Evernote review

Evernote is almost a standard. It's such a versatile tool that it's kind of hard to explain exactly what it is. But if I'll try to nutshell if for you: it's a thing that lets you clip stuff, store it in the cloud, categorize it, and search it.

So let's start with clipping. You can add web pages, images, audio, video, text - just about anything. All this stuff is stored in the cloud for easy access. You can do this with your smartphone, tablet/iPad, or your computer, and a bunch third party apps can throw stuff into it for you. Some blogs even have 'add to Evernote' buttons. You can attach notes to the stuff, and you can clip multiple things into one note. You can also combine or separate notes as you need.

Then you categorize it. You put stuff into major groups, and you can tag stuff with any keyword that you want. The difference between a category and a tag is semantic and depends on what you're trying to do with the app. I went off the deep end with categories before I figured this out. Another option is to just not categorize any of it. It's just whatever works best for you.

Then you can search. You can search by category, tag, or any string of text. Where the app really shines, is that it does automatic OCR that is really accurate. This means you can scan say, a restaurant menu, upload it, and then search for "soup" and that menu will show up with a box around where it says "soup" in the image.

So why would you want something like this? Here are a couple of ways that I have used it:

• A glorified todo list - text yourself a note or record your voice from your phone and later add supporting material. Then move this to your todo list, or use Evernote itself as your list.
• Organize business cards - scan then recycle any originals you have. Then start taking pictures of business cards instead of collecting them in the first place.
• Write a research paper - store research notes attached to web pages. Later organize the notes into an outline.
• Become a rockstar - record yourself humming a song idea to write a complete song later.
• Get rid of paper clutter - scan reciepts, menus, magazine clippings - just about anything - and throw the original in a recycling bin.
• Keep an inspiration list - save cool graphic and product design ideas from magazines, the web, or take a picture of anything you see that inspires you. Then go through when your muse isn't available and you have a deadline.

Pros:

1. Clip anything anywhere.
2. It can turn your junk-drawer mind into a well organized filing cabinet.
3. Very versatile and open to whatever you can do with it - it can act more like a platform than an app.
4. Never loose a thought or idea again.

Cons:

1. Isn't always obvious the best way to use it.
2. Doesn't start to make sense until you put a bunch of stuff into it.
3. Not the best todo list. Do you really need a complex system to organize your thoughts? Maybe paper and pencil is a better way to go.