Several people have written me asking about the status of this project. Unfortunately, it has stalled, and I've run out of enthusiasm.
I loved Agenda. It was the most amazing program back in the DOS days, but today Agenda just doesn't cut it, even for simple tasks. Its time seems to have passed, maybe our world was simpler then.
I've added extensions that I thought would make it more useful - uploading attachments to items, stuff like that. I've put in a full-fledged note editor (tinyMCE), so I can embed images and links. I've added a search tool so I can run through items and create views 'on the fly'.
But the big problem is that most 'agenda' items arrive by email, facebook, twitter, text message, or shared calendars, and leave the same way. I used Agenda before smartphones and email became common; my phone at my desk, I was attached to it, and Agenda recorded every call, every activity, and every commitment. Today, I would use a CRM or bug-tracking tool for that, with the benefit of integrating with the rest of my team.
I'm back at university I started organizing the hundreds of research papers that I was referencing in my thesis with Agenda, and discovered it was much more effective to use Google's desktop search. I used Tomboy to organize my thesis (a sort of personal wiki), because Agenda couldn't do it the way I wanted. It occurred to me that maybe I could link Tomboy and Agenda functionality, but I couldn't see any extra zip from the Agenda part.
I'm starting to dabble with Twitter, and I can see how an Agenda-like interface to Twitter would be interesting. I'm interested in how teams can coordinate their activities, and perhaps building Agenda into a work environment has some merit. Maybe I'll get back to it next summer, with fresh eyes and new ideas.
I'm feeling like I have reunited with an old girlfriend, and discovered she had not aged well.
