When you tell people about Macro Scheduler how do you describe it?  Do you call it an automation tool, a macro recorder, a script language, a data entry tool, an interface builder, a trained monkey, or something else altogether?

I’d be interested to know.

To me Macro Recorder suggests only a tiny part of its capabilities, but it’s a useful and popular term.

An automation tool sounds more encompassing but “automation” can mean different things to different people.

IBM and SAP use “automation” to refer to the interconnected nature of their Enterprise solutions, connecting data across the entire organisation. But to me – and Macro Scheduler – automation is something more robotic: automation of a more specific set of human activities.

This kind of automation requires a tool box containing many tools, one of which might be the macro recorder.

Does it matter? Not if you’re using it and benefiting from it, no, probably not.  But in getting the word out, explaining what it is to people and from a marketing point of view, it’s more tricky.

And that’s why I’m interested to know how you describe it.  I’ve started a poll over in the forums.  Please answer the poll or add a comment.

Thanks!