Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!know!slug!wex From: wex@dali.pws.bull.com (Buckaroo Banzai) Newsgroups: comp.groupware Subject: Re: Group Calendar Sharing Message-ID: Date: 26 Jul 90 16:56:05 GMT References: <27744@athertn.Atherton.COM> Sender: news@pws.bull.com Distribution: comp.groupware Organization: Bull Worldwide Information Systems Inc. Lines: 41 Nntp-Posting-Host: dali.pws.bull.com In-reply-to: mcgregor@hemlock.Atherton.COM's message of 25 Jul 90 16:54:40 GMT In article <27744@athertn.Atherton.COM> mcgregor@hemlock.Atherton.COM (Scott McGregor) writes: I thinkIn article , shea@edson.East.Sun.COM (Tim Shea - Sun BOS Software) writes: > How essential is it for people to be able to see > inside (or manipulate) others' calendars? I would argue "not very". This depends upon the local office culture. [...] I believe that the biggest problem for scheduling systems is not the privacy issue [...], but rather one related to the portability [...] Interesting anecdote time. This was told to me by one of my observation subjects, so take it as a friend-of-a-friend story (i.e. with grain of salt). In one particular office system, users could block out times on their calendar when they were unavailable for meetings. This could be due to other meetings, off-site activities, or just times you didn't want to be disturbed and so masked out on your calendar. People who wanted to schedule things could see when you were not available, but not why. One worker in this office consistently blocked out Noon to 1:30 PM. This became noticeable when the new boss, who liked to schedule lunchtime meetings, remarked on the worker's absence publicly. Well, to make a long story short, the worker was having a lunchtime affair and so was consistently, er, "unavailable" at lunchtime. The subject who related this story pointed out to me that even in a system (like this one) with strict privacy restrictions, having other people look at your calendar can sometimes say more than you want it to say. [For the record, I agree with Scott's assertion that the portability and data-quality problems are significant, probably moreso than privacy.] -- --Alan Wexelblat Bull Worldwide Information Systems internet: wex@pws.bull.com phone: (508) 294-7485 (new #) Usenet: spdcc.com!slug!wex "Zen is the essense of Christianity, of Buddhism, of culture, of all that is good in the daily life of ordinary people. But that does not mean we are not to smash it flat if we get the slightest opportunity."