. For those who've yet to utilize a database in a personal or meaningful way, it s easy to dismiss them as belonging to IT nerds and the heavy demands of major corporations needing to keep track of vast amounts of data.
Stalwarts of database software developers, Filemaker Pro, have made a new effort at humanizing database software with Bento, a software app designed specifically for personal users and developed exclusively for Mac OSX Leopard. Bento aims at presenting an open framework that can be assembled to meet specific users needs while retaining template based drag-and-drop functionality. To a very large degree Bento achieves this balance, keeping flexibility and accessibility in equal measure.
In broad terms, the key purpose of a database is to act not so much as a place to store information but rather, more importantly, a means by which information can be retrieved and found, sorted and arrayed. A database is more about data management then data storage. But of course, as the old saying from movie editors the world over goes, ?Garbage in Garbage out. Any database is only as useful as the reliability of the information you put in.
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Posted at 12:00AM May 21, 2008
by Mike Jones in technology |
