Apple® Automator with AppleScript® Bible

Chapter 2. Automation from a User's Perspective

IN THIS CHAPTER

• The Mac user's viewpoint

• The professional's viewpoint

• The small business owner's viewpoint

Now that you've taken the tour of automation, it's time to take a look at automation options in Mac OS X. If you're looking for the specifics of automation from a user's point of view, then this is the right place. This information should help guide you, whether you're a regular user, a designer or developer, or a small-business owner.

The Mac User's Viewpoint

Apple products are known the world over for their elegant design, clean user interfaces, and superb engineering. Mac OS X and the Aqua interface present the user with beautiful, easy-to-use screens and user interface elements. The typical Mac user is thought to be someone in the creative fields (for example, designer, photographer, videographer, or podcaster), but many others who never do the typical creative work of designing Web sites or enhancing photographs are also Mac enthusiasts.

In fact, when you look at the growing number of Mac users, you find a great deal of stay-at-home moms, retirees, students, and other regular folks. They use their Macs to surf the Web, send and receive e-mail, keep track of their calendars, listen to music, play movies, and perform all kinds of routine computing tasks.

None of these people are using their Macs to solve complex mathematical problems, take on global warming, or run a globe-spanning corporation. If you're one of them, don't despair, ...