Bento is a great companion for iPad: both of them demonstrate the beginning of a new chapter in software development. I know we've periodically had new chapters in software development (game changers, killer apps, and The Next Big Thing--all thousands of them), but this time it's real.

Don't take my word for it, take a look at the software. Bento on the Mac (it doesn't run on Windows), is a terrific personal database. The folks at FileMaker put their decades of database expertise into a new product that defines a specific space and fills it with features. You can see it in action here.

The low cost, shorter development time, and ease of use make apps extremely attractive to non-profits and government organizations as well as to their for-profit colleagues. As is the case with any organization, there's often a bureaucracy as well as established policies and procedures that can make the use of new technologies such as apps a challenge.