Organizational Smackdown: Calendars
Gee whiz, calendaring is a mess. But maybe it doesn't need to be.
The simple fact of the matter is this: I don't use calendars very often. I mostly use them for events I know are coming but are a week to a month (or more) down the road. And if I were to analyze it I'd probably just classify everything as something that needs a reminder instead, and there you go - problem solved.
I currently use Google Calendar. I used to use iCal for events but found the lack of on-the-go support frustrating. GCal is a natural fit for me: it's available online and thus anywhere, it's easy to use, and it's AJAXrific. The only limitation I have right now is that it's not available offline.
I investigated my options for bringing GCal into the real world. They're slim.
The first option is a piece of software, Spanning Sync. This $25/yr or $65/lifetime software acts as a conduit between iCal and GCal. That's it. I've been using it for a couple of days but, honestly, I haven't used my calendar in a couple of days! It seems to work, runs in the background, etc. This is a tough one to choose for a couple of reasons: 1, I don't use iCal often anymore and find it a little bulky (in 10.4); 2, it costs money and for what it does, it shouldn't.
Some people at 43folders suggested Plaxo as a free alternative to Spanning Sync. I signed up but was turned off by various blog posts stating that they would spam one's address book and the like. No thank you.
Another out-there option is .Mac from a little company called Apple. It's pretty much overkill but I brought it into consideration: $99/year for calendar syncing (and a bunch of other stuff). But it's not worth it to me and besides, I'm already paying for hosting space. At that price, .Mac is redundant.
So as I said, Spanning Sync is where I'm at right now. I'm going to let the trial run out and then, honestly, I'll probably delete it from the MacBook, forget about it, and go back to using Google Calendar exclusively - offline be-damned. I do think the bigger mental shift for me is to think of these big events as to-dos with reminders... then I could pop them into Sandy or Remember the Milk (but most likely Sandy.)
