On Monday, I wrote about viewing my time and effort as limited resources. When a piece of technology, hardware or software, starts taking too long to use, I look for alternatives.
The time to learn and use a simple alternative for one task is often shorter than making a more complicated program do that task.
(AutoCAD was infamous for this in the 1990s and 2000s, it could do almost anything if you took the time to figure out how. I’ve never set up ERP systems, or even simpler inventory systems, but I’ve talked many people who spent far more time managing their ERP / inventory / POS systems than they ever spent managing paper records. And Microsoft Excel has its own eSports World Excel Championships, which was broadcast on ESPN2.)
First example: word processors and spreadsheets.
I didn’t use Microsoft Office for several months, a few years back. I logged in to Microsoft Windows with a different email than I’d used to purchase a Microsoft Office subscription. Microsoft was very concerned. I was constantly asked by Microsoft Office if I wanted to change my account. (No, I did not.) I got “Microsoft account problem” warnings from Microsoft Windows. Then I got stuck in the maelstrom of Windows wants Windows Hello, Windows Hello wants facial recognition or a fingerprint sensor, and said the heck with this.
There are a ton of things Microsoft Office can do. I wanted a simpler word processor. So, I downloaded LibreOffice. It installs fast. I don’t get any Microsoft account errors. The program does occasionally crash, so I save often. That’s the only drawback I’ve found. Now, I only buy a Microsoft Office subscription when I need to use a Microsoft Office document or spreadsheet with features only Microsoft Office supports.
Second example: photo resizing and watermarking.
I use a digital camera which creates large files. I’m not going to ask my friends to download huge photo files when they want to look at my pictures. I could use a photo editing program like Photoshop or GIMP to edit each photo, decreasing the file size and adding a watermark with my name and the year. I could learn how to create macros in a photo editing program.
I downloaded AVS4You instead. There are lots of other alternatives, I use AVS4You, use whatever you want. The photo resizing program (technically the image converter) from AVS4You is free to download. I load the photos, set file name modifications, file size modifications, watermark, and which directory for the new files.
No, I don’t get any compensation from any program or company I mention using. You can use whatever you want, I’m using examples of what works for me.