Reader David E. Lich has submitted a great article on his GTD system with webOS, Basecamp, and Backpack. If you’re looking to be more productive with your Pre or Pixi, read on!
Like many who have written in the PreCentral forums, I have struggled with the lack of full-featured, sync-able task and memo apps on the Palm Pre. I experimented with several solutions, but each left me less than satisfied. Some sync over Wi-Fi to the desktop, but that didn’t work for me because I use multiple desktops and was unable to figure out how to keep that all straight. Others sync via USB cable, but those require user intervention, and that seems so passé in the new world of cloud computing.
I finally settled on a combination of desktop and mobile solutions that do the trick – quite well, in fact. They sync (two-way) over the internet without user intervention. The synergy among the products is superior to the legacy Palm OS task and memo apps that we have all missed. The best part – all these apps and services have free versions that are not time-limited, and they will be adequate for most users. Power users may upgrade to the paid versions if their needs exceed the limitations of the free plans.
The combination of software upon which I have settled is:
- Outline Tracker Free on the Pre, produced by Hominid Software and available in App Catalog;
- Basecamp by 37Signals (download at http://37signals.com/) as the cloud based back-end service for tasks and memos, which is also accessible from the desktop;
- Backpack, also from 37Signals, for reminders, also accessible from the desktop.
Here is how I use them together.