There are some moving variables in this scenario, and I’d like some help thinking my way to a solution.
TL;DR- I need to switch to an online calendar. Do I want Outlook.com or Google. I don’t need email to be associated with it.
Here’s where I’m coming from: I set up my new computer and Outlook 2016 is not compatible with BlackBerry link, the program that syncs the phone calendar to the computer calendar. BlackBerry is headed to the hamburger factory in a couple of years anyway. Handwriting on the wall time.
My goal: to preserve the calendar that is currently on my computer, and continue to use it on my computer and on my phone. It started as a Palm Pilot calendar back in 1999, and when Palm went belly-up, I discovered how to migrate Palm calendar data into the Outlook calendar. (I believe I have a thread or two on that subject somewhere in the archives. But I didn’t get the answer here.) I know some people do everything on their phones now and hardly ever look at their computers. Not I. I’m still doing some freelance work, and I’m on my computer every day for hours.
Do email and calendar have to be associated? I’m retired. I don’t arrange meetings or confirm things with people. (No one sends me those annoying little meeting messages anymore, thank og.) I only have one calendar and I use it just like a paper calendar–entering recurring events and appointments, noting important events, etc.
I’m looking at a Samsung Galaxy J7 to replace my BlackBerry Classic (my 5th BlackBerry sniff). It’s not the newest one, but I think it has what I want, and it’s reasonably priced ($230-ish). I don’t need bells and whistles. All I use it for is email, calendar, taking pictures (mostly of my pets), and texting. With a bigger screen, I might get on the internet, but mostly I use my kindle fire for that. I don’t have any music on my phone. I’m not on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat. I use GPS from time to time. I’m a simple, undemanding woman.
The answer appears to lie in acquiring on online calendar that I sync with my phone. The fact that it’s online accomplishes the backup function (although I also backup to a local external drive). Dumb question: can you get into your online calendar when you’re not online?
I’ve been reading about migrating my Outlook calendar to Outlook.com, and the instructions strike me as complicated and arcane. Am I imagining that? And anyway, your email goes along with it. I don’t need to have my email as part of the package. I can just use the email app on the phone the way I use the email app on the BlackBerry.
Should I migrate my calendar data into Google calendar instead of Outlook.com? I don’t have gmail or any commonly recognized email provider. I’ve done some searching and apparently you can use Google calendar without having gmail.
