June 7, 2008

How do I.. "Keep my notes accessible everywhere"

The problem is:

  • How to keep my Notes accessible everywhere! Such that,
    • If I am at my desktop machine, I can access them with just one click! (without opening any website and logging in!)
    • If I am roaming with my own laptop, I should be able to access / add / work with my notes over there, with just one click!
    • If I am outside and dont have access to any of my machines, I should still be able to access my notes and work with them!

Introduction:
I have been facing this problem from a long time! I tried many solutions! but none of them could make me speak "Perfect! Thats what I want".. So, search continued.. And just before couple of months, I read a blog post saying "Evernote is designing WebService based client as a next version!"

I had used Evernote previous version v2.0 which was not-so-effective for me! But this new version, Evernote v3.0 seemed interesting! I wanted to hear more about it so, followed Evernote on Twitter, Subscribed to their RSS and registered for Private Beta access for their new system! I did study with all that was available at the moment and found Evernote 3.0 can become Perfect solution for what I was looking for!

And one good day, I got access to Private Beta.. (Its still in private beta, if you need access, let me know)

Solution:

  • Evernote 3.0 has Three main components..
    • Desktop Client
      • They have Clients compatible for both Windows as well as Mac.
    • Web Client (Access it here)
    • Mobile Client
      • They have Client compatible with Windows Mobile as well as iPhone. (Though, iPhone Client is still in Development.. having iPhone SDK still in beta.. I think they will release it once SDK is fully released).
  • How it helps for the problem in discussion..
    • Desktop client can be downloaded and installed on windows and mac. After installation, You give your unique account credentials where your notes/images/snapshots will be stored.
    • This data is stored both locally as well as on the cloud.
      • Evernote provides 200 MB of space to store this data in Free Account, but I have heard they have Premium model as well.
      • It will automatically synchronize the data on all all your devices (be it PC, Mac, Windows Mobile, iPhone, Web).
      • By default your notes are Private (only you can see), but if you want you can also make them Public so Everybody can see them!
    • You can also add a note by sending an email to your 'special evernote email account!' As simple as that!
    • Most important feature of Evernote is, It can search for Text within Images (which has proved to be a life saver for me!)
      • Say for example, you take snapshot (PrintScreen saved Snapshot) of your computer screen and add it to Evernote, it will be able to search for text from that snapshot!
      • If you have taken a snapshot from your mobile phone for a product which had description written, you can search text in that photo!
    • In case, if you dont have access to your computers and want to access your notes in emergency, you can enter secure area of Evernote Website, provide your credentials and Voila! You get access to all your notes, search them, edit them and remember, all your devices are automatically in sync..!
  • Usability in desktop software!
    • They have got one of the best designed Desktop Client (I have tried on Windows)
      • You can tag, annotate, write notes with Ink, Group by various attributes and search your notes from desktop software! UI is designed with great ease.
    • They have a tiny application called Universal Launcher which is small but powerful app.
      • If you are in any application (be it Outlook, Notepad, Word or Browser.. anywhere).. You select any text and press "Win + A".. That will automatically add selected text to your Notebook in evernote! Just one keystroke! (I love this feature!)
      • If you dont have text to be added, you want to take a snapshot of your screen and add it to your Notebook, you can press "Win + PrintScreen" which will allow you to select area of screen to be clipped and once you are done, that will silently be added to your notebook!
    • They also have an AddIn for Outlook. Which will help you add your email message to Notebook with just one click!

I can just say one word after using Evernote.. "Perfect!!" My search stops here! I have been using it from few months and have got dependent on it!! It has saved me a lot of painful hours looking for information.. My account summary on Evernote website says (I have appx. 675 notes stored in my evernote account with lots of them Snapshots/Images!),

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I think this is one of the S+S system which I dont have any suggestions for! Its truly Perfect! Infact, the icon they have chosen for Evernote is also cool!

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Happy Evernote'ing.. Happy

Stay tuned.. Wave