It was purely by accident that I came across Evernote. Probably a result of some well-planned marketing on their part, but sufficed to say, I was drawn in and carried out a little investigation into the service. I was intrigued and decided to download the program.
In the end, I wasn’t disappointed. It is a simple idea which has been utilised to its full potential in my opinion. Basically, Evernote allows you to stay on the ball and organised with reminders, notes and more. They call it your ‘notable world’ and in all honesty, I couldn’t have put it better myself.
So, I guess you’re all wondering by this point what it actually does. Well firstly, it allows you take text notes which you manually type in and store them in a pre-determined folder. This can include things such as shopping lists, to do lists and all things similar that you need to remember.
This isn’t particularly dazzling no, it’s just a reminder service. However, Evernote offers much more than any reminder application that I’ve come across before. For example, you can take web clippings extremely easily, using the web clipper to simply drag and snap any portion of a site which is then automatically added to a new note in Evernote. Extremely simple, extremely useful. Notes can also include photos and PDF’s which is another bonus.
The simplicity of this application is shown with the method in which you construct your web clippings. Once you have installed the application you will notice that any attempt to take screenshots will result in you being faced with a drag and drop box from which you can cut a segment of the screenshot. This works in a similar fashion to the snipping tool that is built into Windows 7.
The interface of the program is fairly simplistic. There is a pane at the top which features the main controls of the application such as ‘new note’, ‘view all notes’ etc. which are pretty much self-explanatory. There is a large window by default on the right-hand side, which is where you type and create your notes and web clippings. To the left of that, there is another similarly sized window which is where you keep track of all your notes. There is a list of all your latest notes and clippings.
Not only can you take these notes, but you can also attach files to them. For example, if you are reminding yourself to complete an assignment, you can attach the document to your reminder for easy access. Premium users can attach files of any type and format to their notes.
Other features include the ability to compile notebooks consisting of anything such as photos or web cuttings so you can create a virtual scrapbook of your favourite celebs or whatever you can find around the place.
Not only is this a great application for your PC, but it also syncs perfectly with multiple machines including Macs as well as your portable devices such as your iPhone, iPod Touch or Android-based mobile phone such as the Nexus One. There is a great app for both these mobile platforms which works in similar fashion to the desktop app, however, it’s probably easier to use and a little more deprived of advanced features.
However, being able to make notes (including taking photos and recording sound/voice) of things as they pop in your head wherever you are is great and it will even ask if you want to geotag your notes, so you can see where you were when you made the note. You can access these notes even when offline as they can then be synced for offline use when you find yourself without mobile network coverage.
In terms of stability, I have found the application very sturdy, both in terms of the desktop client and the iPhone mobile app. I haven’t once had it crash or fail on me in a couple of months of use. That’s not to say it’s immaculate. I’m sure it has its flaws however it delivers everything that it claims. Evernote is a well-rounded application that can handle your reminders, notes, photos, documents, business cards absolutely anything that needs noting. I would recommend it to anyone who is lacking a little in the memory department. Let’s face it, who isn’t?
