Why Evernote?

[GDeal 1]

I'd laugh were it not for the fact that I just wrote three paragraphs of questions regarding the reliability of Evernote, just to have them disappear when I clicked the preview button.

 

I hope the software works better than this blog.

 

In a nutshell, my question is "Why should I choose Evernote as a replacement for my current research/project organizer?" There's a ton of negative press about the product in this forum alone.

[adamdwright 43]

which devices are you using? i have a macbook pro (current line) and iPhone 5s. evernote works perfect for me.

 

if you're using windows, you might not have as good of luck.

 

You should just give the app a try. there's a reason people are so passionately pro evernote.  And regarding the forum users who are pissed... they're very passionate about how pissed they are, you'll notice.  this is because they want evernote to work as it once did for them, because ultimately, it's the best productivity app on the market (my opinion).  so they're pissed b/c they'd prefer to NOT transition to an alternative app... b/c simply put, there's not a better one in the market.  Or else, why would they be spending their day venting in a forum instead of switching?  just try the app

[Frank.dg 1,385]

What would be more interesting is if you could divulge what your current research/project organizer is. There are a lot of folk here on the forum who will go to lengths to give you the pros and cons of Evernote Versus...

It's a double-edged sword. The "negative press" is precisely because Evernote (along with a host of 3rd-party apps) is such a darn good piece of software. Many have set high standards for Evernote and expect a lot from it. These days, Evernote is having some teething problems with a couple of their new releases - however, it is encouraging to see that they have been responsive to outcries and have mobilized quickly to resolve many pressing issues all-'round.

[Frank.dg 1,385]

 

... if you're using windows, you might not have as good of luck.

 

 

The Windows client works fine 

[GDeal 1]

@adamwright, I'm using a quadcore MBP w/16g ram, 750g SSD.  I work in the industry, so aside from being a year+ old, it's about as good as it gets.  I also have an iPhone4s used mostly as a phone, then an iPad Air which is used for almost all of my off-computer work.  No offence intended, but I'd retire from the industry if I had to go back to a PC, though I do run a virtual PC for some testing chores.

 

@Frank.dg, I currently use Action Lists (a GTD dedicated app) by Metakite. It's been a great app for me, but I've seriously outgrown it and/or the underlying database. It's a long story that I'll not go into here, but I tested number of variations within the app and even discussed it with the developer. I just can't wait for this app to catch up with my needs. That combined with the inability to email attachments, attach photos, pdfs, etc., have me looking elsewhere. There is no question that I'll leave the old app behind, the question is which app I'll choose. I can get Evernote to do everything  Actionlist would do and more.  The choice for me is Evernote vs OmniFocus.  I use several other OmniGroup apps which are staple in my work, so I feel very strong about their reliability, but I think OmniFocus is overly complex and lacking some of the features of Evernote.  My evaluation of OmniFocus is not completed yet.

 

My biggest concern is the labor of porting over all my data from the current app into either of my possible choices.  There is no straight port to either of them.  This isn't an issue for me. I can easily script a data conversion to either product, but the big change going to Evernote is that I'm moving from a multilevel folder structure into flatter structure, so anything in my current dbm more than 2 folders deep has to be flattened somewhat.  Again, this isn't the bigger issue.  The bigger issue is that anyway I look at it, this will take some time and I don't want to waste the time converting my data  then find myself left with the same data loss and lack of performance.

 

The other concern I have is that Penultimate has been, up until last month, a key player in my workflow.  That is no longer the case. IMO the upgrade killed it for me.  I keep checking for other updates and the only one provided so far is a long ways from decent.  Having experience this I have the concern that a future update to Evernote creates a similar issue.  I'm pretty intolerant of developers that don't plan big changes with feedback from their users... and yes I'm pissed at Apple about Yosemite.

 

You have already answered a couple of questions for me though. I thought Evernote was primarily a PC based app and apparently that's not true.

 

BTW, I totally understand the negative forum posts.  Happy people are usually working on something else.  It's great to know that there's some folks watching that have some positive info to offer.

 

Thanks for the quick responses,

Gene

[Imagenomad 20]

If you're Macced up, DEVONtechnologies products are worth investigating (if you haven't already) especially since Penultimate has fallen out of favour with you.

 

There's a few of us EN users on here who are also DEVONthink users. I'm pretty fed up with EN (I'm a Premium user) and am wondering about jumping ship. In fact, all of my notes for the last month or so have gone to DT (Pro Office version & the IOS client, DT To Go). 

 

Two years ago, I would have answered the question, "Why Evernote?" with "Because it's the mutt's nuts". Nowadays, hand on heart, I have to say that there are better* alternatives (like DT and Omni stuff as you've discovered).

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Where "better" = "more secure", "less annoying", "less glitchy", "more consistent and predictable in their behavio(u)r", "more secure", "ad free" (even though I'm a Premium user, I get ads that I cannot switch off), "more secure", "nicer interface with customisable toolbars", "rich text or plain text editing", "more secure", et al.

[Frank.dg 1,385]

"Better alternatives"... For bits and pieces of your workflow, perhaps.

Evernote is a keeper for storage, especially web clippings and OCRed attachments, etc... But not for task management, writing and idea structuring. For those I use WorkFlowy, Trello and Gingko app. For the vast majority of my PDFs I use Dropbox, especially for printing (also for direct image linking)... Aaah, and photos.

Evernote is indispensable to me for part of my workflow. It's great to have in your toolbox.

BTW, Omnifocus and Action Lists are to-do apps. They're not built to be your database repositories. There's not one single app out there that can do it all. Not by a long shot. You've got to diversify. At the very least, try Evernote for the things it's unbeatable at :-)

[Imagenomad 20]

Well, I did provide a list defining where DT is looking better for me Frank. It works for me for all of my workflow. 

 

DT's raison d'être is to be a searchable, robust, scaleable database repository with a useful bit of AI thrown in if you need it. It succeeds at this in spades.

 

I thought I'd be bothered about there being no cloud sync but actually, I now prefer to manually directly sync with all of the security benefits that goes with it.

 

It's OSX/IOS only though. 

 

As things stand, to me, maybe to others too, EN has lost its "unbeatable" status for lots of things and those unwanted, unswitch-offable ads it throws at my iPhone and iPad, that Support said months ago they would deal with but haven't, won't convince me otherwise.

 

Like that set of rusty old non-metric wrenches, I'll keep EN in my toolbox just in case. But my shiny new set of metric wrenches will likely get more use and be more useful.

[Frank.dg 1,385]

 

"Better alternatives"... For bits and pieces of your workflow, perhaps.
 

 

By "your" I meant "one's". Not particularly directed at you @Imagenomad  . I know that you've jumped the EN ship.Was just chiming in with some additional general thoughts.

 

A side note: As specific as your workfow and DT is, who knows, it might be useful to @GDeal. But judging from his use of Omnifocus and Action Lists, I get the feeling that he may be the cloud sync kind of guy. That's a deal breaker right there for many folk.

 

BTW, aren't these forums addictive? I've noticed a number of former Evernote users still regularly come here to give their take, even though some despise the digital pathways that Evernote treads. It's hard to forget your first love.

[Imagenomad 20]

 

 

BTW, aren't these forums addictive? I've noticed a number of former Evernote users still regularly come here to give their take, even though some despise the digital pathways that Evernote treads. It's hard to forget your first love.

 

 

She treats me mean, she keeps me keen.

 

Or, to put it another way, it's not the disappointment, it's the hope that destroys me.