Digital Glory

Recently I’ve started to try out Evernote as an organizational method.  For those who have read my earlier note on how I intend to be organized in 2011, you already know that Evernote didn’t make the cut.  Here’s why.

The good things about Evernote are clear.  First, it’s an app that’s stored online and syncs up everywhere I am via a desktop app, a web app, and an iPhone app.  Next, it’s a thriving service with lots of paying customers so it should be around for quite a while.  This also contributes to their ability to update their site / software on a regular basis ensuring continuing levels of improved features.

However, I have several big issues that prevented me from getting in the Evernote camp.

• There is no flat file method to export data en masse.  There is an Evernote export file but I would have preferred a zipped archive with universal formatted files embedded in it.
• No ability to auto-rotate pictures from the iPhone.  This is a dumb one.  If I take a snapshot with my iPhone camera sideways, Evernote won’t recognize it and turn it around.
• The bookmark storage mechanism isn’t great.  I was hopeful this would serve that need.
• Thumbnail views are really suited for clipped items, but seeing a bunch of thumbnails for text isn’t really what I need.

Lifehacker calls solutions like Evernote and Springpad “Everything Buckets” and that term scares me.  How does one organize an Everything Bucket – indeed it’s very name implies that you cant.  It is depending on a text search to keep organized and considering how often pictures would be in the archive, I think it would be a mess of folders and a lot of time tagging in order to really have it be a trusted system where I could feel good that I knew where things were.

For now, I’m going to use M-Store and clip things via cut and paste and send them to an internal email address that I can search in my gmail account.  I’m going to do the same thing for log data.  I’m hopeful in the future Evernote could take over these tasks but I don’t think it’s quite there yet.