Sofa Control

Sofa Control 2.0 for Mac OSX, from CASE Apps.
I bought a program called Sofa Control today after using the trial version a couple times since Christmas.
Impulse buy! Kind of.
I think I first found Sofa Control after a Google search for “mac remote control program” or something similar. I was 10 minutes away from a laptop presentation and I wanted to change PDF slides from a distance while still facing the audience. In two minutes I had the trial version running and my five minute presentation went without a hitch.
I don’t usually buy software online (or anywhere, at anytime, for that matter). But before I pull out my credit card for any product I always Google the stuffing out of it, read reviews, ask people, weigh pros and cons, stay up late at night thinking about it.
But next week I’m giving a hella important, 30-minute PDF presentation and I need a program that allows my Mac remote to control basically any program on my computer, for example Acrobat, Preview, QuickTime, Safari, etc. And it can’t fail. And it can’t be complicated. If Murphy’s Law is Supreme Judge and Dictator anywhere, it’s Computer Presentation Land.
So I just bought the thing. Well, OK, I did Google for like 30 seconds to find free alternatives but then I was like, nope, Sofa Control is great, does exactly what I want. I have confidence in the product. And so I’ve been thinking about tools a lot lately and why, for example, I bought Sofa Control:

• The trial version was fully functioning (except for the 15 minute expiry per session) right out of the download
• The icon design, controls and features fit in well with OSX
• Install was super easy. Drag to Applications, double-click, go.
• Affordable
• Short, two step buying process
• Seemed like a nice company (it’s like, one guy who developed Sofa Control?) Seemed more personable and likable

I think I want more of these points covered when I buy any sort of tool, from my laptop to my utility knife to my bicycle. It’s like, the busier I get, the more responsibilities I have, the more I depend on my tools: the more confidence I need in them. As in, I want to worry less about them, wondering what’s going to break, why they got busted, whose fault it is. If there are limitations to the tool I want to know what they are right away so I can plan for them and be aware when they should be and not be used, replaced and supplemented.
And I’m willing to start paying a (well, slight) premium for this peace of mind.