Sunday, November 7, 2010

Top 5 Premium Web 2.0 Administrator Must-Haves: Evernote

Evernote is an excellent application for anyone who copiously takes notes of all kinds from a variety of web sources. I am an avid reader of blogs and web sites, and Evernote provides me with just the right tools to capture information and graphics from the Internet. With this software, I can capture anything I find. I can make a text note, snap a photo, or grab a screenshot and keep all of these in one place. I also use the program to take notes from my book reading. With Evernote, I can also organize my notes, and it makes anything I place there fully searchable. This means when I make a note of an article I read on a blog, whether it is two or ten months later, I can search to find that very article. Evernote is a powerful, simple notetaking tool, which brings me to my reasons for making it a must-have premium Web 2.o tool.

  • In comparison to Microsoft OneNote, Evernote is simple and very user-friendly. While OneNote is loaded with many more features, for the “not-so” experienced user, the sheer number of those features is overwhelming. Evernote is extremely user-friendly, and even the most technophobic administrator or educator can learn to use it.
  • You can post notes and access notes from anywhere. I have the client version of Evernote on my work laptop and my personal laptop. I also have Evernote on my Droid phone. When all these are synced, my notes are accessible in any where I might be. And if I do not have the client installed, I can access my notes through the Web. While Microsoft’s OneNote also has the potential of being accessible any where, currently there is no Droid app that I am aware of, and its web version has sometimes not worked well in my Chrome browser.
  • Evernote is relatively inexpensive. You can currently purchase a premium account for $45 per year. The premium account gives you 500 MB of notes per month along with the following features.
Premium Feature Description
Note Allowance Uploads are unlimited to 500 MB per month in premium account compared to 40 MB per month for free account.
File Synchronization Any file type can be synchronized in the premium account while in free account this synchronization is limited to images, audio, ink, and PDF files.
Search within PDFs In premium account, you have the ability to search within any PDF files placed in a notebook.
Access to Note History For premium users, you have the ability to access various versions of your notes through the note history feature.
Offline Notebooks Premium account users have offline access to notebooks using iPhone, iPad, or iPod.
Notebook Sharing via Web Premium account users can allow others to read and edit notes in Evernote.
Maximum Note Size Premium account users have a maximum note size of 50 MB while free account users only have 25 MB.
Support Premium users get premium support.
Security Features Premium users get SSL encryption which means notes are more secure.
Hide Advertisement Premium users can hide the advertisement in the client software.

I honestly like Microsoft OneNote’s power, but it currently fails to meet my notetaking needs for three reasons. First of all, Evernote’s desktop software can be installed on any computer I use, and I can easily sync my notes all these computers. OneNote only allows me to install on one desktop. Secondly, Evernote is much simpler to use. Much of my notetaking just doesn’t require all the power tools found in OneNote. Evernote is so easy, most administrators with the least experience with technology can learn to use it. Finally, I have access to Evernote on my Droid phone. I can access notes I have in Evernote, or I can even add notes to Evernote right from my Droid phone. Currently, to my knowledge, that is not available in OneNote. For more information regarding Eevernote, check here.

Update

This morning I downloaded Evernote 2.0 for Android, and it is a much better app. It works faster, and the main screen is much more accessible. I can access all my notes, or a specific notebook. I can access any of my notes much more quickly with this update. The upgrades on this app make having a premium account even more desirable. For Lifehacker’s take on Evernote 2.0 for Android, check here.

 

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