iCal 5.0 - washed out dates unreadable

We obviously agree with everything the other says, but I believe that Apple views people like us as annoying gnats. They are mostly focused on watching the money roll in from the huge demand for the iPhone. Meanwhile, I have struggled with Filemaker Pro, and more lately Bento. (They'll claim that Filemaker and Bento are third party software. Don't believe it; they are 100% owned, and presumably should be controlled, by Apple.)

I have a number of issues which I'll detail here. I doubt that anyone senior at Apple actually reads these posts, however.

1. Filemaker Pro is extremely difficult to use, other than its superficial simplicity in layout. As a non-database professional, I lack the aptitude or financial resources to develop what I need with Filemaker Pro. That does not stop their salespeople from claiming that it's easy to use, even when the buyer asks many detailed questions. Later, if pressed, they'll say that what they REALLY mean is that it's EASIER to use than competing products, IF the user is a professional database developer.

2. Bento lacks the stability to run a business. One of its libraries froze (permanently, with few fields, with minimal data in it), and remains unusable.

3. Bento requires importing in CSV format. Unfortunately, CSV format (at least when used for an export from Filemaker Pro) scrambles the data, making it unusable.

4. As a company, Apple seems to have no interest in properly serving small businesses, even though many of those small businesses are HOME businesses. When they fail to properly serve those small businesses, aren't they simultaneously hurting their consumer business, particularly when the same equipment is used for both business and personal use?

5. Apple has a history of supporting software for several years (i.e. AppleWorks, iWeb) and then giving up on it. They don't seem interested in providing a suitable way to save and export data and other information, so that it can continue to be used in newer software. How can anyone using such poor software for a small business (or for important personal information) avoid wasted time and lost information? Both small businesses and consumers need CONTINUITY and STABILITY. Apple seems only to be interested in constantly providing new software which is incompatible with the old. This is why I now avoid much of their software.

6. It used to be that much of Apple's software worked much the same. Now, iTunes doesn't even exist in a window - and it seems to take longer to switch apps. This is just another example of Apple's lack of interest in our PRODUCTIVITY.

7. And of course, there is the issue of iCal's poorly visible dates and times. And what about the narrower scroll bar, and the smaller "stoplight" buttons.

All this adds up to ARROGANCE and LACK OF INTEREST IN CUSTOMERS. One of these days, I expect that someone will give Apple a wakeup call.

I agree completely. Its so infuriating as for Apple to develop an app withOUT font control takes a concious effort. Even those fortunate enough to have great vision must realize that the whole grey on grey pastel styles like those in iCal are not as easy to see for some folks. So clearly they think its more important to put their stamp of the Apple-UI-stye on it, then actually let people optimize the use of their systems. Its of course a huge missapplication of the real core of the Apple philosopy of making systems easy to use and a great experinece each time you do use them. I've filed bugs along these lines before (e.g. no font/color control over Safari bookmark bar items or tabs), but to no avail. iCal is really really over the line here. I filed another bug on that.

BusyCal is much much better, but of course costs ~$50.

I am also dismayed by the appearance of iCal. As a person with low-vision, I have already made significant adjustments with Universal Access settings, and monitor calibration to improve access. Generally speaking I commend Apple on their inclusivity of those with disabilities but iCal clearly flew under the radar.

I am in the habit of zooming in to see text, but dates are too pale and too small and there is no way to adjust this or apply another visual theme.

I am so frustrated with it, and going to System Prefs to temporarily switch between the black and white or colour settings is frankly a pain in the *** and doesn't address the central problem of scale.

Apple needs to release an update on this one... they got it all wrong.

Grahame

By the way thanks for the tip on BusyCal. I might try this one.

BusyCal has a 30 day free trial so you can at least check it out for free. I did have some issues with getting duplicate events when I setup BusyCal and then when I dleted one of them that sent out cancelation (do not accept). Its all based on sync services so in theory both BusyCal and iCal will continue to update so if you decided not to use BsuyCal you can just deleted it and iCal will be up to date... in theory. :-)

BusyCal is much more color/font flexible so you can set it up to be much much easier to read. So far I like it.

I have perfectly fine vision, but I can hardly make out the date information in iCal 5.0.2 running on Mac OS 10.7.3 on a MacBook Air. I tried the calibration, and I fiddled with Access. That's not the problem. It's iCal. I don't perceive that Apple actually supports iCal.

Thanks very much John.

I do like that it will (in theory) sync with iCal. I'll give it a try!

Grahame

Yes... it is distressing indeed. It certainly seems that the development team on iCal was not held to the same standard as many other Apple applications. The problem with the Universal Access or Calibration bandaid is that they affect the overall experience, when it's just iCal that is the the problem

We're all in agreement (obviously) on the problem with iCal. However - the REAL problem is not iCal at all. It's that Apple's development team AND the managers are not interested in the users' use of the product. I'm referring to functionality, productive use of time, etc. In some cases, some of us can't use it at all because of sloppy design.

In short, it doesn't matter how technically adept developers are, if the product doesn't meet OUR needs properly. I'm not just referring to iCal, but ALL software which purports to be designed to save us time and make our lives or businesses run more smoothly.

Furthermore, extremely profitable companies like Apple take their eye off the ball (that is, meeting customers' needs). I think much of the profit margin comes from too many consumers being too willing to constantly keep buying new hardware and software.

As someone who is on an extreme budget (largely BECAUSE of my difficulty with Apple's database products - Filemaker Pro and Bento), I do not have the ability to keep buying their overpriced products.

Much of what I say applies to other companies too. Let's create a consumer / business activist group to force them start doing what we've been asking for.

I am less vehement in my response. Generally speaking I think apple has done more than most developers to integrate usability for a diverse range of abilities and disabilities into their products. iCal is definitely a miss. I don't use the other prgrams you have mentioned, so I can't honestly comment on them. What I find surprising is how such obvious issues pass through their testing phases and actually get released. If the program were configurable, none of use would even be having this conversation.

To add traffic to the post, here's another "me too". I have (almost...) perfect eyesight, but iCal (in osx 10.7.3) is still very painful to use. The washedout fonts and lines, especially in the Month view, make me want to go to my iPhone as mush as possible instead of the big super-duper external monitor I have. The thing is a pain to read, and when you have multiple events per day, with colored boxes everywhere, one has a really hard time locating (and reading) the dates and even the boxes for the days. As much as I love Lion and all the good things with it, just as much I hate the new iCal.

Yet another "me too" here. Not only are the washed out greys of the date numbers unreadable, but I find that the black text on top of very transparent color bars (for full-day or multi-day events), or black text next to a colored dot, is *much* less readable than the old 10.6 version, which had less transparent bars with white text, or text in the actual color of the calendar. Add to that the really terrible leather "skin" (which I replaced very quickly with the old Aluminum style), and iCal really is quite a terrible app from Mac currently.

Just give me the version that was in 10.6, and I'll be happy. Or fix the current version (some flexibility in setting things up would be great).

Otherwise I'm off to google calendar.

And another "Me Too". I have been using the Mac OS in it's various modifications since MacOS 6 back in 1988 but the recent modifications make me wonder.

Yes, one of the nice things about this GU has always been it elegance and slickness but slickness in particular as well in the sense of functionality.

The washed out numbers of iCal may look stylish but make the entire app unusable for many of us and I am not sure if this feature does not harm the eye sight of many others.

The company's arrogance to remain silent spite of all the complaints disqualifies the ancient pioneer of ergonomics and leaves many among us startled, sad and angry.😠

I'm just reading (well listening to) Daniel Kahneman's "Thinking, Fast And Slow". He has just been discussing the research results on "cognitive strain" and "cognitive ease". He specifically talks about experiments where a brain teaser is presented in very clear, or fuzzy (poor contrast etc) fonts. You are more likely to get the puzzle correct when presented in a fuzzy font as this causes your cognitive system (what he calls system 2) to kick in from the start instead of answering with system 1, which is more intuitive and likely to respond with the wrong answer the brain teaser temps you with (e.g. the classic "a toy ball and bat cost $1.10, the bat costs $1 more than the ball, how much does the ball cost?" if that is in a clear bold font you are more likely to say $0.10 which is wrong).

He also makes it clear humans can only do ONE task requiring cognitive strain at a time (this is why you will stop talking while driving if a difficult passing maneuver comes up or you enter a confusing intersection). So even for the folks that can use iCal the way it is, doing so will cause them to lose their train of thought on other things. This is exactly the effect you do NOT want for something like a calendar where you don't want to have to think about it and just want to check a date or your schedule. Using this horrible UI forces interaction to be with system 2, when you want it to be with system 1.

This is not just a case of personal preference (or even the ability to use the product at all), its a matter of poor design even for those that are able to use it. It will cause cognitive strain and thus be a distraction from whatever subject you were thinking about, that goes unnoticed even for folks with good enough vision to use it. According to Kahneman, this app is contrary to what we know about cognition.

Like everyone else I have been trying to work around the "Washed out Dates" issues in iCal. I have tried the "solutions” suggested by others and they just do Not solve the problems. Thanks for the suggestions though, it was worth the try. Like everyone else I am waiting for Apple to step up to the plate on this one.

Apple needs to install a font and Line control feature to iCal.