Google Calendar was made available to the public last week. I have been playing with it for several days and am very impressed so far. Here are some brief thoughts while I am surfing on slow airport wi-fi waiting for my flight home.
Like all Google products, the interface is rather simple, yet very intuitive and easy to navigate. You can create multiple calendars for various needs. For example, you could create a personal calendar, a work calendar and a church calendar. They are implemented in a layered approach. By checking or un-checking a calendar, you can add or remove it from view. In this screenshot, I have removed the check from my Second Calendar, causing any events in that calendar to disappear. This allows you to easily see if events on one calendar conflict with one another. Now you can see if that big project at work conflicts with your other plans.
Adding an event is a piece of cake. You click on a calendar, drag your mouse the length of the event and fill out the Create Event form. You can input basic information there or you can select Edit Event Details for a more advanced configuration options. You also choose whether the event is public or private. Google Calendar allows you to have public events which anyone can view by going to a generated url. You can access all your private events by another uniquely-generated link. It even allows you to make your calendars available via RSS. Very cool!
People are already making good use of this functionality. Here is an interesting list of public calendars that that have been created.
Google Calendar also has a myriad of notification options. You can be notified of pending events, cancellations, etc via email or popup when you log in to your Google account. One of the best features though is phone notification. You simply select your provider (Sprint, Verizon or whatever) and Google sends a code to the phone. You then go back to the calendar and input that verification code. Google authenticates that you are the true owner of that number. Once you do that, Google can send reminders directly to your cell phone. It is an awesome option that really gives Google an edge over other calendar applications.
You also can import you calendar from popular formats such as Outlook, Yahoo or Apple iCal. When looking at an event, there is a Map option that will take you to a Google map of the event location.
Google Calendar also integrates nicely with Gmail. If you want are sending an email to someone, you now have the option of including an invitation to a meeting or event. There is a new Add Event Info button. Clicking on that will open all the requisite event fields. Fill them out and your recipient will get the invitation.
Even at this early stage, Google Calendar is a great tool. In fact, it seems mature enough that I think I could use it as my only calendar application if I needed to do so. It is very easy to use, flexible and highly configurable. The integration with Gmail is excellent and the notification options are phenomenal. For an initial release, Google Calendar is an excellent web application. If you are Gmail user, you definitely need to check it out.
Technorati Tags: calendar, events, gmail, Google, Google Calendar, Google Maps, scheduling
I just dowloaded the calendar, it looks pretty cool, I may try to use it to keep up with campaign stuff. Hey, have you tried Picasa, the picture thing from Google? I have had it for a few weeks and I really like it. If you haven’t checked it out you should, and then tell me what you think.
wencke
April 18th, 2006
i plan on downloading Google Calendar soon, it looks nice and has got good reviews.
wenke: i had Picasa for a while….it’s ok. using the standatd windows picture viewer is just easier IMO. Picasa does have some great features though, no doubt.
shaun
April 19th, 2006
Wencke: I haven’t really played with Picasa, but I will definitely give it a look! The Google Calendar is great. I am more impressed with it the more I use it. It would probably do very well to help with your campaign - especially with multiple, overlapping calendars. It makes scheduling and identifying conflicts a breeze. And I LOVE the cell phone notification option!
Shaun: I’ll post back with some thoughts on Picasa. Haven’t tried it yet though, so nothing to addd right now.
Zack
April 20th, 2006
Late on the reply here. I like Google Calendar, but word on the street is that 37signals has one in the pipeline. I’m holding out, especially since I’m already a backpacker.
That said, I think Google has the strongest web calendar app available right now. It’s still funny to me that they don’t release products with alot of fanfare (as opposed to say Apple.) Google just flips the switch.
David Russell
April 21st, 2006
Hey David,
I would definitely be interested in seeing what 37signals has to offer. I am not currently a user of their products, so Google calendar is a great option for me. However, I am not so in love with it that I wouldn’t switch to something better when/if it comes along.
You should check it out though, man. Since you already have a gmail account, you have nothing to lose. If nothing else, it’s fun just to tinker with it.
Zack
April 22nd, 2006