Annoyances with iCal

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
Annoyances with iCal.



1. If you switch to Week view and click on a time period with a single button mouse and keep the button pressed a little more than normal, it changes it a resize/adjust cursor. The expected behavior would be to create a new event.



2. A real fast click (something not too easy to do with a single button mouse) creates a event with the current highlighted calendar. The concept of multiple calendars as opposed to different categories of events or tasks is confusing to users of Notes or Outlook.



3. There is no balloon expansion of long text when you select / highlight an event. The only option is either to open up a bulleted list in the bottom of the screen or click on the show info screen which opens up a unintuitive side window. With 1.52 it acts a drawer which is an improvement.



4. there is no highlighting of the time of day outside the normal work hours. there is no option to differentiate working and off hours. if you specify start of day as 9am and specify end of day as 5pm. you are not able to visually create events outside this timeframe. even if you manage to create events in a round about fashion, they are not shown in the calendar as only hours from 9 to 5 are now shown and there is no scroll bar. However, if you create an all day event, the scroll bar appears.



The only reason people seem to enjoy the application is because they use it to sync with their PDAs, publish to .MAC and take their schedule with them on the go. As a normal application, there are severe limitations to this product. iCal needs more attention from the developers.



That being said, I resent being called a troll. But then I looked up the definition and I hate to admit that my earlier post was a troll. Brad, you are a nazi administrator.



Quote:

troll



v.,n. 1. [From the Usenet group alt.folklore.urban] Toutter a posting on Usenetdesigned to attract predictableresponses or flames; or, the post itself. Derives from the phrase"trolling for newbies" which in turn comes from mainstream"trolling", a style of fishing in which one trails bait through alikely spot hoping for a bite. The well-constructed troll is a postthat induces lots of newbies and flamers to make themselves lookeven more clueless than they already do, while subtly conveying tothe more savvy and experienced that it is in fact a deliberatetroll. If you don't fall for the joke, you get to be in on it. Seealso YHBT. 2. An individual who chronically trolls in sense 1;regularly posts specious arguments, flames or personal attacks to anewsgroup, discussion list, or in email for no other purpose than toannoy someone or disrupt a discussion. Trolls are recognizable bythe fact that the have no real interest in learning about the topicat hand - they simply want to utter flame bait. Like the uglycreatures they are named after, they exhibit no redeemingcharacteristics, and as such, they are recognized as a lower form oflife on the net, as in, "Oh, ignore him, he's just a troll." 3.[Berkeley] Computer lab monitor. A popular campus job for CSstudents. Duties include helping newbies and ensuring that labpolicies are followed. Probably so-called because it involveslurking in dark cavelike corners.



Some people claim that the troll (sense 1) is properly a narrowercategory thanflame bait, that a troll is categorized by containing some assertion that is wrong but not overtly controversial. Seealso Troll-O-Meter.



Source: Jargon File 4.2.



Comments

  • Reply 1 of 5
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by talksense101

    Annoyances with iCal.



    1. If you switch to Week view and click on a time period with a single button mouse and keep the button pressed a little more than normal, it changes it a resize/adjust cursor. The expected behavior would be to create a new event.




    Disagree. A single-click should never act like a double-click, which is what the new event trigger is.



    Quote:

    2. A real fast click (something not too easy to do with a single button mouse) creates a event with the current highlighted calendar. The concept of multiple calendars as opposed to different categories of events or tasks is confusing to users of Notes or Outlook.



    This isn't Notes or Outlook, and a calendar isn't conceptually different than a category. If they can't wrap their heads around that, well... tough noogies.



    Quote:

    3. There is no balloon expansion of long text when you select / highlight an event. The only option is either to open up a bulleted list in the bottom of the screen or click on the show info screen which opens up a unintuitive side window. With 1.52 it acts a drawer which is an improvement.



    Actually, you get your choice with 1.5.2 of the drawer or window. Check the Preferences.



    Balloon expansion would be a nice touch. Suggest it through feedback.



    Quote:

    4. there is no highlighting of the time of day outside the normal work hours. there is no option to differentiate working and off hours. if you specify start of day as 9am and specify end of day as 5pm. you are not able to visually create events outside this timeframe. even if you manage to create events in a round about fashion, they are not shown in the calendar as only hours from 9 to 5 are now shown and there is no scroll bar. However, if you create an all day event, the scroll bar appears.



    Go to Preferences, and change the viewable hours to something more expansive. Mine is 12am to 12am, for example. I could cut out the 3am-9am hours, I'm sure, but this works for me.



    Quote:

    That being said, I resent being called a troll. But then I looked up the definition and I hate to admit that my earlier post was a troll. Brad, you are a nazi administrator.



    *whistles softly, walks away*
  • Reply 2 of 5
    sniff sniff sniff, i smell troll poontang.... sniff sniff

    and the only good troll poontang, is dead troll poontang, I always say
  • Reply 3 of 5
    Won't multiple calendars imply that we are talking about the calendars of different individuals? If you go by that definition, one user should not be able to view the calendar of others. I do agree that I have been brainwashed into thinking in terms of Lotus Notes or Outlook, but was innovation in terminology really necessary?



    The last point of scrollbars not showing up unless you create an all day event does seem like a bug to me.
  • Reply 4 of 5
    murbotmurbot Posts: 5,262member
    Wrong forum again, bro.



    Quote:

    Digital Hub

    Discussion of digital peripherals and the iApps, including iLife and the iTunes Music Store.



    iCal = iApp = Digital Hub



  • Reply 5 of 5
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by talksense101

    Won't multiple calendars imply that we are talking about the calendars of different individuals? If you go by that definition, one user should not be able to view the calendar of others. I do agree that I have been brainwashed into thinking in terms of Lotus Notes or Outlook, but was innovation in terminology really necessary?



    Yes, because you're missing the point.



    What sense would it make to be able to share 'categories'? You share a calendar. "I want the NHL Carolina Hurricanes *calendar* in iCal." "I want to publish the HR deadlines *calendar* for other people."



    You wouldn't say "I want to publish the HR deadlines category of my calendar for other people..." it just doesn't jibe with how people think or talk.



    Each calendar is for a specific topic. Notes and Outlook tie that concept to a particular user, which is limiting. By making it explicit that calendars are topic-based (which in the real world they are referred to in that way - "Give me the financial calendar" "Here's the publishing calendar for next quarter"), it makes it more natural to extend to the idea of publishing and sharing, which is a main feature of iCal.



    Sorry, but Notes and Outlook screwed this one up in my opinion.



    Quote:

    The last point of scrollbars not showing up unless you create an all day event does seem like a bug to me.



    It's not. Your preferences state precisely the hours you want to see, period. The scrollbars showing up *AT ALL* if you have an all day event, yet all your hours are visible, would seem to be a bug. Try making the window a bit bigger and see if they go away. I suspect that the view of those particular *CHOSEN* hours is tied to the window size, and when you add an all day event, it adds that extra banner at the top, shoving down the hours view, and requiring a scrollbar.
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