I had a burp in my internet service yesterday and found that I could not check my appointments at all, because I'm using google calendar. My contacts were the same. Of course, my google email was the same.

This was on my desktop. My Droid 2 still had everything... but is that because it still had internet?

But wait a minute -- I'm going overseas some time in the future, and I want to bring my schedule with me. I want to be able to look at it any time, and I'm not about to sign up for eternal international internet.

At the moment, what occurs to me is that I have to go back to my Palm Pilot! Is that the fact, or is there some other calendar and contacts system out there that doesn't become unavailable if internet is unavailable?

When HDMI came out and could only use six foot cables, I commented that the bestest new technology could not be used in the best systems. Is it now true that the best technology in calendar and contacts can't be used by people who travel internationally, at least not without huge costs?