Bad Outlook


Finally, Google Calendar is here! Now, being a Google fan, I ought to write a review for it and (probably) praise it.

But I will not. Since everybody else is talking about it. Go to any IT news site, its filled with reviews and comments regarding the new kid in the block. I would just give my opinion about it.

I think its a cool utility. Having a calendar online is really something. By integrating Chat in Gmail, they gave us a reason to keep our Gmail windows open throughout the day. Now with this thing in place, they have given us a reason for never closing it!

The interface is intuitive and would be a breeze for any Outlook user. They also have an option for sending mail invitations to guests in an event. Also, use of AJAX has resulted in a really dynamic and neat interface. I wonder if they have done some Phd. in UI :). There is also Gmail integration to detect events being discussed in mail/chat conversations so that they can be scheduled from there only. Now that’s a smart feature :).

I guess that the overall options should be increased and I am sure they are working on it :). Curently its a basic calendar wherein you can schedule events and send invites and alerts. Probably its just the trailer. The real thing is yet to come.

The war is taking up. Google is all set to bang Microsoft with its online bouquet of smart and neat products. No matter how much the likes of Microsoft and Yahoo! try, they are never gonna come close to Google in this race. Try visiting some of the pathetic Yahoo! services like 360. You will know what I mean. Windows Live! is receiving a good response from users but lets see what it has in plate for us.

Till then, start using the state of the art Google Calendar. It would really leave you thinking that its a bad Outlook.

Update:
Google calendar is now integrated with GMail. It can detect events being discussed in mail conversations and give an option towards the right (just above the adsenses) to schedule the event in your calendar! Cool eh? B-)

  1. #1 by Chirag Gupta on April 15, 2006 - 12:30 am

    Mama strong integration to chodo, i don’t see any integration b/w this n gmail!
    i mean i need to add a new event.. now i hav to open GCalendar url and click on add..
    it shd be done straightforward frm gmail.. n why is SMSing not available in india X(

  2. #2 by Setu Garg on April 15, 2006 - 8:16 am

    I told you its just the trailer. Maybe the technology might be in nescent stage and probably not so strong right now. But it sure is in the pipeline. Have a look at http://www.google.com/googlecalendar/overview.html.

    Regarding the SMS thing, I am myself concerned that why te hell they are not signing up with operators here in India. Probably its kind of their business strategy.

  3. #3 by Chirag Gupta on April 15, 2006 - 12:30 am

    Mama strong integration to chodo, i don’t see any integration b/w this n gmail!
    i mean i need to add a new event.. now i hav to open GCalendar url and click on add..
    it shd be done straightforward frm gmail.. n why is SMSing not available in india X(

  4. #4 by Setu Garg on April 15, 2006 - 8:16 am

    I told you its just the trailer. Maybe the technology might be in nescent stage and probably not so strong right now. But it sure is in the pipeline. Have a look at http://www.google.com/googlecalendar/overview.html.

    Regarding the SMS thing, I am myself concerned that why te hell they are not signing up with operators here in India. Probably its kind of their business strategy.

  5. #5 by Bandan on April 16, 2006 - 11:01 am

    Good article there 🙂 However:
    * Online calendar is not something new. There are a lot of others. HipCal, 30 Boxes and not to forget kiko whose maintainer alleges that Google calendar’s UI has been jacked from it!! I would say Google is one of the late players but would have advantage becuase of it’s huge user base.
    * Yahoo! isn’t that bad after all. Delicious is indispensible and the pay per click program is slowly getting popular with users who are fed up of getting automated email warnings regarding clicking frauds with google adsense.

  6. #6 by Bandan on April 16, 2006 - 11:01 am

    Good article there 🙂 However:
    * Online calendar is not something new. There are a lot of others. HipCal, 30 Boxes and not to forget kiko whose maintainer alleges that Google calendar’s UI has been jacked from it!! I would say Google is one of the late players but would have advantage becuase of it’s huge user base.
    * Yahoo! isn’t that bad after all. Delicious is indispensible and the pay per click program is slowly getting popular with users who are fed up of getting automated email warnings regarding clicking frauds with google adsense.

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