Sidebar missing from iCal in Lion - seeking a third party product to restore lost functionality

Question

Apple has removed the sidebar, the always-on list of calendars that required no click.
The shallow popover that appears only when clicked — obscuring part of the calendar before disappearing — is to me (and some others) an unacceptable substitute for working with multiple calendars, especially where calendars are grouped across multiple servers.
I'm aware of third party alternatives to iCal. (Most full-featured calendar interfaces do have an always-on full-height list of calendars. Probably the best known alternative to iCal is BusyCal.)
This topic does not seek alternatives; I do wish to continue using iCal, albeit in a way that is less frustrating than what Apple forces upon users of 10.7.
This topic seeks:
a third party product that will restore lost functionality to iCal.
To any developer who reads this topic: please, I beg you, on my knees, submit your iCal sidebar app — or whatever you wish to call it — to the App Store as soon as you can. I'll gladly pay, and more than gladly help to test any pre-Store development version.
Other readers please note: whilst I'm extraordinarily frustrated by Apple's design decision, this is not an invitation to rant. Let's gain something constructive from this discussion.
If you wish Apple to restore the sidebar to iCal, as an option, then please:
submit iCal feedback to Apple, with your use case; explain why for you personally the limited disappearing popover is a poor substitute; explain how the sidebar will improve both (a) your productivity and (b) your appreciation of Apple's software.
Side note: no category includes iCal, so I file this opening post under Using Mac OS X v10.7 Lion.
Thank you
Graham

Answer 1

Gauroch wrote:
the new way
Many things in the new iCal are beautifully designed. I am certain that the new iCal will be enjoyed by people who use the new multi-session screen sharing for Mac OS on iOS (that should be a separate topic).
iCal's aqua popover default may be perfect for people who have only a handful of calendars.
Critically
The new design fails completely to offer an always-on full-height list of calendars — invaluable when working with more than a handful of things.
The screenshot below, taken whilst evaluating BusyCal, shows a subset of my list of calendars (more than the average user, that's why an always-on list is so valuable). In shot: three accounts on a CalDAV server. I have other, lesser used accounts on other CalDAV servers. Also some use of Exchange servers. My own case is extreme but there's a guiding principle for a variety of use cases:
some users need to see the list of calendars all the time.
What's exmplified below has become impossible in iCal 5.0 (1535) in Mac OS X 10.7 (Build 11A511).
I plead with Apple, or a third party developer, to restore the sidebar list of calendars to iCal.
Apple's limitation is acceptable when the user has only two calendars —
— but for some other classes of user, completely inappropriate.
The percentage of users troubled by the loss of functionality may be less than the percentage enjoying the popover, but that in itself does not reduce the trouble, the frustration.
The sidebar was present in 10.4, removed in 10.5. Many users of 10.5 complained.
The sidebar reappeared in 10.6. Removal in 10.7 is almost completely dumbfounding.
I would like to say, "give it time — the more you use it, the more it will be appreciated" but for me this is not true. For some weeks I tried to work with this build of iCal and the more I used it, the greater the frustration. I grew to avoid iCal.
In most ways the feature set of iCal is unequalled. Support for many standards is excellent. The removal of the sidebar is a blight on this brilliance.
I plead with Apple or a third party developer to fix this at the earliest opportunity. I want Apple iCal — but user-friendly, not crippled.