Wednesday, March 05, 2008

To-Do Lister

As I talked about yesterday, I always have a 'running-to-do-list' going on in my head. ALWAYS. It makes me crazy sometimes, because half the time, the things on my to-do list get caught up in the cobwebs of my brain, sometimes being lost forever. Well, not really forever, more likely until whatever it was I forgot is DUE, or OVERDUE, or I am faced with some sort of crazy debacle because of the forgotten 'to-do' item. Using Scott Adams (creator of Dilbert) as inspiration, I'm going to suggest a crazy invention. Even though it may not be so crazy after all. I'm also going to put it in list format, because it's the NaBloPoMo theme for the month of March. I probably won't be blogging lists all month, but I will when it's appropriate.



I'm certainly not the only person with the problem of the lost to-do list, so there's definitely a need. if you think about all of the technological advances in micro-technology, it shouldn't be too hard to create. I just ask that if you create it, you send me one free of charge, including free updates when the item is improved. You know, to thank me for coming up with the idea that made you rich and all. I won't become a pain in your butt by claiming that I actually came up with the idea. <-- That may actually be legally binding, the whole part about the 'not being a pain in your butt.' Here is the list of what MUST be on the device for it to work. Feel free to comment with additions. Just don't tell me to get a PDA or a multi-function phone or some other giant piece of technology I don't want.

  1. It must be small enough to fit in my pocket. About 1-2 square inches, and no thicker than 1/4 inch. I have my hands full enough carrying around babies and dealing with cleaning the house.

  2. It must be voice activated. I should be able to turn it on and off using a specific codeword.

  3. It should have voice recognition software. I don't want to have to take it out of my pocket to add an item, or cross off an item.

  4. It should have the capability of having more than one list. I don't just keep ONE list in my brain, but several. Grocery lists, Things to do, places I want to go, etc. I often make a list of places to go, and then under each place have a separate shopping list.

  5. It needs to have a 'finder' function. Because my brain is full of cobwebs, thoughts aren't the only thing I lose. It needs to have a function so that if I take it out of my pocket, I can easily find it. The 'finder' part could be a fridge magnet. I'll never forget where my fridge is.

  6. It doesn't need to function as anything else. I don't want a list finder that is also an mp3 player, telephone, camera, contact list, etc. A calculator and calendar feature would be acceptable. See below.

  7. It would be great if it did have a calculator though. Because I'm going to want to take my list to the grocery store when I'm shopping. It could keep track of how much I'm spending, so I don't get sticker shock at checkout.

  8. The calendar feature would be helpful, because I could put due dates on the to-do list, and put reminders in it so that it will beep when I need to go somewhere.

  9. It should sync with my computer, with whatever software I happen to use for my calendar/to-do lists, so that I am sure not to miss something no matter where I input the data.

  10. It needs to be washer/dryer proof. If it fits in my pocket, it's inevitable that it will be in the ONE pair of pants I forgot to check the pockets for before throwing them in the machine.

Are there any other things that a To-Do List device should have? Remember, I don't want a PDA or anything big like that.

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