It surprises me how many people there are who still use paper calendars to write down their important events, appointments, and anniversaries. Hey people: Get out of the 20th Century!
I admit that I was a slow adoptee. Digital calendars have been around for ages, yet I felt compelled to keep a desk calendar and write down important dates by hand.
How primitive.
The problem with any calendar is being able to access it when you need to. Unless you can keep your entire schedule in your head, you have to respond to invitations with, “I need to check my calendar.” Otherwise you risk having to cancel an appointment or stand someone up because of That One Thing you forgot.
So the ideal calendar is one you can carry with you, like a day planner. But whipping out a day planner in the year 2011 isn’t going to impress anyone.
Computer calendar and scheduling software has been around for a long time. Like the wall calendar, however, it was only good when you were at your computer. So unless you have a phenomenal memory, keeping a calendar on a computer does you no good.
Ideally, the best calendar should have three features:
1. The ability to create and update events.
2. Accessible from any location, no matter where you are.
3. A reminder feature, so that you’ll never miss an appointment.
The old, clunky computer calendars from days of yore could easily handle Feature 1. In fact, it’s been years since I’ve seen a calendar with a lousy method of inputting events. (Then again, I never used any Microsoft-develolped calendar software.) No, the problem is with Feature 2.
With the Internet, it’s possible to access your calendar anywhere. Well, anywhere there is an Internet connection. The true solution to Feature 2, however, is to have a cell phone that can access your calendar. That way, wherever your cell phone goes, your calendar goes with it.
Further, to make the ubiquitous calendar useful, it has to synchronize itself with your computer or at least be available from any computer on the Internet.
Finally, once you clear Feature 2, the reminder feature helps you to never be late again. Pop-up or email alerts are very effective.
The first time I found the effective ultimate calendar was with the iPhone’s iCal app. It works in conjunction with the iCal program on the Macintosh, but it requires a Mobile Me account on the Internet to do the on-the-fly-everywhere sync. Without Mobile Me, the calendar between your desktop and cell phone synchs only when you physically connect the iPhone to your Mac.
The better solution is found on Android phones with the Calendar app. That app synchronizes (almost instantaneously) with the Google Calendar. The Google Calendar is available from any Internet connection, so any computer — PC or Mac — can access Google Calendar. In fact, you can use Google Calendar without a cell phone. For me that makes it a better option than iCal.
If you haven’t yet joined the 21st Century, visit http://calendar.google.com to get started. If you already have a Google or Gmail account, then you already have a calendar. Get cracking!
