Kee Hinckley on Nostr: I have to write a letter today. Remember those? On paper, with a stamp, to the post ...
I have to write a letter today. Remember those? On paper, with a stamp, to the post office? My daughter called me up once, maybe 15 years ago, while she was away at high school, to ask me how to address one. It's a lost art.
But it reminded me of one my favorite niche "do one thing, and do it right" Mac applications. I think it was called LetterWriter. That was certainly what it did. It was a tiny word processor meant just for writing letters. It knew how to address and print envelopes using your address book, and it knew how to do a saluation and signature. Otherwise it was a basic word processor with basic formatting controls, and it just created a standard RTF file.
And it was so much easier and less stressful than launching Word, AppleWorks, Nisus, Mellel, or whatever the big word processors du jour were. (Although those last two are great apps, and amazingly, still around.) It wasn't just the instantaneous launch time, it was the simplicity and focus. I miss apps like that.
I don't have nearly as many as I used to, but what are your favorite "single simple task" apps? I'll stick to Mac, but you don't have to.
LicenseKeeper
An excellent tool for tracking software licenses. You can drop an app on it and it will preload the fields. You can drop an email on it and it will store a copy and try to extract the license and price info. Yes, 1Password can do this too, but not as smoothly.
AppZapper
Drop an app you want to trash on it, and it finds and offers to delete all the related files.
BeatGauge
Drop an audio file on it and it estimates the BPM and updates the metadata.
But it reminded me of one my favorite niche "do one thing, and do it right" Mac applications. I think it was called LetterWriter. That was certainly what it did. It was a tiny word processor meant just for writing letters. It knew how to address and print envelopes using your address book, and it knew how to do a saluation and signature. Otherwise it was a basic word processor with basic formatting controls, and it just created a standard RTF file.
And it was so much easier and less stressful than launching Word, AppleWorks, Nisus, Mellel, or whatever the big word processors du jour were. (Although those last two are great apps, and amazingly, still around.) It wasn't just the instantaneous launch time, it was the simplicity and focus. I miss apps like that.
I don't have nearly as many as I used to, but what are your favorite "single simple task" apps? I'll stick to Mac, but you don't have to.
LicenseKeeper
An excellent tool for tracking software licenses. You can drop an app on it and it will preload the fields. You can drop an email on it and it will store a copy and try to extract the license and price info. Yes, 1Password can do this too, but not as smoothly.
AppZapper
Drop an app you want to trash on it, and it finds and offers to delete all the related files.
BeatGauge
Drop an audio file on it and it estimates the BPM and updates the metadata.