Observations on Reminders

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The ability to have reminders sync via iCloud to iCal on the Mac is a welcome addition to iOS 5. However, this system isn’t nearly as good as it could be.

I set out to try to replicate the core functions of OmniFocus I use. They are:

  • Tasks arranged into groups
  • Due dates and times
  • Alerts on my iPhone

Here are some notes on things I’ve come across that I like:

  • Sync is very fast
  • “Date” view in the iOS app is much like OmniFocus’ forecast mode
  • Sharing a Reminders list with other iCloud users

…and some things I don’t:

  • Repeating tasks can only be set up from the iOS app. This cannot be done via iCal or the iCloud website.
  • Separate due and alert dates can be set from iOS app. iCloud/iCal just see due time.
  • Entering info into the iPhone app — and iCal — is tedious
  • The notifications are really dumb. There are no badges for overdue items. In Notification Center, the app shows whatever it feels like, it seems.

Reminders seems like a great little app for little tasks. But I don’t think it can replace OmniFocus, even for someone like me, who doesn’t use lots of the app’s features.

To be honest, this is a little disappointing. I like the idea of using fewer apps. Sadly, there’s still too much friction with Apple’s programs for me to be able to move to them.

BREAKING: Paul Thurrott Still Huge Anti-Apple Pundit

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Here’s the Might One, on his Supersite for Windows, discussing the iPhone 4S:

There’s a long-running joke that Apple’s fans would buy anything the company sold, no matter the quality. But this past weekend, the joke became reality when the Cupertino consumer electronics giant sold 4 million units of a smart phone, the iPhone 4S, which even its most charitable supporters have described as an evolutionary update over its predecessor.

Upholstery

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IMG 0032

On Friday, my wife and I closed on our first house. It’s a nice place in a great neighborhood here in Memphis. We’re super pumped, and a little scared.[1. I suspect most first-time homebuyers are.]

As most people do who buy 56-year-old houses, we set to work immediately on our new property. One of the biggest tasks on our list is to re-build a shed in our backyard that is currently in pretty bad shape. We hadn’t spent a lot of time in the shed before closing due to the large amounts of stuff in it.

Oh, and the moldy smell in the air.

Friday afternoon, I set out to help clean out the shed with some construction guys.[2. You know, “real” men.] We quickly discovered what all that stuff actually was — the makings of an upholstery shop.

The musty room was full of all sorts of equipment. Dozens of rolls of fabric were lined up, side-by-side, sitting on the joists overhead. There were boxes full of yarn and threads of different kinds in nearly-collapsing stacks. Zippers, buttons and velcro were all organized by size. Loads of patterns and books were stacked on a large work station, hand built out of plywood and two-by-fours. The building has loads of power outlets, and its own compressed air delivery system, consisting of pipes overhead.

I don’t know the man’s name who worked in this workshop. I know he had a record player, and several Bible study books on a shelf nailed to the wall. I know he put care in to his work, based on the notebook full of photos, littered with notes and hand-written feedback.

The calendar on the wall hadn’t been turned since October 1985.

Sadly, years of neglect have taken their toll on the building, and just about all of this stuff had to be tossed. Years of someone’s life, someone’s work all gone. The physical things are in a pile in my driveway, but the memories and stories are gone in a far more permanent way.

It makes me wonder how my work — mostly stored as ones and zeros on hard drives — will ever last until I’m gone, let alone after I’m gone.

IMG 0033

It’s all sobering as hell.