One of the classic problems that any hi-tech couple has is keeping their info in sync. Margie and I both have Palms, and trying to make sure that we have a common address book and can see each other’s calendars has been a serious pain.
Anyday.com was an online service that let me sync my Palm and desktop data to the Net. Palm acquired them in 2000, then shut the service down because they couldn’t make a profit from it.
Around the same time, they acquired Wesync.com, which went even further — it synchronized from the Palm to the Net, and it let multiple people share views of the each other’s calendars and contacts.
So, for example, I have Margie’s phone book on my Palm. And her calendar. They aren’t mixed into mine, but visible side-by-side. Ditto for mine on hers. Perfect. Just what we want. Even comes with an easy desktop application to view (and even enter) the data there, too.
So, of course, with the breakup of Palm between a hardware and software company, WeSync is being orphaned. The service is still being hosted by PalmSource — for the moment — but no further subscriptions are being accepted, and the support has been dropped. I expect the service to be dropped sometime in the next six months.
Figures.
Michael and I thought about doing Wesync until we found it it wasn’t Mac-friendly. I guess I’m not that sorry now.
I’ve come to the conclusion that anything we do to sync data that we don’t control is not a long-term solution.
Yeah.
Problem is, there are lots of products for syncing. But they all demand that you use their products, they way they want you to, and only their products, in order to make the sync stuff works.
Here’s what I want.
I want my schedule information …
… on my Palm in Datebook.
… on my PC in Outlook.
… visible to Margie on her Palm.
… visible to Margie on her PC at home.
… visible to Margie on her PC at work.
I want my address book …
… on my Palm in Address Book.
… on my PC in PSA Cards.
… visible to Margie on her Palm.
… visible to Margie on her PC at home.
… visible to Margie on her PC at work.
With WeSync, remarkably enough, this all was pretty close to a reality. And, yes, I’d have paid (some) money to do so.
That’s pretty much what we want, too. I think we might be able to do the calendar stuff with iCal and maybe both if we set up a Now Up-to-Date and Contact server, but (A) we haven’t worked out the details; (B) Michael needs to replace his Visor after busting the touch screen; (C) those won’t help you because they’re both Mac solutions; and (D) the second one relies on owning the server.
I don’t think we’re going to end up paying much money (beyond current investments) for whatever solution we end up with, but I suspect there will be a large time investment and a reasonably large PITA factor. I’d be willing to pay for it if someone else would do all the work.
Ayup.