One Day at a Time

By Joe Puckett, director of recruiting and training at PC Helps

The Rave:
While “One Day at a Time” was just fine as the name of a ’70s sitcom, it is no way for busy people to move through their calendars. Prior to iOS 5, navigating the iPad calendar felt like you were going one day at a time.

iOS 5's new Year view.

There were ways to get around more quickly, but they were a little cumbersome and less than intuitive, partially because they were very different from how you would do the same thing on an old-fashioned keyboard and mouse computer. That changed with iOS 5.

Need to look at a date in 2015? No problem on an iPad running iOS 5. One tap gets you to the new Year view, and a few quick swipes takes you to 2015. Tap on the date you want — even my fumbly fingers find the right one most of the time — and you are where you need to be. Need to rearrange a few things on that far-flung date? Tap and drag like you would click and drag on a computer. In fact, moving about the iPad calendar in iOS 5 is so much like using a mouse that you won’t even need to squeeze dedicated time to learn how into your schedule.

The Rant:
I know what date I want to go to. I can type. Please let me. There is still no method to go directly to a date. It seems to me that the search box could be configured to do the job.

The Conclusion:
The more mobile you are, the more volatile your calendar is likely to be, and the more dependent you are likely to be on it. The navigation enhancements to the iOS 5 calendar make it better suited to the mobile lifestyle, but there is still room for improvement.

***

Read Part 1: iOS 5 Rants & Raves for End-Users: Part 1, Using Gestures
Read Part 2: iOS 5 Rants & Raves for End-Users: Part 2, Wireless Sync

About the author: Joe Puckett is PC Helps’ director of recruiting and training. He grooms the talent here, and creates our internal and client-facing corporate training courses. A 15-year PC Helps veteran, Puckett is the one to ask if you ever have a software question.

This week, PC Helps Blog is featuring Puckett’s series of “iOS 5 Rants & Raves” geared to end-users. Last week’s posts were geared to IT leaders and professionals. He has been researching and testing the new operating system as part of his ongoing efforts to build new iPad training modules for PC Helps productivity consultants.

Click here for a video of Puckett describing what makes a good productivity consultant. 

Joe Puckett iOS 5 Rants & Raves, iPad, iPhone calendar, One Day at a Time

Although iPhones are catching up, the BlackBerry still rules mobile business communication. Case in point: We ran this tipsheet earlier in the year, and it continues to bubble up to the top of most-read lists. Here it is again.

Indeed, we get hundreds of BlackBerry calls a week, and most aren’t from the guy who cannot find the on/off button. Rather, it’s the managers on their way to meetings or hopping on flights who want to know the handy tricks and tips that will save them time and make their smart phones smarter.

Here are a few of the notables:

Tip No. 1: How to Filter Incoming Mail
Say, for example, you receive a daily report that you will not read or deal with on your phone and would prefer to just handle it back at the office. Can you create a filter for that?
Of course you can. Here’s how: Read more…

Jenny Sweeney BlackBerry, How To BlackBerry, calendar, shortcuts, smart phones