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(Archived) Fork in the road ?


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Well, after working in EN3b for awhile and reading all of the back and forth here in the forums I think I understand what's happening.

Evernote has been forked.

There is the original that is EN 2.2. with separate data bases, local storage, tables, templates, cross referenced tags, and more.

Then there is EN3b with notebooks, online storage,web access, image search, saved searches, multi and cross platform synchronization, and more.

They are completely different programs now. Many here in the forums are wanting all of the options from EN 2.2 added to EN3 and I am starting to feel that they are so different that some of it can't be done. We have had years to tweak the current build of evernote to the way we work. I am willing to bet we have even changed how we work to leverage the power of the current build.

What I am getting at is you can't add shoe laces to sandals, a v8 to a bicycle, or all of the power user functions of EN2.2 to EN3b, there just nothing to attach them to.

That being said my big question is:

Will work continue on with the EN 2.2 core for those of us that have need of it?

Let me know what you think. Am I off in left field?

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That sounds like a reasonable analysis to me. The official line coming from EN headquarters is that some of the missing EN 2.2 features will eventually be brought back into EN 3, and I hope that's true, but I'm skeptical. EN has raised some serious venture capital in the past year or two, and I assume that they now feel that this investment can only be justified by producing a cluster of Web 2.0 programs that will appeal to a very broad group of potential users. And that means (I'm sorry to put it so bluntly) a dumbing-down of EN. I really do hope that it's only a temporary development.

In the meantime, we will have to continue to use 2.2 for our daily work. We are all watching the beta with interest (and I think with good will), but at the moment it's a great disappointment for those of us who have grown to love the power and versatility of EN.

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Maybe I haven't thought about it hard enough or haven't played around with the beta enough yet, but I'm not seeing a huge divergence between 2.2 and 3. I guess I'm hoping you're wrong and I'm not going to be disappointed in the direction EN is heading. :?

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There's most definitely a big difference between 2.2 and 3. I think one way to look at it was that 2.2 excels at *organizing* data, (automatic categories, category hierarchy, shortcut categories, category intersection, templates, etc.) and 3 excels at *producing* data, e.g., from mobile/web/desktop interface, through camera image imported directory, using coordinates for geowhatevering, voice recordings, etc.

I was reading the recent discussion of Evernote 3 over at Download Squad (see http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/03/11 ... nload-squ/). To be honest, if it hadn't had "Evernote" in the title, I wouldn't recognized (or wanted to download) the application they were discussing :(

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There's most definitely a big difference between 2.2 and 3. I think one way to look at it was that 2.2 excels at *organizing* data, (automatic categories, category hierarchy, shortcut categories, category intersection, templates, etc.) and 3 excels at *producing* data, e.g., from mobile/web/desktop interface, through camera image imported directory, using coordinates for geowhatevering, voice recordings, etc.

I was reading the recent discussion of Evernote 3 over at Download Squad (see http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/03/11 ... nload-squ/). To be honest, if it hadn't had "Evernote" in the title, I wouldn't recognized (or wanted to download) the application they were discussing :(

Until I read that article, I kept hoping we might get most of the 2.2 functionality back. Now, I doubt it very much. The list of future features mentioned does not include the power features that have made EN so useful for me. I don't see them spending a lot of time to get that back with all the other things they want to do. It's now a data/image catching tool. I downloaded the beta a couple of weeks ago, but haven't had much interest in trying it out. It's like M$ took XL and did away with relative cell addressing. Going from a Porsche Carrera to a Chevy Malibu.

I imagine that from a strictly financial pov, they're doing the right thing. I don't blame EN management, they're in business to make money, and they need to go in whatever direction they think has the most profit potential. And with the VCs looking over their shoulders, they had better find it.

As I see it, I have 3 choices:

1. Abandon EN and look for a replacement. I've already done some research when I found EN, but maybe something else would look better now.

2. Try to adopt to EN3. That would be difficult. As was mentioned above, I've changed how I use my computer based on EN2.2 functionality, and putting training wheels back on will always seem inconvenient.

3. Stay with EN 2.2 and use it until I can't anymore, then look for a replacement. This seems like the best choice for me. I use it extensively every day at work, less frequently at home, but I need it at work. EN3 might even work for me at home, I'll have to give it a try. This is what I did with Commence, my old PIM which was so powerful. When it became CRM software years ago, and the price shot up, I just kept using the old one I had, until it just wouldn't load under WinXP. Was great while it lasted. I guess the same will apply to EN2.2.

Maybe the EN management might be able to sell EN2.2 to someone and let them develop it further as a data storage/retrieval tool with some sort of non-competition clause preventing the new owners from going in the same direction as EN3 has gone. One can always hope... :( Anybody looking to start a software company? Anybody?

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