Unless you’ve been living under a rock the past twenty-four hours, you’ve probably heard that Google has finally released its highly anticipated online calendar, Google Calendar. I know, it almost seems like a dream. We’ve been hearing about this calendar for months; more than we’ve ever heard about any other Google product. Finally having this product on our screens is amazing.
Now I’ll admit, I’ve kind of been sucked into the hype. All the speculation made Google Calendar appear like it was going to be the best product in the world. You heard the interface was going to be amazing, it would sync with just about anything, it would be integrated into Gmail, yada, yada, yada. What you didn’t hear was that it was just a calendar. It’s not something that is going to radically change the world, it’s just a simple little program to keep track of where you’re supposed to be at this moment.
That being said, for what Google Calendar is, it is awesome. The interface is sleek and functional. It has all the features you need to manage your calendar. You can import from your existing digital calendar, and even display your calendar in RSS feeds or from within iCal. It integrates with Gmail in many ways, all of which are useful. It basically lives up to everyone’s high expectations - except mine.
Sure, Google Calendar is great and I really want to use it, but unfortunately I can’t. To use Google Calendar, it needs to sync with my Palm. I’m too attached to having the ability of scheduling an appointment from anywhere. Going back to only entering events when I’m at my computer would be too hard. Yeah, I know I could get Google Calendar to display on my Palm by linking it with iCal and then using iCal to sync with my Palm, but that’s only one way. I need Google Calendar to automatically import any events I add to my Palm. That’s the only way I could ever use Google Calendar, or any online calendar service for that matter.
Hopefully one day someone will perfect the online calendar/PDA linkup. Until then it looks like I’ll be sticking to my old ways while the rest of you enjoy Google’s latest offering.
21 Comments
It does look very nice, unfortunately having to open Firefox, then select it from favorites, would be too much of a hassle instead of just opening the Windows Time/Calendar from my toolbar. And I don’t write events down yet anyways. So, I won’t be seeing much of G_Calendar.
That’s not really a valid argument. You can set Google Calendar as your home page or better yet, create an internet shortcut and throw that in your Quick Launch bar.
Now that’s a valid argument.
Now why on Google earth would I want to do that? My homepage is set for a reason, regardless of the fact that it is Google. :p
for basic needs its not bad. havent really played much with it other than adding appointments i have upcoming but its AJAX magic at its best again…so far its clever, but something i wont be using everyday thats for sure.
I would rather use Microsoft Office Outlook Calendar, since it can be synched with Windows Live Mail.
Well, there are two options:
a.) Wait till they open up the API (which they will do), then I’m sure something like the Missing Sync (http://www.markspace.com/missingsync_palmos.php) could be changed to support it. The forthcoming SyncBridge (http://www.infurious.com/products/syncbridge.html) will support GoogleCalendar once it’s done.
b.) Host your iCal file somewhere - you can edit and update an iCal file which is remotely stored using WebDav. Then assuming google can find the feed (it would have to be publically available) you can add it in - I already splice in plenty of other non-google calendar iCal feeds for things like cricket fixtures or local geek groups.
Either way let us know how you get on - I’m just about to dip my toe back into Palm infested waters, and I’d love a two-way Google Calendar sync solution!
I agree with you completely. Right now I sync everything between my Blackberry and my Outlook Calendar. Even just syncing (real syncing, not importing files each time) between Outlook and Google Calendar would suffice for me. Either way, I’m constantly updating my calendar on the go in my Blackberry. Google Calendar, for all its perks and AJAX coolness, didn’t quite live up to my expectations either. Yet.
Just after I left my comment and google have announced an API for updating your calendars. I expect a sync solution shouldn’t be too far away (perhaps as an iSync conduit?)
We can only hope.
So you plan to use it once the syncing is completed?
I personally love it. Of course, I too am searching for syncing capabilities for the future, because I have nothing to sync to at the moment. It’s better than Yahoo! calendar, MS Outlook and Sunbird. The only thing better, in my opinion, is iCal and it’s close at best.
Actually yesterday I started using Google Calendar. This was because I finally got it to work with my Verizon cell phone. It’s not synchronizing with my Palm, but at least I can add events on the go. So far I’m loving it, but we’ll see how long that stays.
By the way, for the time being I’ve put my Palm away. I’ve done it to try and force the adaptation on me. I’d actually rather not have to carry my Palm around since it is rather bulky, so I’m hoping I survive the transition.
Hi,
it’s possible to sync both ways between Outlook 2003 and Google Calendar!
Try to use the RemoteCalendars plugin
http://sourceforge.net/projects/remotecalendars
Here are the instructions
http://remotecalendars.sourceforge.net/google.htm
Now I just need an application like that for iSync and I’m set.
You can sync directly OTA with Google Calendar independently of an Outlook sync.
http://www.saraiya.com
Do you still not use Google calendar? I couldn’t survive without it.
No, I use it now religiously. I have it synced with my phone so I can schedule events from anywhere.
If interested in synchronizing Google calendar with Microsoft Outlook, check out gSyncit …
http://www.daveswebsite.com/software/gsync/
Another tool for syncing between Google cal and Outlook is at http://www.syncmycal.com.
The toolmaker is also working on a PDA sync option. It might be an idea to check it out if you are still interested.
SyncMyCal now has a blog at http://syncmycal.blogspot.com and they have announced more features in the upcoming releases.
I need a calendar that can sync with my office’s Palm, my office’s Outlook, and my bosses Mac?? Is there anything out there that does all three?? Thanks for any help!! I can find one or the other but nothing yet for all three??
Is it possible to synchronize google calendar with a blackberry? i have google maps on my blackberry, have they created a program for calendars?
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