Digital File Cabinet You Can Bring With You Anywhere
What if you could collect, in one well-organized, searchable, private digital repository, all the notes you create, clips from Web pages and emails you want to recall, dictated audio memos, photos, key documents, and more? And what if that repository was constantly synchronized, so it was accessible through a Web browser and through apps on your various computers and smart phones?
Well, such a service exists. And it’s free. It’s called Evernote. I’ve been testing it for about a week on a multiplicity of computers and phones, and found that it works very well. Evernote is an excellent example of hybrid computing—using the “cloud” online to store data and perform tasks, while still taking advantage of the power and offline ability of local devices.
The idea behind Evernote is to be a sort of digital file cabinet. It allows you to create “notebooks” containing items called notes. These notes can range from text to photos to many kinds of attached files. You can locate, group and peruse them quickly, without having to dig through a computer’s file system. When I first reviewed the product, back in 2005, Evernote was a Windows-only, purely local information organizer. Now it’s a multi-platform, Internet-savvy, synchronized place for your ideas.
You can sign up for Evernote free at evernote.com, and use it entirely as a Web-based application, through any of the major Web browsers. But Evernote also comes in customized versions for a staggering array of devices: Windows and Macintosh computers, and for all the major smart phones, including the iPhone; the BlackBerry; phones running Google’s Android operating system; the latest Palm (PALM) phones; and Windows Mobile phones.
This week, Evernote, which is made by a small Silicon Valley company of the same name, is introducing a totally revamped Windows version that brings the platform into parity with the company’s previously more advanced Macintosh version.
I tested Evernote on two Macs and two Windows PCs, as well as an iPhone, a Palm Pre phone and the new Nexus One phone from Google (GOOG). I also tried free plug-ins the company offers that make it easy to insert all or part of a Web page or email into an Evernote note. These are available for the Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and Chrome Web browsers, and for the Outlook email program. There are also system-wide Evernote buttons, which make capturing notes quicker, for Windows and the Mac.
I found Evernote works well for gathering ideas for business or personal projects, hobbies, or events you’re planning. When you see something or think of something you want to add, you can do it from whatever computer or phone is handy, and it will shortly appear on all of them.
Here are a few examples of how I used Evernote. I typed notes to myself on my desktops and laptops. I dictated a reminder to myself using the Evernote app on my iPhone. I used the Nexus One’s camera to take a picture of a person’s business card. I also copied text from Web pages, emails, and Word documents, and pasted them as notes. I even attached whole files to notes.
Within a few minutes, all of these notes were available on my personal Evernote Web site and from within all the Evernote apps on my computers and phones. I could search through them, email them, print them, group them with related items, or edit and annotate them.
Every Evernote user also gets a unique Evernote email address, and anything you email to that address goes into your repository as a new note. You also can use Twitter to get a note into Evernote.
The program has a few extra-cool features. If you create a note from a photo that includes printing, Evernote’s servers will try to figure out the words and make them searchable. This worked well in my tests with photos of business cards. And some smart-phone apps can save items directly into Evernote notes. One example I tested successfully was the Associated Press news app on the iPhone.
There are a few minor downsides to Evernote. While there’s no overall limit to the amount of data you can store, you can only upload 40 megabytes a month with the free version, attach certain types of files to notes, and you are forced to view ads. A premium version, which costs $5 a month, or $45 a year, increases the quota to 500 megabytes monthly, removes the ads, allows attaching any file type, and adds more features.
Also, I found the Evernote programs and apps, while similar, differ slightly depending on the capabilities of the platform they run on. Among the phone versions, for instance, the iPhone app is by far the most full-featured, and is currently the only one that can store whole notebooks offline, though the Android version is due to get that feature soon. Finally, the Evernote plug-in crashed Outlook on one of my Windows computers.
But, all in all, I found Evernote to be a valuable, easy-to-use tool that simplified my work and made good use of both the Internet and all my devices.
Find Walt Mossberg’s columns and videos online, free, at the All Things Digital Web site, walt.allthingsd.com. Email him at mossberg@wsj.com.
Comments
I currently use Evernote on my PC and my iPhone and I have found it to be an indispensable tool. I first started using OneNote from Microsoft, but found that I was limited only to my PC, then I discovered Evernote and have not looked back since.
Posted by gjperera at January 21st, 2010 at 2:38 amMy only concern with Evernote as with any service that resides in the cloud is the possibility of breach…that could prove disastrous for anyone who pours their thoughts to these digital notebooks…but I guess its a risk we take to enjoy the convenience of access and synchronization from anywhere.
One CON for me: The Blackberry client doesn't support in-app note reading. It will launch the Evernote web-based viewer in the BB browser.
Posted by joecassara at January 21st, 2010 at 3:27 amYou can designate any of your stuff to be local only, and you can choose to encrypt any of your content so that even Evernote can't decrypt it. But these may be premium-only features.
Posted by wmossberg at January 21st, 2010 at 6:37 pmEach platform has its own limitations.
Posted by wmossberg at January 21st, 2010 at 6:38 pmI wanted Evernote for BB 8830 but App World could not find it. From Evernote comments about Blackberry App World not supporting Evernote:
Re: Impossible to dowload application at BB App World
by engberg on Fri Jan 15, 2010 1:46 pm
If you don't see Evernote in the App World, that means that our application isn't supported by Evernote on your device and carrier.
You're welcome to try an unsupported direct install, but this may not work for you:
http://s.evernote.com/bbota
http://s.evernote.com/stormota
Any commnets John
Posted by johndur at January 21st, 2010 at 8:02 pmI love Walt's columns but find his videos to be useless. Instead of using the video to demonstrate the programs, he sits in front of his webcam with those shiny glasses glaring and basically reads his column!
Posted by seabeartug at January 22nd, 2010 at 6:12 amIt is well explained about the Evernote, but kindly mention the site from where one can download the application or upload the information.
Posted by narendradhunna at January 22nd, 2010 at 10:33 amI've used Evernote for several months on the iPhone and Windows. It has several good features, including geotagging notes so you can sort them based on where you were when you created them. However, the free version does not allow you to locally store all of your notes on the iPhone, so if you're away from internet access you're out of luck (not all flights have wifi yet!) I'd also like to see them add a way to mark a note or notebook as private with a passcode.
Posted by kdilworth at January 22nd, 2010 at 5:13 pmSomeone help me understand how this is more helpful than using Google Docs and their new file storage? I'm not being difficult but I genuinely want to know. Google's new file storage allows 20GB per year for $5 per year (1GB free) and up to 250MB PER ITEM at a time of uploads. I can access from my iPhone, I get more storage, it is essentially free to dirt cheap (you can upload photos, music, etc.)
Thoughts?
Posted by kellylivesay at January 24th, 2010 at 1:40 pmKelly, as far as I know there is no Google Docs phone app for iPhone or Android. This makes taking notes in the field (and syncing them) very easy.
Posted by lostarchitect at January 24th, 2010 at 5:22 pmThe syncing feature of Evernote is great. I just switched from an iPhone to Android, and boom, all my notes came with me as soon as I installed Evernote.
Posted by lostarchitect at January 24th, 2010 at 5:24 pmSeabeartug: I bet Walt would agree but that's what editors are demanding – video content to parallel print content without adding any extra resources or budget to really add value to the user experience. I am wrestling with the same issue in my column. The last thing a writer wants is a user focusing on his (mine, not Walt's) homely mug rather than the content!
Posted by tonynovak at January 25th, 2010 at 4:30 pmThank you so much for that review… I am always looking for newer tools to make my online experience more useful, this tool sounds like it would. With “cloud” storing the next thing, I've been looking at these types of tools more & more.
Keep up the good work.
RM – InBoundMarketingPR
Posted by RM_InBoundMarketingPR at January 27th, 2010 at 8:59 pmThere are a few things.
1) You can use it offline to enter notes. These are synced when you go online again.
2) The online versions are stored offline, so they're usable when you're not on the net.
3) Evernote handles clipping from the net beautifully. Right click, and your highlighted text goes straight to EN.
4) EN can do image-to-text, and handles images well. If, like me, you read a lot of pdfs, this can be indispensable.
But seriously, try it. I tried using GDocs for the reasons you list. Now, I happily pay for Evernote. It really is fantastic.
Posted by adamnorman at January 29th, 2010 at 3:37 pmNot only is Evernote great for all of the reasons that Walt mentioned, it also functions as an excellent digital filing service. Simply scan in your documents (using a scanner of your choice) and away you go. You can also integrate into such services as Shoeboxed. A very flexible service.
Posted by Scott Spiro at February 1st, 2010 at 5:07 amTotally agree! I abandoned the video halfway through, annoyed. Why rehash the article? Reading is faster. Walt is not bad looking, but who wants to stare at him talking in his office? Give us screenshots and other complementary media, man! If Walt and the WSJ don't have the time or resources to do this, who does?
Posted by briandisqus at February 7th, 2010 at 3:25 pmFirst – I am a huge fan and have frequently mentioning your column on my website.
Posted by ctwatchdog at February 20th, 2010 at 10:47 pmI have again taken your advice and started using Evernote. One problem I am having is trying to sort thousands of emails I uploaded. Anywhere I can find help? George
That's the great article! I just pass 'n read it, two thumbs up! ;)
Posted by File Cabinet Key at April 14th, 2010 at 4:50 pmPlease give me more information. I love it, Thanks again.
Posted by File Cabinet Key at June 11th, 2010 at 7:30 amThanks for information, I'll always keep updated here!
Posted by File Cabinet Key Codes at June 14th, 2010 at 11:00 amThis is so interested! Where can I find more like this?
Posted by Meridian File Cabinet Keys at June 17th, 2010 at 10:47 amJust came and read, this is wow! I was seek from many blogs, but here is the best, I love it.
Posted by file cabinet parts at July 5th, 2010 at 12:11 pm