Offline: I will be away from internet for around 10 years ....

[Dehvokahn 0]

Hello Evernote Community!

 

I am about to leave for a trip that will take around 10 years, maybe a little more.

 

I will be completely away from both civilization, and an internet connection.

 

I very much want to have an easy way to collect my research, thoughts, writings, and everyday notes in one place during my trip.  I have seen colleague's using Evernote, and entered information into their Evernote notebooks for them during experiments and meetings, and I very much enjoyed the UI and the different features.

 

Here now we get to my problem:

 

Since I will be away from civilization, and the internet, for 10 years, I am unsure how to go about using Evernote.

 

I have noticed some limitations, when already attempting to utilize the Evernote software while offline.

 

First, I could not find a way to get it to work while offline and with no way to verify my online account.  This is going to be a problem.  Since I had no account configuration file yet, and had no internet access, I could not use the software.  This is a problem, because during my 10 years away from civilization and the internet, I will almost guaranteed have to re-install windows at least a dozen times, and if I end up losing the configuration files with my account information, I need to be sure that I can still use the software after a fresh install (from USB drive).

 

Next, I can only find a way to pay for a single year of premium.  So, how can I pay for 10 years of the premium subscription now?  Also, when the single year ends, how do I convince the software, without an internet connection, that I have paid for 10 years?  Will I be able to get 10 product codes?  Or is there some other way to re-enable the software before then?

 

Finally, is it possible to sync using bluetooth between an android based device and a windows 10 surface based device while completely offline?  It will be nice to be able to leave the surface in one place, and use an android watch or android glasses to check, add, or update information in my notes.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions!

 

If this will not work, I will hate to have to spend the next few days trying out other software.

 

I leave for my trip on Friday, and will not be able to respond after Thursday mid-day.

[DTLow 5,737]

8 hours ago, Dehvokahn said:

I am about to leave for a trip that will take around 10 years, maybe a little more.
I will be completely away from both civilization, and an internet connection.

This certainly takes away many of the advantages of Evernote.  
Its my trusted system, and I'd still like to use it on my Mac and iPad.  
I don't know if I could last for 10 years; I don't know if my devices or the software can last that long.

Having a reliable fall-back is important to me.  
Whatever happens, the app/database gets corrupted, my devices get damaged, I know I can get back up and running in a couple of days.  I'm thinking you won't have that ability to recover. Make sure you have extensive backup - software, data, device,

>> is it possible to sync using bluetooth between an android based device and a windows 10 surface based device while completely offline?
Not with Evernote; It would be worth while looking for other software that has this feature

>>Next, I can only find a way to pay for a single year of premium.  So, how can I pay for 10 years of the premium subscription now?
I am the automatic payment program and don't get involved it the actual payment action.
Just curious - why continue to pay for premium? - I would have thought the benefits were cloud based. Switch to the basic account.

>>First, I could not find a way to get it to work while offline and with no way to verify my online account.  
For sure never sign-out of Evernote - I think that's the only time the account is verified.
Can you re-install Windows with no internet connection?

[CalS 5,284]

2 hours ago, Dehvokahn said:

Since I had no account configuration file yet, and had no internet access, I could not use the software.  This is a problem, because during my 10 years away from civilization and the internet, I will almost guaranteed have to re-install windows at least a dozen times,

This could be problematic.  If you are away from civilization how exactly are you going to be reinstalling Windows?  In any case, not sure, but you may be able to just backup/restore your EN folder. . Not sure, so a test run might make sense.  Never log off using File - Sign off

2 hours ago, Dehvokahn said:

Next, I can only find a way to pay for a single year of premium.  So, how can I pay for 10 years of the premium subscription now?

Why pay for premium at all.  All of your notebooks will be virtually local anyway, so you might as well make them local physically.  Deal with syncing when you get back.  You will need to do your own ENEX backups as well.

3 hours ago, Dehvokahn said:

Finally, is it possible to sync using bluetooth between an android based device and a windows 10 surface based device while completely offline?

Nope.

[gazumped 11,713]

To add to the above - I'm not even sure about a laptop lasting 10 years in (presumably) fairly rough conditions.  The average working life of a hard drive is only 3-4 years,  and unless you have a lot of spare capacity,  what will you backup to / use for additional storage if it fails or space runs out?

If anyone else has done similar trips I'd recommend getting some suggestions as to note taking systems.  My own inclination would be to buy a big box of pencils and 10 years' worth of notebooks...

Good luck,  whatever you decide - come back and tell us how you got on!

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

8 hours ago, Dehvokahn said:

Since I will be away from civilization, and the internet, for 10 years, I am unsure how to go about using Evernote.

For a direct answer to your question, see #6 below.

Forget about Evernote.  You have much more serious issues to deal with:

1. Any laptop is highly likely to fail within 10 years
2. Any battery is likely to fail within 10 years
3. Both HW and SW technology will have made incredible advances within 10 years, and some HW and SW will have become obsolete, and maybe not even usable

So, here are my off-the-top-of-my head thoughts:

1. Like @gazumped suggested, talk to people who have done this, and get their recommendations
2. I don't know what your budget is, so all of the following is without regard to budget
3. Buy at least two high-end PCs or Macs.  
   1. I'd suggest MacBook Pro 13-in
   2. It is very reliable, and comes with large SSD (Solid State Drive)
   3. SSDs are much, much more reliable than spinning hard drives
   4. FYI, I have a MacBook Air 11-in that is 6 years old, and still running fine, although the battery run time has diminished to about 75% of original
   5. The biggest issue with MacBooks is that they are not designed to be serviced by the user, like replacing the battery.
      1. However it is possible.  You might look into learning how to replace the battery, and taking a couple of spares with you.
4. Buy at least two large, high-capacity, external battery power supplies, capable of being recharged by solar cells
5. Buy 6 or so high capacity (≥ 64GB) USB3 flash drives (thumbnail drives)
    
6. Instead of Evernote, buy a high-end PIM (Personal Information Manager), or Journal app that:
   1. Does NOT require any kind of Internet connection
   2. Has been maintained for at least 5 years
   3. Supports export to today's standard formats
      1. HTML
      2. XML
      3. Rich Text
      4. CSV
      5. MS Word .docx
      6. MS Excel .xlsx
      7. PDF
      8. Plain text (unicode)
   4. Provides an easy way to backup its data to an external drive (like in #5)
       
7. Get Backup software that can be set to backup specific folders
   1. Keep one of the USB drives plugged in as much as  you can
   2. Set the Backup SW to automatically backup your PIM/Journal at least once a day

My apologies for providing a reply that is of much greater scope than your direct question.
I hope you find it helpful.

Good luck on your trip.  It sounds very exciting and scary at the same time.  Who knows what condition you will find civilization in when you return.  If you don't mind, I'd love to hear more about your trip:  Where, Why, etc.

[NewUser201509 1]

Issue is relevant, whether for 10 years or 10 minutes. We need to be able to open and use EN and edit files with no internet access, period!  (Note, this should apply regardless of if EN was open or logged-in when we shut down the computer or lost our internet connection. (Current states:  "To access these notes while offline, make sure that you're already signed in to the app before you disconnect from the internet."  It is not uncommon that the need to access files occurs while I don't have access to internet and when I did not have the foresight to have signed-in before I shut down or otherwise lost access. Like it or not internet access is still not omnipresent or reliable and, therefore, critcal productivity tools, like EN, cannot be dependant in any way on such access, especially if you want us become dependant or otherwise select EN as our preferred tool.

[DTLow 5,737]

22 minutes ago, NewUser201509 said:

Issue is relevant, whether for 10 years or 10 minutes. We need to be able to open and use EN and edit files with no internet access, period!  (Note, this should apply regardless of if EN was open or logged-in when we shut down the computer or lost our internet connection. (Current states:  "To access these notes while offline, make sure that you're already signed in to the app before you disconnect from the internet."

I agree.

 I actually never log off ( and was not aware of the issue) however this is not adviseable as a best practice.

This would get more attention if you post as a separate topic in a feedback forum, instead of tacking onto an existing discussion.

[CalS 5,284]

6 hours ago, NewUser201509 said:

Issue is relevant, whether for 10 years or 10 minutes. We need to be able to open and use EN and edit files with no internet access, period!  (Note, this should apply regardless of if EN was open or logged-in when we shut down the computer or lost our internet connection. (Current states:  "To access these notes while offline, make sure that you're already signed in to the app before you disconnect from the internet."  It is not uncommon that the need to access files occurs while I don't have access to internet and when I did not have the foresight to have signed-in before I shut down or otherwise lost access. Like it or not internet access is still not omnipresent or reliable and, therefore, critcal productivity tools, like EN, cannot be dependant in any way on such access, especially if you want us become dependant or otherwise select EN as our preferred tool.

As long as you don't File - Exit from EN you will be "logged In", connected to the Internet or not, the next time you fire up the device.

[FactMan 196]

If you are away from civilisation, how are you going to keep your batteries charged or the system fired up if you don't need batteries? As @gazumped noted, you would be better off buying a large supply of notebooks and pencils, and plan on getting an OCR scanner that recognizes your handwriting when you return. Or you could use Cortana/Siri to transcribe all the notes you make - if they are still around in 10 years. Good luck with finding a solution.