I have been listening to Guy Kawasaki tweeting over and over again about Evernote. What is Evernote, at http://www.evernote.com? Evernote is simply the equivalent of 3M Sticky Pads, except virtual. As far as I know there probably has been many attempts since the Internet began to do something like this, from Yahoo calendar, to Google Docs, to login and reminder services, even eVite. And there probably is about a dozen competitors out there, that I don’t know about. Recently there has been a bunch of companies with Disk Space available, sometimes for free (for a period or size), but Evernote is different.
Why is Evernote different?
And just like Guy Kawasaki has been pointing out, they do it better, simpler, make it more available, and useable. And like many Internet products out there, there is a free version. The basic features rock! I will just throw them out without looking carefully. The fact that I can remember them is pretty cool. Meanwhile I bet you there are competitors with a thousand more features, but this company seems to put them together in a way that is comprehensible.
1. Access
You can access Evernote over the web or through a mobile device, such as the Iphone. Since I am an Iphone user, it is like the perfect app for the perfect device. So when I create a new note for myself on the Iphone, I can easily find it online.
2. Free
Did I mention this service, the basic service is free, up to something like 500 megabytes.
3. Types of Notes
Not just one type of note. You can create text, html, picture notes, voice notes, even a series of pictures. Wondering if they store video too. If they don’t they will.
4. Tagging
Not that this is too critical, but they allow tagging, which means you can easily annotate and find your notes, if you create a thousand of them.
5. Date, Time, Easy Create, Easy Save and Listing vs. Thumbnails.
These are the basics that you would expect from a great service. The UI is easy to navigate, easy to use and basically makes life easy to work with.
Lots of times with these free apps, I would give them a try and then quickly abandon them. Not Evernote. It seems to have staying power.
All this said, and I have been using it for several weeks and still finding new uses. Let me give you some of the uses I use for (just like the sticky pads on my desk, in fact I am using less sticky pads than ever before because of this). I reach for my ipod and create a note, not a postit… Beware 3M, your virtual equivalent is at the door… Some of the uses, tracking and notating information about my refi, keeping dates and notes like anniversaries and birthdays, tracking information like my insurance account numbers, things I mean to do, things I have to do, things I want to do, things I did and want to remember, even things I don’t!
Just go to http://www.evernote.com and start it up. I would recommend using the Iphone, though they are supporting other smartphones.