I hate diary planning. When Sunday comes around I’ll do anything to avoid sitting down with the weekly paper planner. So when the chance came to test Skylight, a huge 27-inch digital diary that promises to revolutionize family life, I jumped at it. Anything to make diary day easier.
It’s not that I’m inherently disorganized (OK, maybe a bit), I just don’t like the finality of red-inking next week’s events. Yes, we have multiple digital diaries, both work and shared, all linked to various online calendars, but in our house, it’s not happening unless it’s on the paper planner. The real problem here is that, compared to my wife, I’m hopeless at digital diarizing. It’s like playing a Grand Master at chess, just with after-school club collections, meal planning, and entertaining. I try but invariably screw up something, probably double-book events, or get the time wrong … but maybe tech can save the day and bring peace and harmony to Sunday afternoons.
Skylight Calendar Max is a 27-inch wall-mountable touchscreen tablet designed to help with family planning. Well, not that sort of family planning, but hey, if it’s in the diary … ? The Calendar Max measures 27 x 16 x 1.5 inches, can be orientated landscape or portrait, and comes with a clip-on decorative frame and curved edges to give it an interior-friendly vibe. The display is an IPS touchscreen with a good but not brilliant 2560 × 1440 (QHD) resolution and 60-hertz refresh rate. There’s also an anti-glare screen and ambient light sensor that makes it visible in all conditions, boosting and reducing the brightness as suits the environment.
Skylight also sells a 15-inch version ($279), and while it’s not a massive industry—eclipsed somewhat by digital displays—they’re not alone in the digital calendar space. Amazon’s Fire TV-toting, Alexa-chatting Echo Show is available in 15- and 21-inch varieties. Cozyla also offers 15-, 24- and whopping 32-inch digital calendars (from $350), while the large, wooden-framed Hearth Display ($699) offers an alternative spin.
Dear Diary
Photograph: Chris Haslam
Setting up this massive touchscreen tablet and syncing calendars was a breeze, and compatibility is excellent, with Google, Outlook, Apple, Cozi, and Yahoo all catered for. It’s primed for Google, which is especially easy to get linked up, but I had no issues with Yahoo or Apple either. It was also simple enough to invite others to sync their calendars too.