Coffeetable Blog

List.it is an attempt to come up with an electronic to-do list that can rival and replace our tendency to "Post-it" our reminders to ourselves. It's also intended to simplify most electronic reminders in handhelds and other devices that usually follow certain rules of what info needs to be inputted and in a certain prescribed format. With List.it, you can have a reminder system much similar to the way you use Post-its, where you can simply jot down a reminder in the manner that is most useful and convenient for you. So far, it's only available as a companion to a browser-based setup, like a personal computer or a laptop. The file to be installed is a xpi (Cross Platform Install, pronounced "zippy"), which is essentially an executable zipped file that can be opened using a Firefox browser. It seems that if you are using a web browser that cannot read xpi, like Internet Explorer, you won't be able to use this application for now.

I guess it's obvious that the usefulness of this tool will be limited primarily by the hardware that it can be downloaded to. Unless you have a handheld that can operate a Firefox browser, it would be a more cumbersome reminder tool than just having a notepad around or even an electronic to-do list that comes bundled with most handhelds. And it's obvious that you won't be dragging your laptop or personal computer as you go about your day. But I guess the developers would have thought about that by now. It won't hurt to see if this is one of those applications that will develop further to help us manage our day better.

I haven't been able to try List.it myself since I don't have Firefox installed in my laptop (yet). But you may want to try it yourself. Check out the following link for the download site and more info about List.it and let us know what you think of it.

http://groups.csail.mit.edu/haystack/listit