No doubt which web-based calendar service is getting all the hype: 30boxes just opened the doors on its beta phase, and at first glance, there’s some merit to the industry buzz. I really like the way you only have to fill in a single text field to create an entry: ‘Trip to London tomorrow 5pm’ will create an appointment in your calendar for the following day. It’s Web 2.0, so naturally there’s RSS left, right and centre. A nice touch to let you browse back in time through your Flickr photos.
There’s a fundamental problem with these calendar services. You’ll only appreciate how good they are when you put your whole life in their hands. And are you prepared to risk doing that with an untested beta product? Well, yes. There’s enough immediately visible in 30boxes to suggest that it’s the one to watch. But until there’s a way to sync up with Outlook, and thence to my Windows Mobile PDA, I’m no more than an interested onlooker in this space. As soon as someone cracks the sync’ing, though, I’m ready to jump at it with open arms.