Providing a reminder to a user that has an impact on the user

A system for providing a reminder to a user, the system comprising:

• a reminder datastore arranged to store reminder information relating to a task for the user to be reminded about;
• a reminder processor arranged to determine a time at which the reminder is due, based on the reminder information;
• a locating mechanism arranged to obtain information relating to a location of the user;
• an output mechanism arranged to output reminder alerts through a plurality of reminder devices;
• and
• a ranking processor arranged to assign a ranking score to individual reminder devices, with the ranking score relating to the likely impact of a reminder alert provided through a given reminder device,
• wherein the ranking processor is configured to obtain information indicating current activity levels of the individual reminder devices for the time at which the reminder is due, the current activity levels indication operations performed by the individual reminder devices such that the given reminder device has a first ranking score responsive to performing a first current operation and a second ranking score responsive to performing a second current operation;
• wherein the reminder processor is arranged to obtain information relating to a location of the user for the time at which the reminder is due, from the locating mechanism, and to identify a reminder device which will provide the highest impact on the user by selecting one of the plurality of reminder devices which is in proximity to said location of the user, based on known locations of the individual reminder devices and the operations performed by the individual reminder devices at the time for the reminder, in consideration of the ranking scores, and
• wherein the output mechanism is arranged to output a reminder alert through the identified reminder device.