Task.fm Reminders in Real Language
Task.fm is basically a reminders list or to-do list. Unlike most of them, though, it’s uniquely semantic language recognition makes it stand out. Sort of like the Wolfram Alpha for to-do lists, I guess.
It has a lot of other useful features too, though, besides just being able to say “Tuesday, dentist appt at 1pm” and have it record that as “Tuesday, 13:00, dentist appt.” Although that, in itself, is pretty cool.
The other portion of this is what makes it useful outside of just recording information. It spits it back out at you as reminders. Task.fm can send you sms text message reminders (Task.fm’s only current income stream is from pre-purchase of these credits) or even phone call reminders with an automated voice (also at a charge). It also sends email, of course.
The language filter is amazingly intelligent (so far as setting dates are concerned), so that anything like “Two weeks from today, I have to be at the airport at noon to pick up Andy” is understood and recorded.
Task.fm has one major downer, though: it understands typed language, not spoken. In other words, while it’s a nifty step towards “Web 3.0” or whatever, it’s kind of pointless in a way. Most of us are savvy enough to click on a calendar and type in our appointment. Fewer of us are interested in typing out complete sentences for an app to translate.
That aside, though, it’s an extremely innovative application that does only one thing and really does it well: it remembers and reminds you of appointments.
The creator of Task.fm is Anthony Feint, a developer in Australia. He put it together with a team of freelancers. SMS and phone reminders cost 1 credit, which are purchased in batches of 20 at $2.00 per batch. Email reminders are sent free.
The site is well made and the app is focused on one task and does it well. It’s worth trying out for a few minutes to see if it’s useful to you.
