Article
Wanted: Great calendar system
Lately, I’ve grown dissatisfied with my personal calendar setup. It doesn’t do what I want, when I want, from where I want. Now that I have killer tools for managing projects and organizing photos, I want a great way to manage my appointments. Any suggestions?
Current Setup
Like so many Mac users, I use iCal as my main calendar. I have MenuCalendarClock for convenience. At times, I’ve experimented with using iCal World to share my calendar on the web — if I had a web server with WebDAV I could put it on my own server. For to-dos and other tasks, I depend on Basecamp, mostly because I need to share this information with other people.
Pros: It’s local
Cons: It’s local; too many pieces; it depends 100% on a desktop app
What I Want
Basically, I am looking for a calendar system that will address each of the “cons” listed above. It should:
- Be both web-based and desktop-based, so I edit and view calendar information from anywhere
- Be a hosted service on the web side, so I don’t have to worry about keeping it up to date
- Be lightweight and intuitive on the desktop side, so it doesn’t annoy me (think Transmit or NetNewsWire for your calendar)
- Allow me to share my calendar publicly or privately (Ta-da handles this nicely — especially how they let you “invite” people to your lists)
The most unique (and challenging, from a development point of view) aspect is that it should be both web-based and desktop-based. And the data needs to be synchronized at all times. Certainly a tricky prospect, but not unheard of.
(Take IMAP email for example. I only use IMAP on a very limited basis, but it seems pretty smart to me. Your email is always everywhere. I can login to my UW mail from anywhere on the web, or read messages downloaded to my Mac when I’m not online.)
Oh, and I’d be more than willing to pay a monthly or yearly fee for this service. If done right, it would definitely be worth $10 or $15 a month to me.
So…
Does a system like this already exist? Is there a great web-based calendar out there (without the local syncing feature)? Will ubiquitous WiFi render my desires moot in a year? Do I have to create this system myself?