Tracking packages on a Mac
I just ordered iWork ’08 from Apple. When you get the confirmation e-mail, there’s a tracking number. In Europe, Apple use TNT, but the TNT web page was crap (I couldn’t even find a tracker search box!). So I downloaded the Delivery status widget. Amazing piece of software!!
When you enter a tracking number, it has options for how often it should check. And it supports Growl. So now I know that my iWork-package is at Heathrow, and once an hour Delivery Status will alert me with Growl. Just brilliant.
Delivery Status supports just about any way to deliver a package there is (except pigeons):
- Adobe.com (US and Canada)
- Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.co.jp, Amazon.de, Amazon.at, and Amazon.fr
- Apple.com (including all international stores)
- Canada Post (Postes Canada)
- DHL (US and Germany)
- FedEx and FedEx SmartPost
- Google Checkout
- Nintendo (US and Canada)
- Purolator
- TNT
- UPS and UPS Mail Innovations
- USPS (United States Postal Service)
As you can see, the Apple.com tracker just shows that the package is shipped, and no details apart from that. So you need to set up a special tracker for TNT or similar.
Try iWork for free
There’s a 30 day fully working trial version of iWork ’08 for download at Apple. I just would like to mention a few highlights: Pages opens AND saves Word documents. The new Numbers app is something as self-contradicting as a cool spreadsheet app! And Keynote has a new, better masking features, animation and new effects.
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I1m not even going to start with TNTs delivery service. They managed to deliver my Mac to an address further down this street.. And used a week trying to figure out where it was..
Other than that, if you managed to miss the tracker box at The Norwegian TNT site, I’m thinking you should get some new glasses, as it’s the most prominent text area on the frontpage.
It wasn’t the Norwegian TNT page. It was the a UK page, and not the front page. And it sucked. I should have taken a screen shot to show you.
And that’s the problem with lots of sites today. They don’t realise that people enter through the side door.
One example: I was booking a hotel in Stavanger, Norway and just googled the name. The hotel web page was hit no. 1 so I clicked that.
Not a single “book a room” button on the page!
Just millions of buttons like “golf weekend”, “sights”, “sauna” etc. All well, but let me book the thing!
I deleted everything after the .no and voila, there’s a very nice “book room” form.
The lesson to be learned is to check if people can find what your main purpose is on the page. On a hotel page that would be to book hotel rooms, no matter how many other great offerings your hotel have.
On a TNT page, that would be tracking packages. Not tons of crap about how great the new package central is…