(Archived) Best Portable Device for EN to avoid obsolescence

[4EVER 0]

I recently noticed that my iPod Touch 2G cannot run EN, because it does not support iOS5. Because of this experience of product obsolescence, I am somewhat reluctant to replace it with a new Touch 5G. I am looking for a durable portable device that will be able to run EN for the next 10 years, not just the next 3 years.

Any suggestions? I am happy to consider Android or other platforms and am willing to root the device if necessary.

Thanks

[GrumpyMonkey 4,320]

I recently noticed that my iPod Touch 2G cannot run EN, because it does not support iOS5. Because of this experience of product obsolescence, I am somewhat reluctant to replace it with a new Touch 5G. I am looking for a durable portable device that will be able to run EN for the next 10 years, not just the next 3 years.

Any suggestions? I am happy to consider Android or other platforms and am willing to root the device if necessary.

Thanks

Any device will work. If you are using iOS, just keep a copy of the app on your device. On Android, you can basically do the same thing. And, of course, there is always www.evernote.com/m/

Personally, so many things improve over the course of ten years that I think I'd rather upgrade regularly

[jbenson2 2,149]

Personally, so many things improve over the course of ten years that I think I'd rather upgrade regularly

Good point.

For a comparison, take a look at electronics 10 years ago.

A cutting-edge computer back in 2002

The extremely fast, new HP computer uses a 2.0 Gigahertz Intel Pentium 4 processor. It comes with 512 Mb of memory, expandable to 1 Gb of memory. It has an 80 Gigabyte hard drive, and a CD ROM reader/burner and a DVD reader.

This machine, without the monitor, sold for $1,400 in May 2002.

[dlu 628]

That sounds a bit unrealistic to me. 10 years is quite a long time given the pace of innovation we've seen. Ten years ago mobile devices didn't even exist. You can always keep a version of the app to run, but just from a hardware point of view, I don't expect anything to hold out that long

[GrumpyMonkey 4,320]

That sounds a bit unrealistic to me. 10 years is quite a long time given the pace of innovation we've seen. Ten years ago mobile devices didn't even exist. You can always keep a version of the app to run, but just from a hardware point of view, I don't expect anything to hold out that long

dlu's correct, of course, because he agrees with me

What I want to stress, though, is that Evernote is completely backwards / forwards compatible. If you are stuck in your grandparent's house with their old Windows 95 computer from the 90s, you can login and access your account. If you have to use the original iPod Touch to access your account, as long as you kept a copy of the old version of the app, then you can do it. The fact that Evernote's newest app doesn't support Apple's oldest operating system is irrelevant. All it means is that you won't get access to some of the cool new stuff like photo notes and so forth.

[jefito 5,598]

Ten years ago mobile devices didn't even exist.

*cough* Palm Pilot *cough*

[dlu 628]

Ten years ago mobile devices didn't even exist.

*cough* Palm Pilot *cough*

Oh yes! I completely forgot... I remember really wanting one of those too....

[4EVER 0]

Thanks for your responses. Unfortunately, I do not already have the older version of EN app loaded on my 2G Touch.

I am just saying that on iOS Evernote requires iOS 5.0 or later and that iOS 5.0 was only released on October 12, 2011. So there are millions of 2G iPod Touches sold only about 3 years ago that cannot load EN app.

In contrast, Evernote for Androad requires Android 1.6 or later. Android 1.6 was released September 2009 and as of Oct 2, 2012, only 0.1% of users were still using the earlier version or "Cupcake". (see Android Distribution Chart http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_%28operating_system%29 ).

So it sounds to me like EN is more supportive of older Android devices than Apple devices. I am not saying this is EN's or Apple's "fault" and I don't disagree as to the rapid pace of innovation or Moore's Law. It's just unfortunate that I will not be able to load my favorite app onto the device.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,320]

Thanks for your responses. Unfortunately, I do not already have the older version of EN app loaded on my 2G Touch.

I am just saying that on iOS Evernote requires iOS 5.0 or later and that iOS 5.0 was only released on October 12, 2011. So there are millions of 2G iPod Touches sold only about 3 years ago that cannot load EN app.

In contrast, Evernote for Androad requires Android 1.6 or later. Android 1.6 was released September 2009 and as of Oct 2, 2012, only 0.1% of users were still using the earlier version or "Cupcake". (see Android Distribution Chart http://en.wikipedia....erating_system) ).

So it sounds to me like EN is more supportive of older Android devices than Apple devices. I am not saying this is EN's or Apple's "fault" and I don't disagree as to the rapid pace of innovation or Moore's Law. It's just unfortunate that I will not be able to load my favorite app onto the device.

Actually, the Evernote app I loaded onto my Touch in 2008 ought to work just fine. I sold it a while ago, but presumably, it would have no issues. So, people with the 2G are fine as long as they don't try to download the new app. I don't know if there are millions of those things still around anymore, but they work fine. It is, of course, a bad deal for new 2G owners, but I think that is a problem you face with any older Apple product.

The Apple appstore only allows one version of the app, so Evernote can either be backwards compatible for several years, or (like most other apps) design the app for the most recent version or two.

Good job catching that with Android. I don't know why the Android version is backwards compatible like that, but it is often the case that apps are. It would be interesting to know why.

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

Thanks for your responses. Unfortunately, I do not already have the older version of EN app loaded on my 2G Touch.

I am just saying that on iOS Evernote requires iOS 5.0 or later and that iOS 5.0 was only released on October 12, 2011. So there are millions of 2G iPod Touches sold only about 3 years ago that cannot load EN app.

In contrast, Evernote for Androad requires Android 1.6 or later. Android 1.6 was released September 2009 and as of Oct 2, 2012, only 0.1% of users were still using the earlier version or "Cupcake". (see Android Distribution Chart http://en.wikipedia....erating_system) ).

So it sounds to me like EN is more supportive of older Android devices than Apple devices. I am not saying this is EN's or Apple's "fault" and I don't disagree as to the rapid pace of innovation or Moore's Law. It's just unfortunate that I will not be able to load my favorite app onto the device.

As GM mentioned, "THE App Store" allows only one version of an app. Android, OTOH, is not limited to a particular "store" selling only apps approved by Google. So no, it's not an EN thing. It's an Apple thing. And I've had two iPhones & an iPad & LOVE them, so it's not like I'm all pro-Android.

[Martin Packer 162]

I'm sick of devices after 2 years. I couldn't imagine keeping one for ten.

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

I'm sick of devices after 2 years. I couldn't imagine keeping one for ten.

I'd have to say I'm not sick of them after 2 years. But certainly, I'd feel sorely left out/behind if I were using the cell phone, PDA & computer I was using ten years ago. Dang, now that I think about it, I think the cell phone I was using 10 years ago was only a slight bit bigger than the one terabyte USB portable drive I bought at Costco a few months back.

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

I'm sick of devices after 2 years. I couldn't imagine keeping one for ten.

I'd have to say I'm not sick of them after 2 years. But certainly, I'd feel sorely left out/behind if I were using the cell phone, PDA & computer I was using ten years ago. Dang, now that I think about it, I think the cell phone I was using 10 years ago was only a slight bit bigger than the one terabyte USB portable drive I bought at Costco a few months back.

In this vein...that's one of the things that initially attacted me to Evernote. Well, and OneNote. My "can't leave the room without my PDA" device was a Palm TX. But you could not create notes with text, links, screen caps and images. You could have text notes. Or images. I forget how URLs were handled. But your text notes & images could not be in a single note. I remember thinking how freaking cool that was that EN would do screen caps. And, and, AND... you could even add SCREEN CAPS!!! (Palm TX & prior PDAs that I had) did not have the software/technology to include screen caps.

The advantage EN had over ON is that it was (and remains for the most part) multi platform/multi device. Another advantage is price - kind of. Some people balk at the monthly/annual fee EN has compared to the lump sum of ON. But then again, ON doesn't live on as many platforms as EN does.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,320]

Search is the key for me. apps on idevices generally struggle with serious searches of data. Evernote on every device has very powerful search capabilities. This is a big deal when you have thousands of notes and want to easily find things in your account.

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

Search is the key for me. apps on idevices generally struggle with serious searches of data. Evernote on every device has very powerful search capabilities. This is a big deal when you have thousands of notes and want to easily find things in your account.

I'm just hoping I never have to migrate my notes to (yet again) another app/OS. That was another key factor, to me. I still have notes in a third party Palm app (Daynotez) that I've not yet migrated to EN.

[Martin Packer 162]

@BnF Yes, the portability without hassle - save here in SOxon we don't really have "broad"band so a fresh sync from scratch is a pain - is what's important to me. I expect the data to long outlive the devices.

Admission: I don't leap from generation to generation of eg iPad and iPhone, tending instead to skip one generation if feasible. But the migration is frequent enough for portability to matter.