Degutis Insights

I use multiple computers, so I enjoy online apps (a.k.a. “cloud computing” ). Google Docs have been a part of my daily computer use since Documents was originally called Writely.

I am a disorganized mess, just ask my wife. I heard Merlin Mann (43 Folders) mention Backpack on Macbreak Weekly. I tried it out and love it. It allows me to post notes, to-do lists, etc., in my online account. It’s not as freeform as Microsoft OneNote, but being online is more important to me since I don’t use a single computer.

Last week, I saw a tweet (Twitter post) by Leo Laporte about Evernote. I checked out their site and was impressed by the demo video. I signed up for the Mac client beta right away and was fortunately to get an invite within 36 hours.

Evernote provides multiple entry points to access your notes: web client, Windows client and now Mac client. You can also send notes to your account via e-mail and cellphone. The clients all sync so you have access to your accounts from multiple systems.

One of the very cool features is its text recognition. You provide a graphic (picture, webcam image, etc) and once it sync’s to the server it will identify text in the graphic to make it searchable. I did a few quick tests using the iSight camera of my new Macbook Pro. As the images below illustrate, it can recongize text in landscape, portrait and poor lighting conditions.

According to a post on the The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) Evernote will be adding checkboxes for to-do lists (like Backpack). They are also looking into voice recognition for notes (like Jott). Adding those features would be a grand slam in my opinion.

-Al