1993 . Ecco Version 1

Since personal computers began to proliferate in offices, PC users have longed for software applications to make their workday tasks faster and easier. Spreadsheet software was the first category to fuel the sale of large numbers of computers. Database software and word processing applications followed, prompting the sales of millions of personal computers.

These three primary categories of application software have for years represented the vast majority of PC software sales. One or more of these three applications is installed on virtually every PC used in a business environment today. Their common thread is that they made tasks performed by office workers easier and faster. As a result, workers got more work done and the quality of their work improved.

Yet, virtually from the outset, owners of PCs have longed for what many of them view as the real promise of the personal computer - tools to make their lives easier to manage and more organized. This category of software, referred to as personal information management (PIM), has seen dozens of products introduced over the years. Few have survived over the long haul and fewer have attained even modest market penetration. Borland's Sidekick was the first widely used PIM. Years later, Lotus Development made a splash with the introduction of Agenda, which drew thousands of adherents only to be killed by Lotus to make way for Lotus Organizer. Polaris PackRat broadened the PIM feature set. To this day, the PIM category remains a fractured market.

With the introduction of Windows 3.0 in 1990 came new hope for the PIM category. With its multitasking, graphical user interface, Windows seemed a worthy platform to rekindle the desires of users still in search of the "perfect" PIM. The PIM category remains one of the most desirable software categories, not because of the amount product sold, but because no one has produced a product that begins to satisfy the large pent-up demand for a flexible yet powerful PIM.

One of the reasons that no single developer has emerged as dominant in the PIM category is explained in the very nature of the product. It is a personal information manager, meaning that what may be pleasing to one user may not work for another. In their efforts to provide both structure and flexibility, most PIM products have come up short. It is equally challenging to produce a product that is easy to use, yet cannot be quickly outgrown.

For most consumers, paper-based organizers are the PIM of choice. Though lacking in many regards, they have one overwhelming advantage - ease of use and the ability to make them adapt to how you work. Anyone who can write can use a paper-based organizer. What's more, they are highly portable, can be used anywhere and accommodate a variety of information organized according to your needs. Where they fail is in their inability to relate the information by arranging it in a meaningful and usable context. The information you need is written somewhere in your organizer, but you won't necessarily be able to find it quickly.

It is in the latter area that computer users for years have felt unfulfilled. They want all the information they have traditionally kept in their paper-based organizers, but they want to use the power of the PC to make that information meaningful and therefore more useful. They want this information, when viewed in different contexts, to help make their lives more manageable and their work more meaningful and productive. While there is a certain amount of value in raw data, i.e. phone numbers, recurring appointments, prioritized to-do lists, it is attempts to integrate the data that continue to spur the development of new PIMs.

Today's PIM Environment

Today's PIM environment is populated by a number of applications. Despite their various approaches to the problem, all have a common attribute. They all use a database metaphor. While they function well as filing systems, they do not handle unrelated bits of random information well. Because of their database roots, virtually all of today's PIMs are form based. Unfortunately, information doesn't come to users organized in neat forms. Nor are forms the easiest way to enter information into a PIM.

Today's users are bombarded by random bits of information ranging from contact names and phone numbers to appointments and reminders. This information comes from many directions, including other applications such as electronic mail. Users not only want to be able to record this information quickly and easily, but they then want to be able to organize this information in ways that are meaningful and contextual.

The PIM category has never realized its full potential considering the pent-up demand that many industry observers believe exists. No PIM product has ever achieved the kind of market acceptance of a best-selling core application.

The Arabesque Team Shares a Common Vision

Arabesque Software Inc. founders Pete Polash and Bob Perez share a common vision. Since their involvement in the early days of the personal computer industry, they have searched for "the perfect PIM." It was their belief in the potential for the PIM category that brought them together.

"In my everyday work, I've always wanted something that would handle tasks, information, outlines and give me a chance to categorize and cross-reference this information," said Polash. "I tried a lot of programs on the market, but nothing seemed to do what I wanted."

It isn't enough, however, to merely record diverse information so that it can be retrieved later. This information must be cross-referenceable for it be relevant. This requires a new breed of PIM.

Polash and Perez shared an interest in intuitive products that provide usable power for people. If you can't get the information into the PIM easily, no one will use it. Most PIMs gather information and create lists. But simple lists have little meaning. Arabesque sought to create a PIM that reflects the user's natural sense of significance as the information comes in and is organized and viewed. The information is built up in its own natural form.

The lack of a truly good information manager has limited the true potential of personal computers. Arabesque believes users are hungry for a PIM that will simplify the administration of their lives.

A New Information Management Metaphor

Arabesque chose outlining as the basic metaphor for ECCO Professional. But outlining is more than just a feature. Arabesque incorporates universal outlining into each of its productivity modules. Polash pioneered the use of outlining in Persuasion, Aldus Corp.'s best-selling business presentations program for the Apple Macintosh. Other leading business presentation applications have since adopted outlining.

Polash has always used outlines as a major tool. In Persuasion, outlining was not an additional feature. It became a way of thinking about presentations. It automated the process that before was done one slide at a time. An outline allows users to see the most information quickly by collapsing and expanding the outline from macro to micro context. Combined with the database metaphor it is possible to bring diverse information together. It's this combination of outlining and database metaphors that is well suited for finding and understanding everyday information.

Outlining puts information in context. It indicates how information relates to other information and it puts this information in an order of importance. Inherently, outlines are an easier way to facilitate the thinking process than other means. Because outlining is very visual; relationships between ideas become very evident. What makes ECCO different from other PIMs is its combining of all of the best benefits of a structured database oriented PIM with outlining. Arabesque calls this new metaphor Dynamic Context information management. PIMs have always been able to manage small amounts of information, but if you want to manage large amounts of information it becomes more difficult.

The Arabesque development team subscribes to the notion that for many computer users the right PIM will become the central application around which other applications revolve. It believes users will spend most of their day in such a product, making occasional excursions to e-mail, a word processor or a spreadsheet.

Integration Across Applications

PIMs have never gained critical mass because while some have made ambitious strides to integrate with other applications, none have succeeded. Information comes to a user in many forms and from many directions. And various forms of e-mail are becoming increasingly important means of sharing information.

To be truly valuable, a user must be able to store, categorize and cross-reference all of this information, not just that information that conveniently fits into a database form. That means it must be easily moved into the PIM from other applications. And once the information has been moved into the PIM, it must be easy to organize and relate it to other information, sometimes in more than one context.

Arabesque's founders believe that no PIM can achieve broad following until it can address this issue of desktop integration. Arabesque's innovative technology used in its Shooter(TM) feature was specifically developed to address the problem of moving items of information from other applications into the information manager. Not only does it move information "on-the-fly," but it organizes it in the same manner.

To be broadly accepted, a PIM must become more than just another application. It should also help users think about problems, analyze them from different perspectives and reach better decisions. The Shooter feature provides the kind of tight integration necessary to make the PIM a user's principal application.

Mobile Information Is More Valuable Information

Mobility, or lack of it, is another problem PIMs have faced. While users may keep a wealth of information in their PIM, it is of no benefit when they are not working at their computers.

Many previous attempts at mobility have fallen short of the mark. Paper printouts of calendars, to do lists and phone books don't work because they provide only a slice of the total information contained in an information manager. PIMs that are truly the center of a user's daily activities must be mobile.

The industry is in the midst of a stampede to mobile computers in all shapes and sizes. Form factors from small palmtops to notebooks are gaining capabilities and declining in price. With the proliferation of such affordable mobile platforms, users will be increasingly reticent to accept a handful of paper printouts when they can have their whole information base at their fingertips.

Arabesque is introducing its first product at a propitious time - as mobile platforms become more capable and more widely used. In the past, compelling software applications have fueled the acceptance of new computer platforms (VisiCalc and the Apple II; Lotus 1-2-3 and the IBM PC). The PIM category is destined to provide the same "reason to buy" for notebook and sub-notebook form sizes.

The Value of Sharing Information

Just as categorizing and organizing information makes it more valuable to an individual, sharing information among groups of people is critical in today's increasingly collaborative work environment. E-mail is an emerging enabling technology because it promotes understanding and enhances productivity.

A well-integrated information manager is the perfect complement to e-mail. Exchanging information in the form of e-mail over a network is valuable enough, but the ability to incorporate that information into an information management system where it can be organized, categorized and cross- referenced is a powerful and addictive concept.

Workgroup information managers must accomplish other critical tasks, including group scheduling and calendar management. But merely confirming the meeting is not enough. People need to prepare for the meeting and that means having an agenda in advance and all the other relevant supporting information necessary to make the meeting productive. Therefore, the information manager must be flexible enough to accomplish more than merely scheduling the meeting.

The meeting agenda should become a living document, forming the basis for follow-up, and tracking individuals' responsibilities. Thus, the information manager becomes the hub of daily activity. It not only is a place to find information, but is a management tool that facilitates decision making and enhances productivity.

The Emergence of the "SuperPIM"

This sets the stage for the emergence of a new breed of information management software that is able not only to track and compile information, but surround it with the context necessary for it to have real value. Information viewed in the context of related information becomes extremely powerful. It is this ability to create meaningful relationships among items of information that forms the basis of a decision-making tool.

Arabesque believes that its products will lead the emergence of this category of information management software, a category that extends the basic description of the PIM with a superset of features. Arabesque refers to this new software category as the SuperPIM.

In addition to traditional PIM features such as calendar, phone book, to-do list, project management, etc., the SuperPIM includes Dynamic Notes, OLE client support, context-based information and the ability to view information from various perspectives. Information may be entered anywhere - the phone book, calendar or outline - and viewed in the way that is most meaningful.

It is this powerful capability to view information in the context of related information that separates PIMs from SuperPIMs.

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