I just stumbled across MOApp, a German developer of custom applications for Mac OS X. They are small enough to run on USB drives, and most are only $4-5 via PayPal.
meinKOPP: note-taker
iSTK: GTD time management
Schreiben: word processor
Schreiberling: fiction/screenplays (mini-Scrivener)
Recherche: web-based research & notes
The developer offers a suite of 6 apps for only $8.95
He’s asking for translators to put the apps into other languages.
An interesting idea, although I’d argue fairly limited in scope, if you think about it…
This is a fairly common thing among Linux distros - there are a number of self-contained ‘LinuxOS on a flash disk’ distros that are designed for the techy/writer/whoever on the run. The advantage of these is that they’re completely location/computer independent - you boot from the flash drive, into your own OS, save your files to the flash drive, and run everything from the flash drive. You never touch the operating system or files of the host computer…you’re just using its keyboard, processor, and monitor like a high-powered dummy terminal.
Meaning, you could run around the world with no computer, sitting in net cafes, and still take your work and your environment with you.
This is a similar idea, but not quite. They’re just the applications, not the operating system and environment. And they’re Cocoa apps, meaning they only run on a Mac. And as much as I love my Macs, if I was blogging around Asia with no computer on me, I wouldn’t want to rely on a 'net cafe carrying a couple of iMacs.
So this gives you some portability - the license-free concept means you can hop between macs without worrying - but not the sort of portability you’d NEED a flash drive for. After all, Scrivener is only 30MB or so - I’d happily put it on a flash drive and use it that way if I had to, relying on Keith’s generous 5 computer license (I’m not likely to see that many different simultaneous macs in my writing lifetime) and using the app I already like
Still, I must say I do like the guy’s style. ‘Own your own apps - name it, reconfigure it, change the icon…buy it once than do what you like with it’. It’s a good idea, and I wish him well
myownapp.com/
Not everybody in these forums are as thick skinned as I am.