Welcome to the first in a series of posts on tools, software, gadgets, etc. that I use and want to recommend.
First up is Evernote. At face value, Evernote is a note-taking app that stores your information on their servers so that you can access it from anywhere. But notes are just the beginning. Evernote comes with a web clipper that allows you to send web pages to be read later but it can also be used to store mail notes, files and more. Pretty much anything you can view in a window can be stored and read later. You can even allow sharing so that others can view what you’ve captured (and vice versa).
Evernote is also a platform and you can download a number of addon apps that work with it. Some are platform-specific, some work everywhere. The Trunk is the place to go for Evernote add-ons. I use Evernote Clearly, which re-formats web pages to make them much more readable. I’ve also installed Skitch, which is screen capture and annotation app that uses Evernote for storage. It’s great if you’re working on something that requires feedback and collaboration.
What’s particularly nice about Evernote is that it runs on pretty much any computing platform you can name along with their basic web interface. Capture a web page on your PC and view it on your iPad, it’s that easy. Information stored on Evernote is kept in an encrypted format and you don’t have to share anything if you don’t want.
The Evernote app is free and so is a basic account. If you want more capability you can upgrade to a premium account at $45/year. My needs are modest and I’m happy with the free account but I wouldn’t hesitate to upgrade if my needs warranted it.
Sure, you can set up something similar using Dropbox and some scripts or do basic note-taking with Simplenote but it won’t be a seamless or as functional as Evernote. Give it a try, you’ll like it.
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