The best way in terms of low tech solutions is to use a multiple choice field with log changes enabled.
You create formula fields to hive off the information from the most recent update and use those fields in View mode on forms and on reports.
Here are the essential formulas.
Parsing Append Only Fields
so... if you have a text field set to Log Changes where the new entries act in the default manner which is to be at the bottom of the updates, here are some formuals to use to parse out the values from the most recent entry. I am also assuming that you are logging the date and not the date and time.
Most recent value (formula text field type)
Trim(Right([my update field],"]"))
Date of most recent update (this needs to be a formula date field)
ToDate(Left(Right([my update field],"["),9))
Who did the most recent update (formula text field type)
Trim(NotLeft(Left(Right([my update field],"["),"]"),9))
