Two new (still in beta) web services have become favorite parts of my digital life: Jott and Remember the Milk.
Remember the Milk is a nicely done personal to-do list application. I’ve been using it for about two months now and it’s become the official repository for all of my “honey-do” lists. Most web apps that I have an opportunity to use are still stuck in the 1990s-era “fill in the form and wait for me to think about it” mode. RTM very nearly approaches the speed and flexibility of a desktop app, using single-key shortcuts for many of its common actions. (Type ‘c’ to mark a task as completed, for example.) It is also available offline, courtesy of its use of Google Gears. The Gears integration feels completely natural.
Jott does one small thing and it does it well. It lets you e-mail yourself (or anyone else you’ve entered into your Jott contacts list) from your mobile phone. It’s currently available as a free public beta, and I’m crossing my fingers and hoping that when they come out of beta, the cost is reasonable. I’ve only been using it a week, but I’m already addicted.
Why am I writing about these two services in one article? I found a very neat trick. I send myself to-do list items in Remember the Milk by calling Jott. These two services don’t know anything of each other, but they play very nicely together. Here’s how (assuming you’ve already signed up for both services):
The Setup
Do this once to get things rolling:
- Find your Remember the Milk inbox address. It’s under Settings > Info > Inbox E-mail Address. Copy this address.
- Add it to your Jott contact list. In your Contacts page, click on “Add Contacts.” Paste the address, as shown here:
- Add the Jott phone number to the speed dial on your mobile phone.
- That’s it!
Remembering the Milk from Your Phone
- Call Jott. When asked “Who do you want to Jott?”, say “Remember the Milk.” (You might have to speak this one extra carefully since Jott seems to have a hard time understanding that phrase.) After the beep, speak your task.
- After a few minutes, your task appears in your inbox on Remember the Milk.
I used to use remember the milk. It is a very nicely done web application. But as my reliance on it grew I said to myself, that remember the milk might start charging for the service (a yearly subscription) like what VitaList did. So I moved to a desktop application todo list software.
IMHO if the cost is reasonable, I won’t mind paying for it. They have bills to pay, too, and the service provides enough value to make it worth it.
That said, I haven’t yet signed up for a “pro” account, mostly because they haven’t really said what you are paying for.
I’ve set up my Jott account to recognize “RTM” (pronounced, “arrteeem”) and it’s had no problem. I haven’t used it much yet though…
Not only can you Jott to RTM, but you can also have an RTM list read back to you through Jott. Have it both ways! It’s awesome for my shopping list. See here for instructions: http://bit.ly/exiPH