Online diary planner

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The early 1990s saw the advent of online diary planners, [1] digital tools that help users keep track of upcoming meetings and events. Users may be executives, event managers, doctors, students, and others. [2] [3] [4] Although the idea of keeping a record (or plan) of events is not new, digital planners allowed for those plans to be shared on the internet. The desire for effective online organizers and personal information managers (PIMS) has been growing. [5] The web-based Filofax initially satisfied users' organizing needs, followed by ACT!, Time and Chaos, and Microsoft Outlook. [5]

Contents

Online calendars

Online calendars, a newer version of online diary planners, soon appeared. The main difference between online calendars and handheld computers and PIMS is that the older devices stored appointments and meeting schedules on a user's computer or handheld device; the newer calendars stored all information on the Internet. Online calendars were more accessible and less cumbersome; they could be accessed any time and anywhere with Internet access. [6] Diarists turned to Outlook, which could be synchronized with Pocket PCs, in the first half of the first decade of the 21st century. [5] The older versions required users to make regular backups or risk data loss. [7]

First generation

Some of the first online calendars were generally unimpressive long-term, [8] [9] but they helped users add appointments straightaway. Users began to complain that they could view only one month's appointments on the calendar. Which means if they wanted to schedule a conference over one month away, they would be unable to do so because the application allowed viewing a calendar only 30 days at a time. [6] Open calendars that intended users to connect with many people caused privacy problems. [8] These online diary planners could not prevent double-booking. [6] Most first-generation online calendars gave way to calendars created by giants of the information technology industry such as Microsoft and Yahoo! [10] and their look and feel were criticized. [6]

Microsoft Outlook and Yahoo! Calendar

Many users turned to Microsoft Outlook, but the problem of double-booking appointments and meetings continued. [5] [6] Yahoo! Calendar had been popular since the 1990s, with compatible software. [5] However, the Yahoo! software had to be downloaded to an office PC if a user wanted to use it from their office; this was not always possible. [6]

Google Calendar

Users can synchronize Google Calendar with Microsoft Outlook, using the conventional meeting-request procedure in other calendar systems. When accepted, the proposed date will show on the recipient's Google Calendar. A reminder of an event can be sent to the involved parties' Gmail account before the event begins. [6]

Google Calendar sends meeting alerts as SMS messages to users' cell phones and smartphones via apps. Users can also download public holidays and important dates from the public calendar gallery. Google Calendar permits users to drag and drop events and happenings from one calendar (such as Microsoft Outlook) to another. [11] Users must have an active Google account, however, and the double-booking problem continues. [6]

Other online planners and calendars

Other online calendars and diary planners are AirSet, Meeting Diary, and Mypunchbowl. AirSet is a multipurpose online planner that allows connection with colleagues, friends and family, [12] and Mypunchbowl is a party and wedding planner. [13] Meeting Diary is an online planner for meetings, conferences and events. [14] Online planners exist for parties, families and friends, meetings, conferences and events, personal use, trips and special interests. [15] [16]

Parties

Mypunchbowl, Purpletrail, Bestpartyever, and Partypotato are also party planners. Mypunchbowl employs experts who advise users about party and wedding planning. [13]

Families and friends

Cozi.com and AirSet are online diary planners for connecting with family members. [12] [16]

Meetings, conferences and events

Meeting Diary and MeetingWizard can be used used to plan meetings, conferences and events. Meeting Diary has a large data-storage capacity and is a secure web-based application. [14] [17] Meeting Wizard, free of charge, allows the importation of emails and works across different time zones. [18]

Personal planners

Diary.com, My Personal Diary, The Journal, and Remember the Milk are personal planners, and Diary.com is a private and a public platform. [19]

Travel

Meet Me In, Triporama, Priceline.com, Tripit, Triphobo.com, Hilton e-Events, Groople, Trip Planner, Hotel Planner, TripHub, and GroupAbout help users plan trips and holidays. CarnivalConnections.com, InterContinental Hotels Group and Carlson Hotels Worldwide help travel groups with customized websites.

Triphobo.com, Groople, GroupAbout and most other online travel planners provide information on hotel bookings, sightseeing, leisure sports and activities, transportation and travel packages. Groople and GroupAbout travel groups can build their own websites to address each travel group's individual needs. Through these customized websites, travel groups can share travel tips. Groople and GroupAbout have liaisons with travel agencies and companies; Groople is affiliaterd with Kayak.com, Travelocity and SideStep, and GroupAbout is affiliated with Orbitz and SideStep.

Hotel Planner allows travelers to name the place to which they wish to travel and specify their other travel wishes. All such information is recorded on the site. Hotel Planner then asks hotels in that place for online quotes. If the travel group agrees on a price, Hotel Planner designs website for online booking.

On Priceline.com, groups of five to nine travelers can book accommodations by submitting quotes or agreeing to posted rates. Meet Me In allows up to four people to travel from two different places, get together at one place and receive a discounted travel package. Hilton Hotels' e-Events permits travel groups to see the prices of rooms, book rooms and conference halls, and construct a tailor-made site. TripHub is affiliated with Alaska Airlines and Orbitz. The site recommends travel companies and agencies which would meet travelers' needs.

Triporama allows tourists to interact with one another and discuss tour itineraries so members of a travel group can reach consensus when finalizing travel plans. It connects travelers to the web portals of travel companies such as Cruiseshipcenters international, which promote package tours. Trip Planner enables travelers to obtain an accurate travel plan, permitting users to specify their starting and ending points and tentative departure and arrival times. It is associated with the New York City Transit Authority.

Online travel planners have been developed by hoteliers and sightseeing agencies. Carnival Cruise Lines' CarnivalConnections.com was developed to help travel groups plan their tours. InterContinental Hotels Group and Carlson Hotels Worldwide also provide travel groups with tailor-made websites for booking and payment. Some feel that online booking is not always cost-effective; larger groups may get better discounts if they do not restrict themselves to the Internet, booking trips face-to-face or through a travel agency. [15] [20] [21]

Special interests

Marco software is an online diary planner for wine enthusiasts, gardeners and photographers. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Microsoft Outlook</span> Email and calendaring software

Microsoft Outlook is a personal information manager software system from Microsoft, available as a part of the Microsoft 365 software suites. Though primarily being popular as an email client for businesses, Outlook also includes functions such as calendaring, task managing, contact managing, note-taking, journal logging, web browsing, and RSS news aggregation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Travel agency</span> Retailer that provides tourism-related services

A travel agency is a private retailer or public service that provides travel and tourism-related services to the general public on behalf of accommodation or travel suppliers to offer different kinds of travelling packages for each destination. Travel agencies can provide outdoor recreation, arranging logistics for luggage and medical items delivery for travellers upon request, public transport timetables, car rentals, and bureau de change services. Travel agencies can also serve as general sales agents for airlines that do not have offices in a specific region. A travel agency's main function is to act as an agent, selling travel products and services on behalf of a supplier. They are also called Travel Advisors. They do not keep inventory in-hand unless they have pre-booked hotel rooms or cabins on a cruise ship for a group travel event such as a wedding, honeymoon, or other group event.

lastminute.com is an online travel and leisure retailer.

Priceline.com is an online travel agency for finding discount rates for travel-related purchases such as airline tickets and hotel stays. The company facilitates the provision of travel services from its suppliers to its clients. Priceline.com is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, United States and is wholly owned by Booking Holdings, which also owns Kayak.com, Booking.com and other sites. The company was founded in 1997. It operates in more than 200 countries and territories around the world and has partnerships with over 400 airlines and 300,000 hotels. Users can search for travel deals and discounts on the website, and in the past also offered the "Name Your Own Price" feature to bid on hotel rooms and flights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outlook on the web</span> Microsofts personal information manager web app

Outlook on the web is a personal information manager web app from Microsoft. It is a web-based version of Microsoft Outlook, and is included in Exchange Server and Exchange Online

Tripadvisor, Inc. is an American company that operates online travel agencies, comparison shopping websites, and mobile apps with user-generated content.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital calendar</span> Electronic version of a calendar

A digital calendar is a collaborative or personal time management software with a calendar that can be used to keep track of planned events. The calendar can also contain an appointment book, address book or contact list. Common features of digital calendars are that users can:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Journey planner</span> Specialized search engine for travelling

A journey planner, trip planner, or route planner is a specialized search engine used to find an optimal means of travelling between two or more given locations, sometimes using more than one transport mode. Searches may be optimized on different criteria, for example fastest, shortest, fewest changes, cheapest. They may be constrained, for example, to leave or arrive at a certain time, to avoid certain waypoints, etc. A single journey may use a sequence of several modes of transport, meaning the system may know about public transport services as well as transport networks for private transportation. Trip planning or journey planning is sometimes distinguished from route planning, which is typically thought of as using private modes of transportation such as cycling, driving, or walking, normally using a single mode at a time. Trip or journey planning, in contrast, would make use of at least one public transport mode which operates according to published schedules; given that public transport services only depart at specific times, an algorithm must therefore not only find a path to a destination, but seek to optimize it so as to minimize the waiting time incurred for each leg. In European Standards such as Transmodel, trip planning is used specifically to describe the planning of a route for a passenger, to avoid confusion with the completely separate process of planning the operational journeys to be made by public transport vehicles on which such trips are made.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outlook.com</span> Microsoft webmail service

Outlook.com, formerly Hotmail, is a free personal email service offered by Microsoft. This includes a webmail interface featuring mail, calendaring, contacts, and tasks services. Outlook can also be accessed via email clients using the IMAP or POP protocols.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Booking.com</span> Dutch online travel agency

Booking.com is one of the largest online travel agencies. It is headquartered in Amsterdam, and is a subsidiary of Booking Holdings. In 2022, the company's mobile app was the most downloaded mobile app in the travel agency category. As of December 31, 2022, Booking.com offered lodging reservation services for approximately 2.7 million properties, including 400,000 hotels, motels, and resorts and 2.3 million homes, apartments in over 220 countries and in over 40 languages. It also offers flights in 54 markets and tours and activities in more than 1,200 cities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doodle (website)</span> Swiss online calendar tool

Doodle is an online calendar tool for time management and coordinating meetings. It allows users to schedule and make arrangements collaboratively, among other features. Doodle is available on desktop and mobile platforms. Founded in 2007, the company is headquartered in Zürich and has offices in Berlin, Belgrade, Atlanta and New York City.

Roadtrippers is a web based software application, mobile app, and content provider that helps travelers plan road trips. The software lets users discover independently owned points of interest in the United States and Canada. Once a trip is saved, it can be synced to the Roadtrippers iPhone app, for turn-by-turn navigation, and further local discovery while on the road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MakeMyTrip</span> Indian online travel company

MakeMyTrip is an Indian online travel company, which was founded in 2000. Its headquarter is located in Gurugram, Haryana, the company provides online travel services including airline tickets, domestic and international holiday packages, hotel reservations, rail and bus tickets. As of June 2023, the company has 146 active franchisees operating in over 100 cities. MakeMyTrip also has international offices located in New York, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Phuket, Bangkok, Dubai, and Istanbul.

KDS is a SaaS technology provider for online business travel booking and expense management. It is also known as the Neo Technology Group (NTG) since its acquisition by American Express Global Business Travel (GBT). Yves Weisselberger founded the company in 1994 and served as its CEO until 2011. Dean Forbes took the position of CEO after Weisselberger. The company is based in Issy-les-Moulineaux, France with additional locations in Germany, United Kingdom, and the United States of America.

Trip.com is a multinational online travel agency headquartered in Singapore. It is one of the world's largest online travel agencies with over 400 million users worldwide, and also the parent of Skyscanner.

Cleartrip is a global online travel company, headquartered in Mumbai. The company operates an online travel aggregator website for booking flights, train tickets, hotel reservations, and activities in India and the Middle East countries. It holds offices across India, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

A travel itinerary is a schedule of events relating to planned travel, generally including destinations to be visited at specified times and means of transportation to move between those destinations. For example, both the plan of a business trip and the route of a road trip, or the proposed outline of one, are travel itineraries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gogobot</span> Online travel service

Gogobot was an online travel business headquartered in Palo Alto, California. The company was rebranded Trip.com in November 2016 and acquired by the Ctrip Group in 2017. Founded in 2010, by Travis Katz and Ori Zaltzman, by 2014 the company was the fifth most visited travel-planning site in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EaseMyTrip</span> Indian online travel company

EaseMyTrip, is an Indian online travel company, founded in 2008 by Nishant Pitti, Rikant Pitti, and Prashant Pitti, headquartered in New Delhi, India. The company provides hotel bookings, air tickets, domestic and international holiday packages, bus bookings, and white-label services. EaseMyTrip has overseas offices in Singapore, UAE, Maldives, and Thailand with country-specific websites for UAE, UK and Thailand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Microsoft 365</span> Subscription services offered by Microsoft

Microsoft 365 is a product family of productivity software, collaboration and cloud-based services owned by Microsoft. It encompasses online services such as Outlook.com, OneDrive, Microsoft Teams, programs formerly marketed under the name Microsoft Office, enterprise products and services associated with these products such as Exchange Server, SharePoint, and Yammer. It also covers subscription plans encompassing these products, including those that include subscription-based licenses to desktop and mobile software, and hosted email and intranet services.

References

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  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Schofield, Jack (January 10, 2002). "Working the web: Keeping a diary". The Guardian. London. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Talking point: At last! I've found an online diary that doesn't double-book me". The Times. London. July 2, 2006. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
  7. ↑ Keegan, Victor (January 10, 2002). "Erasing the information age: Why I packed in my electronic diary". The Guardian. London. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
  8. 1 2 "30 Boxes, Best... Calender[sic]... EVER!". Thomashawk.com. February 2, 2006. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
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  10. ↑ Schofield, Jack (February 9, 2006). "Too Many Ajax Calendars". The Guardian. London. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
  11. ↑ "Travel looks like Google's next target". London: TimesOnline.com. April 17, 2006. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
  12. 1 2 Schofield, Jack (January 6, 2007). "The best that you can net". The Guardian. London. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
  13. 1 2 Wortham, Jenna (December 15, 2009). "Texting Indiscretions and Evite Etiquette". New York Times . Retrieved September 5, 2010.
  14. 1 2 "Jhuns Infotech Unveils Meeting Diary as the Indispensable Online Corporate Tool of the New Era". India PRwire. April 8, 2010. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
  15. 1 2 Levere, Jane L. (August 19, 2007). "Reservations for 38, With an Online Travel Planner". New York Times. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
  16. 1 2 Peake, Mike (March 14, 2010). "The five best online planning sites". The Sunday Times. London. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
  17. ↑ "Online Meeting Diary – Meeting Planner Tools – Meeting Manager Software". JhunsInfotech.com. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
  18. ↑ "Online Invitations with MeetingWizard.com". MeetingWizard.com. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
  19. ↑ Kiss, Jemima (October 28, 2008). "Elevator Pitch: Diary.com has new designs on an old tradition". The Guardian. London. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
  20. ↑ Chan, Sewell (March 17, 2008). "M.T.A. Trip Planner Wins Web Award". New York Times. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
  21. ↑ Dodson, Sean (September 26, 2007). "New online trip planner aims to take worry out of gap years". The Guardian. London. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
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