Unfortunately, Evernote failed. It seems like a great idea. I had brief dreams of getting rid of my Tablet PC and going back to paper (my Tablet is currently on the fritz).
- The tablet's notes are not available online, Evernote is.
- The tablet is not on my mobile device, Evernote is.
- The tablet requires fancy hardware (which is heavy), Evernote requires a pen, paper, and a camera.
- The tablet requires expensive hardware (which I think is dying - so now would be the time to find a replacement), Evernote does not.
I had visions of going back to nice notepads (you can't beat the feel or reliability of pen and paper - though the Tablet, to date, has been amazing). There is something that "feels right" about a nice pen and paper. And I can always find it.
The troubles with pen and paper?
- It's not very search-able.
- You can't tag it
Another way to organize & browse - You can't back it up
Without photocopying it (waste of paper) or going all 14th century and employing monks to manually copy it (waste of monks)
I thought about setting up a dedicated portion of my desk with a camera & light to capture. I'm sure I could rig a one-button snapshot & import.
But...
The Conclusion
It just didn't work.
Unfortunately, the first test that I gave it, failed. I jotted some notes (some harder to read than others - on purpose) and snapped a picture with my iPhone (there is an iPhone Evernote app). It synced at a reasonable pace and showed fine. I tried searching for words and found nothing. I tried 5 or 6 different words.
Zero.
It's amazing that the Tablet PC works as well as it does, I guess. The handwriting recognition picks up my chicken-scratch (I've had several awed onlookers gawk at my writing and be amazed at the recognition) and the Outlook integration is great.
Tah Evernote - it was not to be.
