This is where those smartphones or the like would be handy. I am trying to make use of the I Want Sandy service to keep track of things but it still requires email, ie sitting at my laptop. Well, maybe not 100%: I haven’t tried Jott yet. Apparently you can speak your instructions via phone and have Sandy keep track of them. But it would be useful to send notes from somewhere else, like a portable device. I find myself racking what’s left of my brain to put stuff into the calendar/to do list. After incurring $450 on a plumbing bill that may lead to a more serious job down the road, I’m far from being able to pony up for a more useable device.
But so far, I can recommend the Sandy service. I think it fits an interesting niche, even as it reminds me of what the Newton Messagepad tried to be — an intelligent assistant, pre-ubiquitous internet. Maybe that’s one more example of Apple’s box-centered thinking. There’s a quote somewhere from Bill Atkinson (who invented HyperCard, among other things) about how HyperCard and the web were similar, but HyperCard was limited to a single document (stack) on a computer where the web was not[1][2].
Is Sandy a more compelling product as something that runs on your device (smartphone, etc) or as it is now? Maybe they’ll do both.
1. http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/07/10/18/road_to_mac_os_x_leopard_safari_3_0.html
2. http://www.w3.org/People/Raggett/the-early-days-of-the-Web.html
