13.

I started using iGoogle 3 or 4 months ago. What really attracted me to it was the fact that I already had a gmail account. It is already my permanent homepage. I like that I can get my email inbox, news headlines from multiple sources, weather, maps, and translation on a single page. I can also quickly access my calendar, documents, rss feeds, and this blog from iGoogle.

The calendar is nice because it can be synched with ical or outlook, and it emails me reminders for homework deadlines. I wish there was a bit more functionality in terms of being able to bold, italicize or highlight things in the calendar. Of course the ability to create color coded calendars is very nice.

The to-do tools seem to be a way to fill in a gap that I dislike in the calendars. Google calendar emails me reminders but I wish there was a way for me to "cross out" what I've already completed. I currently use a physical calendar (shocking, I know) to do this. I may end up adding one of these to-do tools to my productivity repertoire.

Backpack seems really useful. It has so many features that it might be a bit overwhelming. However, it seems much more well suited for productivity within an organization like a library or archive. It could allow for communication among the staff, and perhaps between divisions branches. Honestly after taking the backpack tour I feel like the google productivity suite is a bit weak.