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The latest Mac version of America Online suffers from a bad case of the futzes. Futz, for those of you not fluent in Yiddish, roughly means to mess around with something, often messing it up. I'm afraid that's what AOL has done with version 5.0 for the Mac.
Sure, version 5.0 includes some cool new features, such as You've Got Pictures. But too often, they complicate rather than simplify the user experience. That's a shame, because simplicity has always been AOL's greatest strength.
I sense a disturbing shift in AOL strategy. Ease-of-use is no longer enough of a mantra for the online giant. Now, it wants to become a techno hotshot, introducing cool new technology ahead of the pack. That makes me a little uneasy, given that AOL has never been on the cutting edge in terms of technology. It excelled at making new technology usable for everyday people. That's sorely needed, especially online.
NICE, NOT NEW.
Don't get me wrong, version 5.0 is not a disaster, such as Microsoft's sixth version of Word, released to resounding catcalls from Mac users several years back. Microsoft had screwed up its premier Mac software by adding too many new features, many of which didn't work right, if at all. AOL 5.0 is still highly usable, although more sluggish, complex, and finicky.
But in fairness, let's first look at what works in AOL 5.0. For starters, you can now drag and drop files onto messages as attachments. I know, I know, AOL is the laggard here, since many other programs already let you drag and drop files as e-mail attachments. But it's still a nice addition to AOL. Other nice new features include a Download Manager that simplifies locating files and the ability to create seven screen names. You can now switch among these names without having to sign off and then on again. Version 5.0 also lets you view animated GIF files and listen to sounds embedded in e-mail. Once again, this is nice but not new.
My favorite new feature is You've Got Pictures. This is AOL doing the right thing, taking a technology used by professional photographers and making it available to everyday computer users. With You've Got Pictures, film dropped off for development can be e-mailed back to you.
Pretty cool, huh? AOL lists participating film developers online and on its Web site.
YOU'VE GOT PROBLEMS!
Now the bad news on AOL 5.0. At the top of my hit list is My Places, which lets you add five favorite links to AOL's Welcome screen. It's a nice idea, just poorly executed. You can only link to material within AOL and not on the Web -- even though AOL comes packaged with a built-in browser. Go figure.
Another boneheaded new feature is the search button added to AOL's main toolbar. The idea behind the button is to give users a quick and easy way to search both AOL and the Web. You type in a query in everyday words, and AOL scours the online universe for relevant links. Except what the search retrieves isn't necessarily relevant. I asked about the word processor Nisus Writer. I got back a list that included such unrelated sites as the homepage of Alvarado Elementary School in California. I'm sure Alvarado is a wonderful school, but what does it have to do with Nisus Writer? Not much I suspect.
AOL 5.0's biggest clunker is My Calendar, a feature that's supposed to be an online organizer. Disorganizer is more like it. I asked My Calendar for a list of events scheduled for July 4 in Atlanta. Instead, I got a list of all the venues in the area. I had to click on each venue listing to see who was featured. That's a pain but not as big a pain as trying to add your own scheduled events. It took five steps to create a reminder for the airing of my favorite TV show.
My advice: Unless you're a first adopter who enjoys seeing every new bell and whistle, I'd skip this latest version of AOL. Wait for version 6.0. Surely it has to be better. Right?
Haddad, Atlanta-based correspondent for Business Week, is a long-time Apple Computer buff. Follow his column every week, only on BW Online
Copyright 2000 , by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.
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