Full disclosure: I'm pretty much always intimidated by a new piece of technology and reluctant to embark on the adventure of using it. As you might infer from this information, I wasn't exactly thrilled with the Organizing Your Online Life project that was assigned last week. I think the first thought that went through my mind when it was introduced was, "Ugh, really?" Needless to say, I saved it for last in my extensive list of things to do this weekend. It's funny how this habit of mine never helps matters at all.
The assignment asked that I explore a piece of software called Evernote, develop a one- or two-page handout on how to use it, and put together a 25-minute presentation to go along with it. Yikes! Little did I know that I would find the process of completing this assignment positively delightful. I started off by going to the Evernote website and poking around for some basic information about it. As a compulsively organized person, I was intrigued by the promises on the homepage: Remember everything. Capture anything. Access anywhere. Find things fast. From there, I decided to check out the Wikipedia page to see if I could get a better idea of how Evernote works. My last step before taking the plunge and clicking on the "Get Evernote - It's Free" button was to check out some consumer reviews, which were very positive. Then off I went!
After installing the free version of Evernote and registering for a personal account, I started to play around with creating notes and such. I was surprised at how easy it was to use, and I appreciated the aesthetics. I love the pale green and gray color palette and the elephant logo, as well as the layout of the program. I"m sure I have a long way to go before I really take advantage of its full functionality, but I'm definitely on board to keep investigating.
All in all, I'm really happy with the experience. You'd think I might have been more optimistic going into the Organizing Your Online Life project, considering the first word in its name is ORGANIZING, and that's one of my favorite things to do. Lesson learned, I guess! Heck, I may even USE Evernote now. Who would have guessed?
Erin, I recently started using Evernote. I've really enjoyed the simple note-taking interface, and the cloud-connectivity. It's nice to write my notes without fuss, and know that they'll be on my computer at home when I open it up.
ReplyDeleteTruthfully, many of my forays into Apps have left me wanting less: less whistles and bells, less distractions, less pop-up windows that assure me that the most important thing is happening right now on my iPad, but on another app; I feel like I'm being chided for having stopped watching Facebook for a moment.
The apps I use most often now seem designed to reduce the multiplicities of my iPad, and ensure that whatever I decide to do, be it reading or writing or note-taking, will be the only thing I can do for the duration.
I totally agree with you about wanting less bells and whistles from apps. I grow weary of the whole "There's an app for that!" attitude. There may very well be an app for pretty much anything you can think of, but does that mean we really need to use so many of them? For me, each one just provides another thing to distract me from the things I really need to be doing.
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