(Archived) Endgadget Praises Evernote (March 30,2012)

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

Terrence O'Brian over at Endgadget has some nice words about Evernote, but ends up unsatisfied with it. What do you think?

Digital note-taking apps are a dime a dozen, and I've tried a pretty good chunk of them. Simplenote (in conjunction with Notational Velocity and ResophNotes), OneNote, Tomboy, Zim, Springpad... they've all left me feeling a little meh. Eventually, after plenty of soul searching, I settled onEvernote. When I first signed up for the service, shortly after the beta launch in 2008, I primarily used it as a recipe book. Even to this day I still dump directions for whipping up tasty meals into my online repository. This is how I discovered the Evernote's sheer power. As I started collecting dishes, I tagged them by cuisine, course, dish type and ingredients, allowing me to quickly figure out what I could make based on what was available in my refrigerator, or narrow down my choices if I was in the mood for soup.

Part of the reason I made the jump to Evernote full- time after using it in conjunction with Simplenote was the top-notch Android app. Don't get me wrong, the iOS version is pretty good and the desktop clients are undeniably awesome, but the widget is what makes this a killer tool for capturing info. With a single tap I can snap a pic of the newest beer to grace my palate, take some notes and tag it with the style and brewery.

But I don't want to get too wrapped up in singing its praises. The omission of a Linux app, a painfully slow web interface and the lack of free offline access on Android irk me more than a little. And it still isn't an ideal solution for quickly making or updating lists. Sadly, I don't actually feel like I've landed on the perfect note-taking solution; it's more that I've accepted defeat and settled for the least bad option. Maybe it's time to pay more attention to that Moleskine I splurged on.

http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/30/irl-evernote-netgear-n900-fiio-e17-alpen/

[Metrodon 2,184]

I think he is a whiny little sod...

14 platforms isn't enough for him, he needs a minority desktop OS.

The web app seems perfectly adequate to me.

He wants everything for nothing - I presume he gives his writing or whatever he does for a living away for free too.

The internet is a truly wonderful thing, the downside...pretty much any idiot can get 'published'.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

I think he is a whiny little sod...

14 platforms isn't enough for him, he needs a minority desktop OS.

The web app seems perfectly adequate to me.

He wants everything for nothing - I presume he gives his writing or whatever he does for a living away for free too.

The internet is a truly wonderful thing, the downside...pretty much any idiot can get 'published'.

lol. don't hold back!

the linux thing doesn't really seem like a big deal to me. admittedly, i don't use the platform, but isn't there nixnote or something like that? the web interface isn't my favorite in the world, but i generally do not like them, and think that is a result of the web environment--doing the best with what they have. the free offline access thing is fair, given the android enviroment, but premium to support the service doesn't seem like too much to ask.

basically, the app works great, but he'd rather pay for a moleskine notebook (let's say one a month) than pay less for evernote premium. at least, that is how i read it. i don't know about whiny, but maybe not worth reading!

[gazumped 11,667]

The guy's obviously had some bad experiences using linux (no support yet) and the s-l-o-w web option (no arguments here), but I don't see what his beef with the "lack of free offline access" on Android is all about.

Anyway. Wearing my marketing hat, I'd suggest a polite note from someone senior in EN to point out that there's still lots of work going on towards improvement, and to ask for more info about the offline use to which he's referring. There are probably work-arounds anyway.

Or. Just ignore the whole thing - none of the comments so far confirm any problems, and a few defend the Big Green Elephant. Rise above, just rise above...

[jbenson2 2,147]

Or. Just ignore the whole thing - none of the comments so far confirm any problems, and a few defend the Big Green Elephant. Rise above, just rise above...

I stopped reading Endgaget.

They seem to have new writers every 3 months or so. And they appear to have an incentive pay plan based on the number negatives.

Reminds me of the people who gripe about having to go back to the CES show in Las Vegas each year.

[rockky 32]

Hmm...I'd say in the large note/productivity app world,the evernote mobile app is where Evernote lags behind.

Note,tag, and notebook management in the Android app is fair (at

BEST)....compared to much of whats out there.

[peterfmartin 221]

I may be alone or in a minority here, but I agree with people who criticize Evernote as a note-taking app. I don't have any mobile devices, so I can't compare Evernote to other programs on those platforms, but for note taking on my computer I use other programs, usually Notational Velocity (Mac only) or—shudder—Word. I usually take notes in outline format, and Evernote's terrible outline and number lists make it a major headache for when I want to take notes.

That said, all of my data is in Evernote. (Well, I'm still migrating old data over, but eventually all of it will be, and all new data goes into Evernote quickly.) It is my ultimate database. I have come to rely on it as where I store and find everything I need—but not where I take my notes.

EDIT: I should add that Evernote's major amazingness for me is in web clipping. Of the nearly 8,000 notes I've created in Evernote (I have several thousand more that have come in automatically via RSS feeds), 65 percent are web clips. I never used any other note-taking app, so I don't know whether or how well OneNote and the others do web clips, but the discovery of web clipping in Evernote after years of bookmarking pages turned my life around.

[Don Sakers 98]

For twice the price of "that Moleskine" he splurged on, he could probably get a Premium account.

I've never understood all this complaining about Premium accounts. People will happily shell out $50 OR $60 for a video game, but they won't even consider the same amount for a whole year of the most amazingly useful software/service in the world. I can understand people who honestly can't afford it, but at least all the great features of the free version are there for them to use...unlike the latest big video game.

For me, getting a Premium account was a no-brainer. I think I used the free account for about a week before upgrading. For what I get out of Evernote, the price is negligible.

I don't know, maybe software reviewers are used to getting free versions of the stuff they review, and they resent the idea of paying for anything out of their own pockets.