There's been a lot of speculation about Google Calendar recently. And you know what? I sure as hell hope they do it. There's been so little innovation in the world of on-line calendars these last few years. Perhaps Google getting into the act would finally change that.

I've often wished for a web-based calendar that didn't suck but they all seem to. I want something that:

plugs nicely into my e-mail client (Thunderbird)

has busy search capabilities, invites, and other scheduling aids

syncs with modern hand-held devices and mobile phones

does resource scheduling (conference rooms, summer houses, whatever)

handles conflict resolution and notification

sends reminders and alerts

sports a sane permission system

produces RSS feeds

provides vCal support

is presented with a modern, slick DHTML interface

Help me out here... What am I missing?

The company that does this stands to gain a lot of new users--not just individuals, but small and medium sized business too.

Once the kinks are worked out, they can integrate it into the Google Search Appliance and provide a platform and e-mail client neutral calendaring for larger businesses too.

Update: It was implied in a few of the things I wrote, but having good Web Service APIs would be essential.

Update [4/12/2006]: It's been over a year and now Google Calendar is finally live.

Posted by jzawodn at February 23, 2005 08:37 PM