Just for reference I'm no longer going to respond individually to anyone lamenting the end of their free lunch service. Like they say in Frozen "let it go" - Evernote owed no duty of care to those using its free services, but does have a duty to its owners not to mindlessly give funds away to no effect. Evernote say that the majority of free users already fall within a 50-note maximum, which does fit in with those who tried it but didn't want to continue with the experience, or those who only need an occasional list.
Everyone with more than 50 notes and 1 notebook can (IMHO) reasonably be expected never to actually pay for a service, no matter what sort of cut-price package was developed. There are lots of other "free" services around - I'm sure you can find a new home.