Task Management Options

The quantity of small tasks with fluid priorities is starting to get to me and I've decided to attempt to use electronic task management again, even though all my previous attempts have caused me to give up, sometimes only days into the trial.

There are a vast quantity of applications available for every-day task management. My minimum requirements are that there is a web/Mac and an iPhone version of the application and, if I'm going to spending all my time in the application, it also has to be beautiful and easy-to-use.

At the top of my list is Things. 

Things gets rave reviews everywhere, is simple and beautiful. It's biggest disadvantages to me (someone who has failed at task management in the past) are it's price. AUD$69.95 for the Mac version and AUD$12.99 for the iPhone version and AUD$23.99 for the iPad version. On top of this, syncing doesn't happen over 3G (I have no idea why not), which seems like a huge limitation for me, although at least it syncs via WiFi.

The positive of this expense (AUD$106.93 for all three devices) is that I will have invested a significant chunk of cash in my everyday task management. Maybe this will encourage me to keep it up. 

Maybe I should just try out the iPhone app first (as I will probably be spending most of my time in that).

Any thoughts or recommendations?

iPhone 4 and Telstra

I just couldn't stand the speed of iOS4 (or iOS3 for that matter) on my iPhone 3G any more.

Thankfully, my Optus plan was over, so getting a new phone was a no-brainer and, after seeing the iPhone 4 and its sexy glass and stainless-steel surfaces, how could I resist?

You see, my primary requirement for a phone, above everything else, is that it has a glass or sapphire-coated screen. When in my pocket, the screens of my phones get quite scratched up and I detest phone cases, so the screen needs to be as scratch-proof as possible. When it comes to the smart-phone market, Apple is about the only game in town when it comes to glass screens. And now, with the new iPhone 4, I get a glass back as well!

Another point of pain for me over the past two years is the Optus network. Whilst I understand that before the iPhone 4 the Optus network didn't support the 900MHz range however, given the similar issues I've had with Optus over-subscribing their network via my 3G dongle I just didn't want to chance it again. So, to cut a long story short, I ported to the Telstra network (on a plan cheaper than my original Optus plan anyway... the tribulations of being an early-adopter).

My experience with the new iPhone 4 and the Telstra network have been stellar. On the Telstra network I have connectivity everywhere, including parking garages and bathrooms (yes, eww). It's fast (much faster than the Optus network ever was) with extremely low-latency. Additionally, I can't replicate the antenna problem the iPhone 4 is meant to have with any consistency. In the worst case, I drop a couple of bars but, on the Telstra network at least, this doesn't affect call-quality or Internet connectivity.

The iPhone 4 itself is a big improvement over the iPhone 3G. In fact, it even appears faster than my iPad 3G (also on Telstra), even though it should have the same CPU. iOS4 or the 512MB of memory might be contributing to this speed-boost. Especially applications that support "multi-tasking" well like the Facebook and Twitteriffic applications. It's also nice to get an extra 20-30% out of the battery during the day and I haven't managed to run it flat yet.

Anyway, I would highly recommend both the iPhone 4 and Telstra networks to anyone coming out of their contracts. I know the new Optus plan is very temping however, do you really want to put yourself through the same crap again for the next two years for the sake of $20-30 per month?