Live data from Hacker News

Why Evernote failed to realize its potential (2021)

nira.com

11–20 of 189 posts

Re: Why Evernote failed to realize its potential (2021)

#11
Dropped Evernote years ago sadly. Kind of reminds me of how Sketch didn't keep up w/ Figma compared to other note taking tools. Been using Notion for awhile but that initial setup can be painful. Usually Mac Notes or Obsidian is my quick notes followed by Notion for the deep stuff.

Re: Why Evernote failed to realize its potential (2021)

#13
post #7

evernote was a feature not a product

In what way? PIMs seem to be a popular product category.

they also just come with your phone, so if all you do is "the same", you're just a feature, not a product, even if you package yourself as a product.

(and even if when you launched that was not the case, times change drastically on mobile. Evernote very quickly became a feature, not a product)

Re: Why Evernote failed to realize its potential (2021)

#16
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Obsidian is great for syncing my notes across several devices. It was the major challenge I've struggled with for several years before it.

Are you using the Obsidian subscription/cloud service, or have you made a system to sync directly, e.g., Windows Android platforms? If the latter, could you share your solution (I took a quick crack at it, but the link structure seems to require nontrivial management?) TIA

I've used Obsidian Git.

It definnitely takes some set up to make it work, but once working, it is pretty reliable. It requires an occasional merge conflict resolution, and setting the right files to be ignored.

I love that it is just folder with markdown files.

https://github.com/denolehov/obsidian-git

Re: Why Evernote failed to realize its potential (2021)

#18
Last time I was using their Windows app it felt non-native in a bad way (some 7-8 years ago).

Also, I managed to lose note content in their iPhone app just by opening note which contained large image. Image simply disappeared nowhere to be found either on phone or computer. After that happened for a second time I kinda switched to iOS Notes and later to Joplin.

Re: Why Evernote failed to realize its potential (2021)

#19
post #17

It failed because it turned the app into bloat and killed multi-device syncing. Most of the decisions made regarding product features were user-hostile not just to the free tier, but also to paying users who did not want the "features" they kept pushing out.

This is a very similar path to the one that Skitch and Dropbox took. In each case, instead of perfecting and maintaining a really good app, business pressures caused them to pursue growth at all costs. This is a common problem these days.
Post reply on HN