Gmail Tasks: Paper vs. iPhone

http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2009/02/tasks-paper-vs-iphone.html

by raju • 17 years ago

18 13 17 years ago

gmailblog.blogspot.com

buro9• 17 years ago

Now if only they would offer sync of tasks for users of Blackberry and Windows Mobile smart phones they would be on to something.

I've just re-visited Tasks, and it is nice... but to be ubiquitous (and therefore useful enough to displace the paper I carry) it will need to be in my phone.

jim-greer• 17 years ago

Has anyone gotten this to work using the Google Apps version of Gmail?

unalone2• 17 years ago

I know they were joking, but as a dour paper advocate I felt the need to respond:

Limited availability. You don't always have a pad of paper with you to write new things.

So they're saying you always have a phone with you?

Not ubiquitous. If you leave a piece of paper in one pair of jeans, you can't access it from the other jeans you're currently wearing.

On the other hand, the entry level for paper is much cheaper than the entry level for a device that uses Gmail.

Difficult to organize. Eventually turns into a giant mess on your desk.

I think if you have as many Gmail notes as you have paper notes, you'll get just as big a mess. The fact that Gmail isn't as messy is a testament to the fact that I can't doodle, can't quickly sketch out a melody to a song, or anything similar.

mattmcknight2• 17 years ago

Not to mention, if you just keep all your to do lists on note cards in your wallet with something like this [1] or this [2], you're in good shape, unless you leave your wallet in another pair of jeans. They even sell a little set of bleachers [3] to keep the cards organized on your desk.

I find having a task or a project on a card is nice. You can set it up over your screen like a short order cook's ticket to remind you what you are working on [4].

[1] http://www.davidco.com/store/catalog/GTD-NoteTaker-Wallet-Ou... [2] http://www.levenger.com/PAGETEMPLATES/PRODUCT/Product.asp?Pa... [3] http://www.levenger.com/PAGETEMPLATES/PRODUCT/Product.asp?Pa... [4] http://davidseah.com/blog/the-printable-ceo-iv-task-order-up...

derefr• 17 years ago

> So they're saying you always have a phone with you?

If my phone isn't in my hand, it's in my pants. If I'm not wearing pants, it's on the end-table of my bed, where I assumably am as well. So yes.

unalone2• 17 years ago

Similarly, I always carry around a notebook. My point is that for people who need to write, paper is very rarely in short supply.

msluyter• 17 years ago

I like the interface. I downloaded several ToDo apps from the iPhone App store when it first went online and many suffered from the problem that they required more than one screen touch to create a new item. For example, you might press "+" and then press again to get the focus of the text entry field. (I'm sure not all were like this, but it seemed that many I tried were.) The gmail tasklist only requires a single touch. I also like that "New Task" is the top row of the task list, as opposed to being a "+" located at the bottom of the screen. YMMV.

johnrob• 17 years ago

Great idea! What distinguishes this from the 'Notes' app that comes with the iPhone is that now your tasks are editable in gmail as well.

For those who don't know, go to settings->labs in gmail, and you can activate tasks. Then a tasks link will show up under your regular mail 'folder' links.

pyroman• 17 years ago

I've been looking for a simple task app that I can use on my iphone and have in my google homepage. I'll be trying this out.

wastedbrains2• 17 years ago

yeah I have as well, since the default iGoogle tasks don't sync / work well on the iphone

mattmcknight2• 17 years ago

I was sort of holding out hope they would buy out Remember the Milk[1]. They already have Blackberry and iPhone sync in their pro version and a gadgets that plug into Gmail and Google Calendar (and iGoogle and Google Desktop etc.). Their model for tasks is much more advanced than the Gmail one- with due dates, alerts, sharing, multiple lists, nice print outs to carry with you etc.

[1] http://www.rememberthemilk.com

wastedbrains2• 17 years ago

that is great, I was sad when they shut off iphone iGoolge just cause that is how i kept my task synced... now a truly supported version with a better interface should make keeping my todo list up to date much easier.

dominik• 17 years ago

I tried using Gmail Tasks for about two or three weeks. I transferred all my tasks into it.

Ye Olde List o' Annoyances:

#1: I could only view one list at a time. I like having a 'big picture' view. Plus, the default-in-Gmail view was tiny. I could pop it out, but then it was in an orphan browser window -- which would sometimes disappear because it still technically tied into Gmail (e.g. adding a Labs extension to Gmail made Tasks go poof).

#2: They positioned the delete button between the "Add Task" and "Switch List" buttons. I nuked a few tasks accidentally, without evening know what I deleted.

#3: There's no undo and no history. If I wanted to hide completed tasks, I had to delete them, which meant losing them forever. If I accidentally deleted a task thanks to the positioning of the delete button, well, too bad.

#4: I couldn't select multiple tasks and move them around.

I couldn't take the annoyances.

I've since switched to a homebrew todolist solution that lets me see everything at once, switch between contexts, edit multiple items at once, and keep a full history. I complement this with a Moleskine notebook as a collection input. For stuff that has a hard due date, I use Google Calendar.

As for paper vs. iPhone -- I don't have an iPhone so I'm quite happy with paper. My notebook fits comfortably in my pocket and goes with me everywhere, and Moleskine thought through the design so its pages don't wrinkle and it stays nice and neat while remaining easy to write in. I've only used it for two weeks, but I've found it well worth its price compared to el cheapo pocket notebooks (which I used for several months, until I gave up in frustrating at having them wrinkle after living in my pocket).

Gmail Tasks: Paper vs. iPhone

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