Hey, if you are an iPhone user then do I ever have some life-changing news. I have added an iPhone theme so that when you look at this site on your iPhone it will be formatted to look right on the smaller interface.

I know, I know… You’re WELCOME!

Toodledo :: A to-do list to organize your tasks.

I think I have posted something here to the effect that I am looking into the best to do list creator for me, if not here is the short version. I have an iPhone. iPhone doesn’t have a to do list, (I know, crazy right?). iPhone now supports applications. I want the best third-party to do list for me.

There are a number of options out there from the ultra lifestyle changing options like the GTD Model and OmniFocus, to simple to do list apps in the iPhone store that simply make a list on your phone and that is it. I got a number of ideas from people about what they use, but more on that later.

My needs for a to do list fall somewhere in between those extremes. I want a to do list that is synced to the web and is accessible whether I have my phone or not.

Toodlelo: What I like

Right now, I am in week two of using Toodledo almost exclusively. I haven’t bought the paid version which will unlock some extra functionality, but so far its free version does a lot to address my needs.

The list lives on the web which means I have access to my to do list wherever I am as long as there is an Internet connection. Toodledo has a fairly serviceable web app page that makes using it pretty good on the iPhone. It is a little sluggish on the phone, but I suspect that that will be dealt with in firmware updates to the iPhone.

Toodledo allows me to categorize my to do list in folders, contexts, and with tags. All of these are handy because they open up uses for toodledo lists that the creators didn’t even think of. That also means that it is flexible enough to meet the needs of different users.

Here is how I am using the folders, contexts, and tags. I have created a folder for each stakeholder to whom I owe something. In other words, all the jobs that need to get done for Jim (Jim is a fictional character, any similarities to existing Jims is purely coincidental.) goes in a folder called Jim.

I use contexts to establish the where. Everyone has to do lists for work or school and home, and very possibly more. Right now I have two contexts. Work and home, although I see adding more in the very near future. Having contexts allows you to focus on what is important at that time, where you are while back-burnering things that don’t make sense in the current context. In other words, I can’t mow the lawn while I am sitting at my desk at work.

As for the tags, here is where you can really get creative. Last week I was needing to be able to classify whether a job was in process or not. There were some jobs that weren’t going to be finished, but I needed to signify that there was work being done, but were waiting on contingencies. Toodledo didn’t have that function baked in, but then it occurred to me that I could use tags. On all the jobs that were in process, I used the tag ‘in process’, I know, clever right? That way, I could do a search for ‘in progress’ and see all those jobs. Tags open up a whole world of flexibility.

Toodledo has another interesting trick. It allows you to print your to do list and using a pair of scissors and some origami, create a neat little business card sized booklet of your to do list. One section is devoted to all the to dos in your list, and the back is devoted to what it calls the Hotlist. Those are the to dos that are due soon or are rated as very very important. It is a cool trick even if it is a little confusing to fold the booklet the first time. For those of you out there who have an affinity for paper and it flexibility, this is a cool option.

Things I don’t like

I know this is picky, and highly subjective, but I would love for there to be a site redesign. I don’t love the current look of the main site. It gets very cluttered when you have everything open. The site gives you the option of hiding notes, and that helps, but honestly, I need to see those. I wish that the interface had a more cohesive, app-like appearance that wasn’t overly colorful. There are color options, but those don’t address the clutter issue.

This is a small nit-picky issue that isn’t driving me a way from the site, but a slick experience would be a big draw for me.

What’s Next?

Thankfully for me, the user, switching costs are low when it comes to to do lists. I plan on giving Toodledo another couple of weeks and then look at the options again and see if there is something out there that works better. I bet using an online to do list for an entire month will illuminate issues I need to take into account when finding my final to do list choice.

I just found the greatest trick to redeem some space on you iPhone without having to dock your iPhone. I use it to delete video podcasts once I am finished watching. Also, it works when you are perusing your email and you want to delete an email without opening it… I’m looking at you spam. I may have been living my life under a rock for the last year, but I haven’t anyone talk about the delete function that is baked right into your iPhone.

Here is how you do it.

1. As you are looking at the list of your email, find one that you want to delete.
2. Place both thumbs over that message and then spread them apart. Think of a reverse pinch.
3. A red ‘Delete’ button will appear.
4. Hit that button and voila, that email disappears!

That same action works in you podcast library, and I am sure in a lot more places.  Explore and let me know what other places it works.

I am in line in Rogers Arkansas at one of the AT&T stores waiting for the new iPhones. I didn’t spend the night because I am not so crazy about getting one which has put me a long way back in line.

Now that Apple and AT&T have dropped the price and the uber-geeks have had one for a year now, the nature of the line has changed. This new phone with its lower costs marks a change in the nature of the common iPhone owner.

My prediction is that this version of the iPhone will be the next Razr. You know, the phone that you see everywhere. That does take away some of the cachet of owning one, but who cares, I am still excited about getting one, though I may not be able to get one today.

Stay tuned, and you can see a picture of the line on flickr. My flickr username is murdog. Sorry I don’t have the address to the pic itself, but I am uploading this post using my Blackjack…ironic

UPDATE:———
Well, if you were following me on Twitter then you no doubt know that I didn’t end up getting an iPhone. Some people on the Internet are speculating that AT&T is rationing its supply of iPhones so that they will have stock throughout the weekend. From what I heard from the people at the AT&T store I was at, I can’t find any proof that they are wrong.

There was something fishy in how cagey the managers were at AT&T. They were pretty “sure” that there would be more iPhones available in the morning. If this is true and they are rationing the phones and thus screwing the people who took the time to line up on the first day that the phone came out just so they could have some to sell on Saturday…that is not ok.

Obviously there is no proof unless someone from AT&T spills the beans on this, but there were striking similarities in experiences across the nation today as I scanned the blogs.

Apple stores had around a thousand iPhones on hand while AT&T stores had from 50 to 75. That is a big difference in numbers. The closest Apple store is two hours away. It would be ridiculous to drive that far for a phone that will miraculously appear on the shelves of our local AT&T store tomorrow morning.

I don’t know. I don’t know why this has made me so mad, but it has. Come on AT&T this looks terrible for your customer service. Quit assuming that customers will put up with your shenanigans forever. We won’t. Stop being ridiculous…

CrunchDeals: iPhone Owners Can Get a Refund

If you want to hack your iPhone to work on other GSM based cell networks, and you are trying to go the hardware hack route then be careful because apparently the iPhone will quickly transform from your friendly, sexy phone into a Bic lighter.

Check out this article on Engadget about a guy who basically lit $699 on fire!

I mean… is AT&T really that bad??

New iPods will be announced tomorrow, and none-to-early for me. Currently I have a fourth generation iPod that is on its last legs. Many times, I will be listening to a song or podcast and halfway through, it will simply skip to the next song. At other times, I will navigate to a song and my iPod takes forever to finally start playing. While it is searching, you can hear audible clicking as my hard drive tries and tries to find the MP3 file.I don’t know how long it will hold out. Hopefully long enough for me to save up the green to purchase one of the new iPods.

I hope the new iPods are cool….ie. have enough storage for my music collection. Apple has been edging ever closer to using just flash memory in its iPods. Right now, 8GB isn’t enough for me, and I don’t want to spend $499 to get 20GB. Also, the 5th generation iPod was the completely perfected version of the original iPod. It was as good as that form factor would ever get. I have a sneaking suspicion that the new iPod will be the first second (iPhone) generation of a new iPod interface. I don’t want to buy this one and have it be completely out-done by the 7th gen… but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Whatever the form factor, I will probably be getting one.

Engadget is reporting with “100% certainty” that a group of 6 guys who call themselves the iPhoneSIMfree.com team has made it possible to unlock the iPhone from AT&T and use it with any GSM carrier.

For those of us in the US, this isn’t that big of a deal. The only other GSM carrier of note is T-mobile, and they have their issues just like AT&T… mobile users just have to pick which issues they can deal with and go with that carrier.

The people who profit the most from this news are people outside of the United States. Many countries will never see the iPhone, and the ones that will, won’t be seeing it anytime soon…until now.

The iPhoneSIMfree.com team seems to have found an unreversible way to unlock the iPhone which is great news to us, the consumer. Products should be free. We should be able to purchase electronics and use them wherever and however we want to. These lock-in contracts break the fabric of our free-market system, and leads to artificially inflated prices and functionality-poor devices.

If real market forces are thwarted through monopolistic practices then the gray market will force the hand of the players involved.

I am an AT&T customer, and I don’t plan on buying an iPhone, but I still see this as very interesting news, and I am anxious to see how this all plays out.

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Now playing: Nouvelle Vague - Friday Night Saturday Morning