In an era before Outlook and Google Calendar, people tended to keep their personal schedules in a pocket planner and group or family calendars on a wall calendar. Smartphones have replaced the former but their larger siblings — tablets — haven’t really replaced the latter. Part of the reason for that is because these calendars should be viewable at a glance, which mean a constant display.
Calou is the closest a digital product has come to recreating the classic wall paper. Like an e-reader such as the Amazon Kindle, t uses e-paper technology to maximize battery life. Calou’s developer, Hamburg-based TECHNIKmanufaktur, says that the iPad-sized product can last two week without being charged. The tablet is encased inside a wooden dish-like enclosure that has a magnetic front for small notes and photographs.
When planning a day around appointment notifications, there doesn’t appear to be a middle ground. Pop-up alerts or alarms either seem to happen too early to be significant and are quickly closed, or so late that the only option is to stop everything and run out the door. The