Even before there was an Internet that emphasized the value and
\npowerful reach of inter-machine resource sharing and interoperability,
\nthere was
\na basic concept that any given program ought to be able to use data
\nfiles generated by any other instance of the same program, run on
\nsimilar hardware. All the user had to do was get the data
\nfrom one computer to the other.<\/p>\n
Apple’s calendaring “solution” breaks this most basic of understandings.<\/p>\n
I am an Apple fan — I heartily enjoy using<\/span> I have a situation that I suspect is not all that unusual in the I have<\/p>\n I need<\/p>\n Is this an unusual situation? I can’t believe it is. And And even those are not so obvious, if you happen to share a few of the So — I’m not reflecting my calendars of Mobile.me or even Google I have set up my own webdav server that both machines can access — but I tried keeping the 2 machines’ calendar files in sync (using rsync), I used to get away with using a 3rd device to be the “calendar of So, I’m looking at spending $25\/machine to achieve something iCal Really, Apple — I think this is an instance where you need to Lead Even before there was an Internet that emphasized the value and powerful reach of inter-machine resource sharing and interoperability, there was a basic concept that any given program ought to be able to use data files generated by any other … Continue reading
\nmy computers to get stuff done, not having to continuously work
\non the computers themselves. Apple is a leader in
\ndelivering seamless computing environments. There are so many
\nthings that Apple has gotten
\nright with the hardware and the user environment. But, sometimes
\nthe apparent drive to “own” the “user experience”, gets in the way of
\nthe actual user. One such area is calendaring: it takes
\nnothing away from iCal to say that I need it to play with others, and
\nyet the impediments to doing just that render it virtually
\nunusable. Message to Apple: making Mobile.me the only
\nway to sync my iCal across machines is NOT going to get me to subscribe
\nto Mobile.me, it’s more likely going to get me to stop using iCal.<\/p>\nA common calendar situation<\/h2>\n
\nworld: <\/p>\n\n
\n
\nwherever I am (calendar) and\n <\/li>\n
\nserver<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nFAIL<\/h2>\n
\nyet, I have no solution to doing the above seamlessly, with iCal.
\nThe fact that iCal has no inherent ability to share data with another
\nmachine, or even publish and subscribe to the same calendar on a remote
\nserver, makes it impossible to do the above without the intervention of
\na 3rd party service or purchased software.<\/p>\n
\nprinciples I have:<\/p>\n\n
\nI certainly won’t make my work machine the primary for a personal
\napplication. The machine belongs to my employer, and they have to
\nbe able to pull it back at any time. I don’t care to be left high
\nand dry.<\/li>\n
\nmy personal machines. (I don’t think I need to explain this)<\/li>\n
\nremote server<\/li>\n
\ndifferent places\n <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\nCalendars. I won’t put all my calendar info on my work notebook
\n(only) and then have to sync my iPhone there. <\/p>\nTrying to route around damage
\n<\/h2>\n
\nthe fact that an iCal cannot both subscribe to a calendar and publish
\nit somehere means that having my own server doesn’t provide me
\nwith an authoritative server that both Macs can access. <\/p>\n
\nand that works for the calendar data files. However, apparently
\nthe calendars (particularly, those to which you subscribe) are stored
\nseparately in preferences, so that they are not properly sync’ed, and
\nyou get wierdness. That last point is particularly
\nirritating: even if Apple doesn’t care to provide the
\nfunctionality of sync’ing across Macs, by internalizing the data, they
\nare making impossible for me to find an alternative solution (rsync)
\nwithout getting into Apple-specific software development (digging
\nthrough preferences). This is where they turn their backs on that
\nage-old premise of reasonably open computing: that you can move
\ndata files from
\nmachine to machine, as long as you have reasonably similar instances of
\nthe software to work on them.<\/p>\n
\nrecord” — now my iPhone, previously a PalmOS PDA, and prior to that an
\nApple Newton (!). That way, I could keep one calendar in sync
\nwith one machine AND have it everywhere wth me, even when away from my
\ncomputer. Easy-peasy! But, now I need to have a calendar
\nthat can sync (several times a day) to a shared work calendar, and the
\niPhone can’t do that. <\/p>\nWhere next?<\/h2>\n
\nshould just be able to do. Or, I can use another calendar program
\n(e.g., Sunbird), and lose all ability to integrate calendar items with
\nother applications. Neither is an appealing prospect.<\/p>\n
\n(build the best calendaring app for your platform), Follow (make it
\neasy for other calendaring programs to be integrated applications) or
\nGet out of the
\nway (let me route around your damage).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"