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I've Been Using Evernote All Wrong. Here's Why It's Actually Amazing

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Re: I've Been Using Evernote All Wrong. Here's Why It's Actually Amazing

#31

Post by MatthewPhillips »

coldtea wrote: post #27
MatthewPhillips wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could just use regular WebDAV[1] (boring I know) and not have to worry about syncing gigabytes of redundant data onto every device you own.

Yes -- he would only have to worry about setting up and maintaining a WebDAV server. Plus, he would have to do without integration with tons of his favorites apps in desktop and mobile (like Dropbox has).

You can save to your WebDAV using the standard file picker. Surely an app that exports to Dropbox also gives you a "Save As" dialog.

Re: I've Been Using Evernote All Wrong. Here's Why It's Actually Amazing

#32

Post by badman_ting »

coldtea wrote: post #24
Pxtl wrote: post #5

Actually, all that stuff is why I don't like Evernote. It's so featureful, it means that its mobile clients are quite heavyweight and thus quite slow to boot. When I open my notes, I want them 5 seconds ago, looking right at the last notes I entered anywhere. I can wait for games and Netflix and whatnot to boot, but Notes need to be the snappiest freaking things on Earth. Evernote is not. I have to wait for it to ope…

> It's so featureful, it means that its mobile clients are quite heavyweight and thus quite slow to boot. Heavyweight does not mean much in itself. What would that mean? Evernote has a large binary? A cluttered UI? For my use, I don't find it slow, FWIW. > When I open my notes, I want them 5 seconds ago, looking right at the last notes I entered anywhere. So you don't want detailed notes spanning years -- you want to…

> Heavyweight does not mean much in itself. What would that mean?

It means everything that came after that statement by way of explanation, come on.

Re: I've Been Using Evernote All Wrong. Here's Why It's Actually Amazing

#33

Post by bentcorner »

alexholehouse wrote: post #12

Evernote + Dropbox means that I am basically device/OS/location agnostic for all my information needs, which given that I switch between 3-4 machines (all with different OSs) regularly is absolutely crucial. That said, some PAINFULLY obvious things which would be hugely benficial for adoption; - LaTex support built in - Markdown (either in every note, or allowing you to add 'markdown' boxes, if just for writing code)…

Re: Markdown support

This is my biggest gripe with Evernote. I've used Evernote and OneNote and settled on OneNote because the text formatting and editing in Evernote desktop client and mobile client needs serious work. I've created notes in the desktop that the mobile client said it couldn't open[1]. That's a showstopper. Not to mention the weird quirky text editing in the mobile client.

[1] To be fair, this was over a year ago on iOS, but I have no reason to go back at this point.

Re: I've Been Using Evernote All Wrong. Here's Why It's Actually Amazing

#35

Post by rubinelli »

MatthewPhillips wrote: post #19
the_watcher wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm working on integrating Evernote into my everyday life, and finally just purchased the level of Dropbox I need for backup. I have 5 devices that I use semi-regularly to all the time and it is fantastic to be able to shift between all 5 devices seamlessly.

You could just use regular WebDAV[1] (boring I know) and not have to worry about syncing gigabytes of redundant data onto every device you own.

You can also avoid syncing too much data with a little organization, by specifying which folders should be synced to which devices.

Re: I've Been Using Evernote All Wrong. Here's Why It's Actually Amazing

#36

Post by pigeons »

lucaspiller wrote: post #2

Are there any good self hosted alternatives?

Probably more important an issue than the resource hogginess and slowness of evernote, which has already been mentioned here, it seems self-hosted alternatives (I see someone mentioned WebDav) are very important.

We used to have the luxury to think any notes we took were not interesting to third parties and couldn't be used against us or our contacts and our service providers might not be backdoor-ed. But we can't deny the facts any more.

I suppose maybe the reason there isn't already a popular open source, maybe AGPL project for an evernote-like system (yes I know there is a OSS jambi/java client to use with evernotes proprietary servers) is because the tools already exist and the glue tying them all together with a friendly UI isn't as fun a challenge?

Re: I've Been Using Evernote All Wrong. Here's Why It's Actually Amazing

#37

Post by shavenwarthog2 »

kuldar wrote: post #7

I love the idea of Evernote but their implementation is absolutely horrible. The slow and cluttered UI has frustrated me to no end. Please, someone, make a good alternative for Evernote.

I agree, for some reason Evernote always rubbed me the wrong way.

An alternative I really like is Springpad. You can write notes or Todos, put in notebooks with tags, or take a picture. It recognizes what a "movie" is and gives you extra information. Multiple people can collaborate on a notebook. Plugins are for Firefox and Chrome; I mostly use the Android client. I found it easy and fun to worth with!

https://springpad.com/blog/

Re: I've Been Using Evernote All Wrong. Here's Why It's Actually Amazing

#38

Post by jseliger »

This article is actually quite similar to Steven Berlin Johnson's 2005 piece on how to get the most out of Devonthink Pro (DTP): http://www.stevenberlinjohnson.com/movabletype/archives/0002... .

DTP is OS X (and iOS, I think, though I don't use that) only, however. Nonetheless, I've been using DTP the way Johnson describes for years and have found it very useful.

DTP appears a little more "research-y" than Evernote. I suspect one challenge with any of these mind-mapping programs is that by the time you develop enough expertise and experience with one, you become reluctant to go through the same process with another, given the long time investment.

Re: I've Been Using Evernote All Wrong. Here's Why It's Actually Amazing

#39

Post by Patient0 »

mortov wrote: post #6

Am I the only one that read the article article as having a distinct Astroturfing feel about it ?

That was my thinking too. Who sits down and writes a lengthy blog post about a piece of software that they like to use? How boring! It's like someone sitting down to write a blog post about why they like Pepsi instead of Coke.

Re: I've Been Using Evernote All Wrong. Here's Why It's Actually Amazing

#40

Post by anamexis »

MatthewPhillips wrote: post #31
coldtea wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes -- he would only have to worry about setting up and maintaining a WebDAV server. Plus, he would have to do without integration with tons of his favorites apps in desktop and mobile (like Dropbox has).

You can save to your WebDAV using the standard file picker. Surely an app that exports to Dropbox also gives you a "Save As" dialog.

Except for every iOS app that integrates with Dropbox.
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