Free Online Calendars has been evolving on the Net lately. Free personal information managers are popping up at almost the same rate that free email services did several years ago. There are now over a dozen sites that offer some form of personal and group information manager service. They range from simple calendars to full featured information managers.
The main attraction of free Web based PIM services is the same as that free Web based email. It gives you a way to access your information anywhere you can access the Internet. You can, for example, check your appointments for work from your home computer or from another computer when you are on the road.
Most of these services provide some form of group scheduling. This turns out to be an efficient and convenient means to communicate and coordinate members' schedules. Take for example a computer club with a variety of special interest groups. Each leader of a group can post meeting times and places and members can check one schedule and see what they want to attend and when.
Another advantage of these services is that most only require a browser to use. You don't need to purchase or install special software. This is truly the thin client or network computer model in action. Most of the services will work the same whether you use a Windows PC, a Mac or a Unix based machine.
Some of the more sophisticated services allow you to exchange data with programs such as Microsoft Outlook or with PDAs like the Palm Pilot. This makes the transition to one of these services easier and also allows the flexibility to access the data when you are not on the Net.
There are of course some disadvantages to this type of service as well as other advantages I've not mentioned here. You may wish to view the pros and cons link on page two.
A variety of online personal information managers and calendars can be found on the free online calendars links page.