Sage On A Thumb Drive

Though the folks at CPA Technology Advisor kindly allow me to drift into tech subjects that are not always accounting related, I nonetheless do write review of accounting software and services. And I have been holding my breath waiting for the day that software companies would make the shift from the Eighties technology of CDs into something more modern.

For those who are spring-loaded to the “Cloud” position, I am not talking about the ability to download from the Internet, or to use a SaaS service. Both are useful technologies, and have their place in current technology. But what I am really getting at is putting software on an SD card or thumb drive.

Why?

There are times that you suffer a crash. Hard drive shot, or worse, and the newest backup you have in spite of all of the nagging of people like me is six months old and you have to get a system up and running right away. Or perhaps you just don’t like the fact that your mega-accounting system takes 18 CD disks to load.

The point is that is time to ditch the 25-year-old compact disk format for something easier, cleaner and less expensive to press and ship. And to ditch the need for a CD/DVD reader and burner in our otherwise compact machines, just as we ditched the 3.5-inch floppy drive a couple of years ago.

Which is why, when looking at the newest version of Sage Peachtree, I was delighted to see it distributed on a pair of thumb drives. Neat. Concise. Vastly easier to store.

I can understand why they did not go the SD route — if you have ever used SD cards or memory sticks, you know how easy they are to misplace. USB thumb drives are simple and inexpensive, harder to lose.

I’m hoping this is a trend that catches on, and that we will see a myriad of software available on this format as an option, if not as the sole format. Would not hurt a bit if the film and music industries followed suit with their products, either.

For now I will simply tip my hat to Sage Software for being a trend-setter, and go back to wondering why other companies do not see the logic in moving into the 21st Century…